Othello
"Othello" is one of the four tragedies created by Shakespeare, written about 1603. The play was first premiered at the Whitehall Palace in London
on November 1, 1604.
Creative background
Creative process
"Othello" is mainly based on "Un Capitano Moro" in the collection of stories by Italian novelist Giovanni Battista Giraldi. The story tells a Moor who is very jealous and kills his innocent wife because of credulity. The original story is very simple, except for Desdemona, no other characters have names.
Synopsis
The black-faced Moor Othello was a general hired by the Venetian city-state. He was humbled by racial restrictions. He fell in love with the clever, beautiful, and generous daughter Desdemona of the noble elder veteran Brabanzio. Knowing that marriage would not be allowed, they married secretly without their parents.
As commander-in-chief, Othello has a brave-looking flag officer Iago. He is jealous that Othello promoted Cassio as deputy general without paying attention to him. At the same time, he also coveted the beauty of Desdemona, so he was jealous of Othello's successful marriage.
This loyal and cunning young man Iago, tried to create the illusion and evidence that Othello misunderstood that Cassio and his wife Desdemona had an affair, so that jealousy had been caused by Iago's accusation confused mind of Othello .
Destroy the happy marriage between Othello and Desdemona and become Iago's greatest satisfaction. So he tried his best to take advantage of the urgency of the little noble Roderigo who secretly loved Desdemona and his wife Emilia was unclear. The "evidence" of Desdemona's unfaithfulness was believed by Othello.
He allowed "doubt" that this poison burned like sulfur in his heart, filled and fermented and enlarged the break between the "indirect evidence" chains provided by Iago with his own association, and finally jealousy made him almost crazy.
In the married bed, he choked his loyal and simple wife, Desdemona. But when Iago's wife debunked this lie and scam, Othello woke up like a dream and pulled his sword.
Character introduction
Detailed introduction
Othello - The play’s protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a “free and open nature,” which his ensign Iago uses to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy
Desdemona - The daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio. Desdemona and Othello are secretly married before the play begins. While in many ways stereotypically pure and meek, Desdemona is also determined and self-possessed. She is equally capable of defending her marriage, jesting bawdily with Iago, and responding with dignity to Othello’s incomprehensible jealousy.
Iago - Othello’s ensign (a job also known as an ancient or standard-bearer), and the villain of the play. Iago is twenty-eight years old. While his ostensible reason for desiring Othello’s demise is that he has been passed over for promotion to lieutenant, Iago’s motivations are never very clearly expressed and seem to originate in an obsessive, almost aesthetic delight in manipulation and destruction.
Michael Cassio - Othello’s lieutenant. Cassio is a young and inexperienced soldier, whose high position is much resented by Iago. Truly devoted to Othello, Cassio is extremely ashamed after being implicated in a drunken brawl on Cyprus and losing his place as lieutenant. Iago uses Cassio’s youth, good looks, and friendship with Desdemona to play on Othello’s insecurities about Desdemona’s fidelity.
Emilia - Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant. A cynical, worldly woman, she is deeply attached to her mistress and distrustful of her husband.
Roderigo - A jealous suitor of Desdemona. Young, rich, and foolish, Roderigo is convinced that if he gives Iago all of his money, Iago will help him win Desdemona’s hand. Repeatedly frustrated as Othello marries Desdemona and then takes her to Cyprus, Roderigo is ultimately desperate enough to agree to help Iago kill Cassio after Iago points out that Cassio is another potential rival for Desdemona.
Bianca - A courtesan, or prostitute, in Cyprus. Bianca’s favorite customer is Cassio, who teases her with promises of marriage.
Brabanzio - Desdemona’s father, a somewhat blustering and self-important Venetian senator. As a friend of Othello, Brabanzio feels betrayed when the general marries his daughter in secret.
Appreciation of works
1.Main point
Racial discrimination
"Othello" is a multi-theme work, including: the theme of love and jealousy, the theme of credulity and betrayal, the theme of interracial marriage, etc. Racial discrimination is one of the reasons for Othello's tragedy. His lost nature is closely related to racial discrimination. It is precisely because of secular racial discrimination and Iago's scheming that Othello can truly win the white girl for himself-a Moor, a person who is afraid of ordinary people. Love doubts and gradually loses confidence. From the firm belief in the loyalty of Desdemona to the motive of suspicion of the virginity and love of Desdemona, in the end he completely denied the love of Desdemona and thought that Desdemona was a man who could do everything. The prostitute, in turn, killed her, causing the tragedy of Desdemona and her own tragedy.
Colonialism
The West's own image as a civilization. Orient was made into a silent, lewd, feminine, tyrannical, and irritable image by Orientalist discourse. On the contrary, the West is represented as a masculine, democratic, rational, moral, energetic, and open-minded image.
2.Artistic features
Character
"Othello" shows a series of distinctive characters such as Moorish Othello, the noble Desdemona, the adulterous Iago, the good-natured Casio, and the thoughtful Rodovico. They are as vivid as the different colored clothes worn by the characters in the picture. They have different personalities, and even if they do not imagine their actions and emotions, their looks can still be displayed in front of readers.
Inspirational quotes
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.
(Iago, Act 1 Scene 1)
Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe.
(Iago, Act 1 Scene 1)
She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished
That heaven had made her such a man.
(Othello, Act 1 Scene 3)
My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
To you I am bound for life and education:
My life and education both do learn me
How to respect you. You are the lord of duty,
I am hitherto your daughter.
(Desdemona, Act 1 Scene 3)
Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.
(Iago, Act 1 scene 3)
If after every tempest come such calms,
May the winds blow till they have wakened death!
(Othello, Act 2 Scene 1)
Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.
(Cassio, Act 2 Scene 3)
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy:
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.
(Iago, Act 3 Scene 3)
'Tis not a year or two shows us a man:
They are all but stomachs, and we all but food:
They eat us hungerly, and when they are full
They belch us.
(Emilia, Act 3 Scene 4)
Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
(Othello, Act 5 Scene 2)
I kissed thee ere I killed thee: no way but this,
Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.
(Othello, Act 5 scene 2)