Othello - William Shakespeare

“Othello” is my second favourite Shakespeare play, after “King Lear”, for many reasons. The Bard's masterful ability to weave his characters' intricate motives and acts into one smooth plot, and with characters like Iago, Othello, Desdemona and Cassio, he has found a set of characters more marvellous than Romeo and Juliet, and an antagonist more striking than Hamlet and Macbeth. The story is set in Venice, Italy and the island Cyprus, in the early sixteenth century. This is the height of Venetian society, in which it was the centre of cosmopolitan civilization, where order rules and chaos is anything that is "different" ...  Read the complete review

Tush, never tell me! I take it much unkindly That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse As if the strings were thine shouldst know of this And thus begins my favourite Shakespearian tragedy of all time. Once you get past the old Shakespeare talk with words much outdated such as "thou", "zounds" i'th'time" and references that no longer mean anything to us, like "She is stirring", this play reads like the best thriller ever. The dramatic techniques used by Shakespeare just keeps the reader on the edge (I say reader, but you really should watch it. It'll be much better. The Kenneth Branagh ...  Read the complete review

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 Shakespeare?s Othello is one of the most debated and controversial of the Elizabethan playwright?s works, and as such is one of the better examples of his tragic plays. Bill Shakespeare has long been the scourge of school pupils with his comedies that aren?t really funny and his words that are difficult to read, and although I have always enjoyed studying English Literature I have often found myself conforming to this popular view. The text I have been ...  Read the complete review

As I am studying Othello for A Level I believe that I can boast an adequate understanding of the play. Written by Shakespeare it is one of the 4 great tragedies and in my opinion, the most exciting and suspense filled. The source comes from a collection of 112 short stories called the Cinthio Gli Hecatommithi written by Cinthio, an Italian writer in the 16th century. Twice as long as Macbeth, Othello boasts a complex but compelling plot and an admirable stretch of different characters. The synopsis is basically thus: Othello is a black African moor and weds Desdemona in secret; a girl of high birth and status in Venice. Iago, who it is argued is the ...  Read the complete review

"Othello" is one of Shakespeare's finest plays in my opinion, although sadly not one of the most famous. Based on the original tale by Cinthio, the play tells the story of Othello, the Moor of Venice, and his tragic fall at the hands of the villain of the play, Iago. It is a domestic tragedy as opposed to a state tragedy because in essence the people affected are a man and his wife instead of a whole country e.g. in "Macbeth" which deals with a king and queen and therefore the effects upon Scotland. The play is set originally in Venice, a cosmopolitan society which in Shakespeare's time was an extremely important centre for trade, ...  Read the complete review