Othello: Difference between revisions

[[File:othelloOthello_and_Desdemona_by_Alexandre-Marie_Colin.jpg|thumb|400px|Othello and Desdemona, after [[Black Comedy|taking a stab at some pillow-talk.]] ]]

''The meat it feeds on."''|'''Iago''', Act III, Scene 3.}}

{{quote|''"She has deceived her father, and may thee."''|'''Brabantio''', Act I, Scene 3.}}

''So why'd ya hafta go and make her face turn blue?"''|'''The Reduced Shakespeare Company'''}}

''Othello, The Moor Of Venice'' is one of [[William Shakespeare]]'s most famous plays. Adapted at least ten times for the screen (sometimes with setting changes), it is a play about racism (though not as we understand it today), trust, love, betrayal and {{spoiler|[[Vorpal Pillow|smothering someone with a pillow]]}} because you think she's cheated on you, then {{spoiler|killing yourself}} when you realize she didn't.

It's worth noting that in times past, it was usual for white actors to play Othello by way of [[Blackface]], up to and past the 1960s1960's. In fact, the first time a black actor played the part in a major stage production with an otherwise white cast wasn't until 1943. Thus, the early Othello movies have a [[White Male Lead]] [[Race Lift|Othello]]. It is a case of post-facto [[Values Dissonance]], but it [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|does not make such portrayals inherently bad.]] As a Christian Moor, or part-Moor, Othello would likely have been some sort of shade of brown - we don't really know for sure - but in his most recent portrayals he has been portrayed by very dark actors, and the 'racism' angle - often using racial stereotypes as understood in the modern USA - has been played up considerably. What slaves there were in the 16th Century Mediterranean were Slavic peoples (Slavic being the adjective form of Slav, which comes from 'Slave') from eastern Europe, and if anyone was doing the slaving, it was probably an Italian, or a Turk. Racial characterisation of black people as inferior, the way we understand racism against blacks today, was a post-facto justification of sorts for the trans-Atlantic slave trade when it got going in earnest over a century later.

* [[Ambiguously Brown]]: ''Othello.''. It's very hard to tell whether he is supposed to be a Moor of Moroccan descent or a Sub-Saharan African. And he was originally played by a white actor in blackface, which doesn't help at all.

* [[Batman Gambit]] / [[Evil Plan]]: Iago's plan to drive Othello into an absolute rampage. It works brilliantly, though it would have fallen on its face if Othello didn't listen to him.

''From this time forth I never will speak word.'' }}

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: {{spoiler|Emilia, who ruins her evil husband's gambit.}}.

* [[Exact Eavesdropping]]: At one point, Othello hears what appears to be Cassio bragging about sleeping with Desdemona. Cassio's actually talking about his mistress, Bianca. A justified use of this trope as Iago was talking to Cassio at the time and deliberately guiding him to talk about his mistress.

* [[Exact Words]]: Many of Iago's lies are actually true, ''if you interpret them as literally as possible.''.

{{quote|"I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making '''[[Unusual Euphemism|the beast with two backs!]]"'''<br />

"Even now, now, very now, an '''old black ram''' / [[Unusual Euphemism|Is tupping]] '''your white ewe!"''' }}

** Othello's lack of perception in general is the driving force of the plot. Of course, Iago inflamed his emotions, but it didn't take much and once Othello had made up his mind about what was happening, he behaved in a way that was disastrously blind towards everyone else's intentions.

** Othello, suspecting Desdemona, questions Emelia, who has been with Desdemona basically from Act 1I onwards, whether his wife had cheated on him with Cassio. She says no. He then asks Desdemona to promise him that she hasn't cheated. She does. He decides not to believe either of them, which, one could argue, is proof of Iago's amazing skills of manipulation, but considering that the bulk of the play takes place over three days in Cyprus and Cassio and Desdemona haven't even had a chance, it kind of suggests Othello's being a little bit silly.

** One of the most important motifs in the play is the Handkerchiefhandkerchief, Othello's family heirloom that he gives to Desdemona, and which becomes a symbol of all sorts of things, but particularly her innocence and faithfulness. Desdemona drops this on the floor directly in front of Othello. Nobody notices.

* [[Spanner in the Works]]: Emilia ruins Iago's plan {{spoiler|simply by stating she found the handkerchief and gave it to her husband, when Othello thought Desdemona gave it to Cassio. What's more amazing is that she spilled the beans even though Iago threatened her with a knife and stabbed her when she exposed him}}. ''[[Badass]]''.

* [[The Storyteller]]: How Othello won Desdemona.

* [[Subtext]]: See [[Ho Yay]], abovein the YMMV section. Some of Iago's lines really do support this particular [[Epileptic Tree]], at least to modern eyes.

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: More creative than euphemistic; see [[Getting Crap Past The Radar,]] above.

* [[:Category:Yandere|Yandere]]: Othello, and according to [[Alternative Character Interpretation]], [[Ho Yay|Iago]].

[[Category:OthelloWorks by William Shakespeare]]