Othello

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: The plot for Othello was developed from a story in Cinthio's collection, the Hecatommithi,, which it follows closely. The only named character in Cinthio's story is "Desdemona", which means "unfortunate" in Greek. In the original, the standard-bearer lusts after Desdemona and is spurred to revenge when she rejects him. Unlike Othello, the Moor in Cinthio's story never repents the murder of his beloved, and both he and the standard-bearer escape Venice and are killed much later. Othello's character, in particular, is believed to have been inspired by several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 17th century. Or he could be Leo Africanus.

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(appearing only in Venice) -Duke of Venice -Brabantio: a senator, Father to Desdemona -Senators of Venice -Sailor (both in Venice and Cyprus) -Othello: the Moor, general in the service of Venice. He was persuaded by Iago about Desdemona’s treason -Desdemona: daughter to Brabantio and wife to Othello. She was unjustly strangled by Othello. -Cassio: an honourable Lieutenant of Othello. Othello believed that he fell in love with Desdemona.

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Iago: a villain, Othello’s ancient. He persuaded Othello that his wife Desdemona was unfaithful. -Roderigo: a gull’d gentlemen of Venice (appearing only in Cyprus) -Emilia: wife of Iago. Unaware she helped her husband, who killed her. -Montano: governor of Cyprus, before Othello -Lodovico: noble Venetian, kinsman to Brabantio -Gratiano: noble Venetian, brother to Brabantio -Bianca: a courtesan, mistress to Cassio Clown: servant to Othello Gentlemen of Cyprus

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ACT I: Iago and Roderigo discuss about their common hate for Othello. Infact he chose Cassio as his deputy instead of Iago. Besides he married the woman loved by Roderigo, Desdemona. But Desdemona’s father, Brabatio, didn’t approve of Othello because he was Moor. Iago and Roderigo told to Brabatio that his daughter escaped with Othello, so he went out to find her. In the same time the Turkishes moved to Cyprus and Othello had to go there to defend the island. His wife went with him.

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ACT II: Fortunately the danger was exceeded. There were a lot of festivities. Iago offers to Cassio a night of noisy fun.There was a clash between Roderigo and Cassio,Montano who was trying to stop them is wounded to death. Roderigo immediately spread the news of Montano’s death and Othello who had come with the other, asked Iago for more informations. Iago giving all the blame on Cassio, then Othello dismissed Cassio and returned to Desdemona. Cassio didn’t remember anything about the night and was persuaded by Iago to implore Desdemona so that she talked with Othello.

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ACT III: The next day, Cassio tried to redeem in Othello’s eyes. Cassio met Desdemona and she promised her help. Immediately Iago and Othello arrived and Cassio was uncomfortable and go away. So Iago told Othello that his behaviour was equivocal and he revealed his suspects about Desdemona’s treason with Cassio. In fact Desdemona lost her handkerchief and Emilia found it; When Emilia told Iago that she had found Desdemona’s handkerchief, Iago snatched it out of Emilia’s hands. Othello became suspicious because of Iago’s inventions so he ordered him to kill Cassio. While Desdemona was looking for Cassio, she noticed that she hadn’t the handkerchief. In the same time Cassio found the handkerchief in his room, put by Iago. Othello asked the handkerchief to Desdemona, and when she hesitated, he got angry. Desdemona told to Cassio that she couldn’t help him in that moment because Othello didn’t believe in her. In the same time Cassio asked Bianca to make an handkerchief with the same embroidery of Desdemona’s one.

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ACT IV: Iago goes on threatening Othello saying to him to hide himself while he’ll make Cassio to talk about his relations with Desdemona so that Othello can see the glances and the behaviours of Cassio.But Iago talks to Cassio about Bianca,so Cassio begins to smile and laugh.At that moment Bianca arrives and gives back the handkerchief to Cassio.Othello decides to kill Desdemona and that Iago undertakes to kill his ex lieutenant.Afterwards Lodovico gives to Othello the order to go to Venice;Cassio is nominated governor and when Desdemona congratulates him,he slaps her in public.Othello asks Emilia about the talk between his wife and Cassio,but Emilia defends the honesty of her master and suspects that Othello has been deceived by somebody. Meanwhile Roderigo is tired of the talks of Iago,who wants to persuade him to kill Cassio,after the supper with Bianca,to keep Othello in the island and promises him a meeting with Desdemona. Desdemona,who had been accused of infidelity by Othello,asks Emilia to go with her in the bedroom where she,very sad,swears to Emilia to be innocent;after she is left alone by order of Othello.

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ACT V: Roderigo wounds Cassio who hits him;at that moment Iago arrives,wounds Cassio in the leg and runs away.Also Lodovico and Graziano arrive but they don’t follow him because it is too dark.Afterwards Iago arrives, finishes off Roderigo and helps Cassio;when Bianca arrives,Iago accuses her to be accessory to the assault and then he makes Othello be informed of what is happened.Othello arrives in the bedroom,where Desdemona is sleeping, and wakes her up with a kiss; he confides her that he want to kill her. His heart, even though, full of love, is overcome by the jealousy and so he strangles her. Emilia arrives and tells the death of Roderigo and the assault of Cassio; Othello confesses to her his murder. Iago arrives while Emilia is telling Othello that she has found the handkerchief of Desdemona and has given it to Iago; so Othello understands every thing and he throws himself against Iago, who kills his wife and runs away. Afterwards Iago is arrested by Lodovico and his letters and found on the body of Roderigo. Othello, overcome by pain, kills himself close to Desdemona. So Graziano’ll take possession of the inferitance of the Moor and Cassio, gone back to Venice, shall try Iago.

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-A.C. BRADLEY OVERVIEW :he highlights aspects of Othello that reinforce its emotional impact: the rapid acceleration of the plot, the intensity of Othello's jealousy, the passive suffering of Desdemona, and the luck and skill involved in Iago's intrigue. -D.R. GODFREY ABOUT THE JELOUSY: Godfrey examines the portrayal of jealousy in Othello, determining that it is the cause of evil in the play. The critic exposes the jealousy presented by several characters: Othello, Roderigo, Bianca, and Iago. Iago, exhibits "an all-encompassing jealousy directed not only against sexual love but against love itself in all its aspects”.

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–RUTH COWHING ABOUT THE RACE: Cowhing provides background on blacks in England during Shakespeare's time, stressing the use of racial stereotypes in the dramas of the period. Observing that black people were typically depicted as stock villains, she suggests that Shakespeare's presentation of the noble, dignified Othello as the hero of a tragedy must have been startling to Elizabethan audiences. Cowhig also examines how several characters in the play, especially lago, are racially prejudiced. -HARLEY GRANVILLE-BARKER ABOUT THE TIME:Granville-Barker examines the dramatic structure of Othello and explicates the relation between Shakespeare's manipulation of time and the theme of sexual jealousy. He maintains that time in Act I passes naturally so that the audience can become familiar with the characters. Act II, however, introduces contractions and ambiguities of time that are sustained until Act V, scene ii, when "natural" time resumes, presenting a comprehensive view of the ruined Moor

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This tragedy resumed the theme of love that Shakespeare has often treated in his plays. The love is seen in a whole perspective: the devout and faithful love of Desdemona, sentimental and made of dedication absolute, that passionate of Othello and the love-friendship that is betrayed. The love of Desdemona doesn’t exclude the others and this explains his friendship with Cassio, that of Othello is closed all on his love, it excludes others and cannot comprise the charitable love of his wife. Then Othello feels betrayed because he can’t accept that Desdemona can devote to other than him; but we can even think that only when he sees his woman interested in a "white", he feels the weight of his diversity. He is a powerful man, a stranger who has managed to establish himself in the rich maritime republic of Venice and even to earn the protection and friendship of the duke. When he believes that he is betrayed, he is just a black man, a stranger, whose wife has preferred a subordinate fellow-countryman. Instead the love-friendship is what is really betrayed. The real betrayal is to Iago against Othello; he is the real traitor who, being envious of the power of his friend, takes advantage of the trust that has with him for slander Desdemona and Cassio. The last sentence that the Moro pronounces before killing himself is the epilogue, in our view, of the exclusive love which binds him to Desdemona: "Before I killed, I kissed you. Now I remained that kill myself and die with one last kiss "

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V scene: Enter Othello with a light;Desdemona in her bed. OTHELLO:It is the cause,It is the cause,my soul;Let me not name it to you,you chaste the stars! It is the cause.Yet I’ll not shed her blood, Nor scare that whiter skin of hers then snow.And smooth has monumental alabaster.Yet she must die,else she’ll betray more men.Put out the light,and then put out the light: If I quench thee,thou flaming minister,I can again thiy former light restore, Should I repent me;but once put out thy light,Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean heat that can thy light relume. When I have pluck’d thy rose,I cannot give it vital growth again, It needs must wither:I’ll smell it on the tree. (kisses her) O balmy breath,that dost almost persuade justice to break her sword! One more,one more.Be thus when thou ast dead,and I will kill thee,And I love thee after. One more,and this the last:So sweet was ne’r so fatal.I must weep, But they are cruel tears;this sorrow’s heavenly,It strikes where it doth love.She wakes. DESDEMONA:Who’s there?Othello? OTHELLO:Ay,Desdemona. DESDEMONA:Will you come to bed my lord?

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OTHELLO:Have you pray’d to-night,Desdemona? DESDEMONA:Ay,my lord. OTHELLO:If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconcil’d as yet to heaven and grace, solicit for it straight. DESDEMONA:Alas!my lord,what may you mean by that? OTHELLO:Wello,do it,and be brief; I will walk by:I would not kill thy unprepared spirit;NO;heaven forfend!I would not kill the soul. DESDEMONA:Talk you of killing? OTHELLO:Ay,I do. DESDEMONA:Have mercy on me! OTHELLO:Amen,with all my heart. DESDEMONA:If you say so,I hopr you will not kill me. OTHELLO:Hum! DESDEMONA:And yet I fear you;for you are fatal then When your eyes roll so.Why I should fear I know not,since guiltinnes I know not;But yet I feel fear. OTHELLO:Think on thy sins. DESDEMONA:They are loves I bear to you. OTHELLO:Ay,and for that thou diest. DESDEMONA:That death’s unnatural that kills for loving. Alas!why gnaw you so your very frame;These are portents,but yet,I hope,I hope they do not point on me. OTHELLO:Peace,and be still! DESDEMONA:I will so.What’s the matter? OTHELLO:That handkerchief wich I so lov’d and gave thee Thou gav’st to Cassio. DESDEMONA:No,by my life and soul!Send for the man and ask him.

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OTHELLO: Sweet soul,take heed,Take heed of perjury;thou’rt on thy death bed. DESDEMONA:Ay,but not yet to die. OTHELLO:yes;Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin; For to deny each article with oath cannot remove not choke the strong conception That I do groan withal.Thou art to die. DESDEMONA:Then lord have mercy on me! OTHELLO:I say,amen. DESDEMONA:And have yot mercy too!I never did offend you in my life;never lov’d Cassio But with such general warranty of heaven as I might love;I never gave him token. OTHELLO:By heaven,I saw my handkerchief in’s hand. O perjur’d woman!thou dost stone my heart,and mak’st me call what I intend to do a murder,wich I tought a sacrifice:I saw the handkerchief. DESDEMONA:He found it then;I never gave it him.Send for him hither;Let him confess a truth. OTHELLO:He hath confessed. DESDEMONA:What my lord? OTHELLO:That he had us’d thee. DESDEMONA:How?unfaithful? OTHELLO:Ay DESDEMONA:He will not say so. OTHELLO:No;his mouth is stopped:Honest Iago hath ta’en order for’t. DESDEMONA:O!my fear interprets,What!Is he dead? OTHELLO:Had all his hairs been lives,my great revenge had stomach for them all.

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DESDEMONA:Alas!he is betray’d and I undone. OTHELLO:Out strumpet!Weep’st thou for him to my face? DESDEMONA:O! banish me,my lord,but kill me not! OTHELLO:down,strumpet! DESDEMONA:Kill me tomorrow;let me live tonight! OTHELLO:Nay if you strive- DESDEMONA:But half an hour! OTHELLO:Being done,there is no pause. DESDEMONA:But while I say no prayer! OTHELLO:It is too late. (he smothers her)

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In this scene we have noticed that Othello,blinded by gelosy,don’t pay attention to Desdemona’s reasons;he prefer believe that she was unfaithful instead of establish it .He is an automaton by now,who act without thinking,without notice what will be their fate when he will effect his plane. We were impressed by Desdemona’s excessive compliance who, totally devoted to his lover, accept from him even the death,even she know her innocence. Only when he had done his murder, Othello will know Desdemona’s innocence and the gravity of his action. THEMES: Before and above all else, Othello is a soldier. From the earliest moments in the play, his career affects his married life. The military provides Othello with a means to gain acceptance in Venetian society. While the Venetians in the play are generally fearful of the prospect of Othello’s social entrance into white society through his marriage to Desdemona, all Venetians respect and honor him as a soldier. Othello predicates his success in love on his success as a soldier, wooing Desdemona with tales of his military travels and battles.

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Once the Turks are drowned, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his footing in a private setting, the bedroom. Iago capitalizes on this uneasiness,in other words, Iago is calling Othello unsoldierly. Isolation enables many of the play’s most important effects: Iago frequently speaks in soliloquies; Othello stands apart while Iago talks with Cassio in Act IV. Othello is visibly isolated from the other characters by his physical stature and the colour of his skin.

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-Blindness:Othello, though he demands “ocular proof ” (III.iii.365), is frequently convinced by things he does not see: he strips Cassio of his position as lieutenant based on the story Iago tells; he relies on Iago’s story of seeing Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief (III.iii.437–440); the action of the play depends heavily on characters not seeing things: Othello accuses his wife although he never sees her infidelity. -Plants: Iago is strangely preoccupied with plants. His speeches to Roderigo in particular make extensive and elaborate use of vegetable metaphors and conceits. An example is: “Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills” (I.iii.317–322).

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Characters in this play seem to be the product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild.-Animals: Iago calls Othello a “Barbary horse,” an “old black ram,” and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.117–118). When animal references are used with regard to Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect the racism both of characters in the play and of Shakespeare’s contemporary audience.

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-The handkercheaf: The handkerchief symbolizes different things to different characters. Since the handkerchief was the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of Othello’s love. By taking possession of it, Iago is able to convert it into evidence of Desdemona’s infidelity. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity. The pattern of strawberries on a white background strongly suggests the bloodstains left on the sheets on a virgin’s wedding night, so the handkerchief implicitly suggests a guarantee of virginity as well as fidelity.

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BRABANTIO(I.ii.-27): “Would ever have,to incur a general mock,run from her guardage to the sooty bosom of such a thing as thou;to fear,not to delight.” IAGO(IV.i.-180): “Work on,my medicine,work!Thus credulous fools are caught;and many worthy and chaste dames even thus,all guiltless meet reproach.” OTHELLO(V.ii.-276): “I kiss’d thee ere I killed thee;no way but this,killing myself to die upon a kiss.” LODOVICO(V.ii.-278): “O Spartan dog!More fell than anguish,hunger,or the sea.Look on the tragic loading of this bed;this is thy work;the object poisons sight!Let it be hid!”

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In 1956, a key year in his career, Gassman played a memorable Othello with the great actor Salvo Randone, exchanging with him the roles of the Moor and Iago. A little later, in the television series entitled Il Mattatore (spotlight chaser) he obtained unexpected success and Il Mattatore soon became the nickname that accompanied him for the rest of his life. That year Gassman also directed and starred in a movie dedicated to theatre: it was a version of Kean.