Iago's Soliliquies

I am not a huge fan of the way Kenneth Baranagh stares directly at the audience.  I know thats how he does it in the play sometimes, but I don't like it on the film.  It feels a little to dramatized. I think I would like it a lot more if he would just talk to himself. 

Iago's Reaction

I forgot to mention this in class, but when we watched the video in class today I noticed something that I thought was comment-worthy. At the beginning of the scene we watched, you see Cassio and Iago standing after Cassio's demotion. When Cassio goes down on his knees and wails at the thought of what he's done, it seemed to me that, for a second, Iago sort of looked like he was contemplating whether or not he thought it was worth it to comfort Cassio. I'm probably wrong about that, but it was something I noticed and didn't mention in class, and IT'S BEEN BOTHERING ME. Did anyone else notice that??

Everything goes Iago's way

I really really enjoyed this play as a whole. I found it very easy to keep reading because a good amount of interesting action was always taking place. I liked Shakespeare's style of building up all of the reader's suspense and thoughts until the very end when everything kindof works out all falls into place. Certainly alot of things all happened in the last act....but I liked this. About Iago...I think that he is very clever because throughout the whole play he is really just using each of the characters and really turning them all against eachother. Everyone in the play may be a little gullible until the ending, but I think that is what makes Othello so good. Iago takes advantage of everyone's trusting attitudes and really uses them to make himself look like the good guy....even though he obviously isn't. I think that Iago knew that eventually in the end everything was going to crumble down once people started realizing what was going on; however, I think this is how Iago intended it to be. He knew that he was probably going to get caught in the end, yet still took the chance to ruin everyone else's lives. I think that is what makes Iago a true villain.

Othello Thoughts

What a great way to end the week!  Excellent comments on the play that we will continue to explore.  If you have any leftover thoughts, please post them.  Ms. Robinson is also monitoring our posts to see if we can get email alerts.  Have a good weekend!

Shakespeare makes me depressed

Well, I just finished the play and basically I am depressed. I am extremely upset Desdemona died, even though I knew it was coming. I am glad that Othello and Rodrigo died though. I wish that Othello would have had to suffer a bit more for what he did to Desdemona. I feel like he understood he got tricked...then immediately killed himself. I am not even sure if he really truly understood what happened.
For some reason I don't think the pacing of the events in this play worked for me. I realize that Shakespeare's tragedies all unfold very rapidly, but this one didn't feel right.
It also makes me really sad that Barbantio died because of Desdemona and Othello, especially since there marriage ended up so horribly.
Also I may have misinterpreted this, but I think Othello had a line right before he killed himself saying he would see people in heaven....thats annoying because he should definitely go to hell, at the very least purgatory.

Iago is Hardcore

I actually find it somewhat funny that Iago is constantly in the room when people are talking about him. It's like those cliche moments when someone does something bad, doesn't tell anybody, and then feels like they just look so guilty when their friends are talking about it with them. I mean people are constantly calling him a jerk or the devil, and he is standing right there hearing these things said. Somehow he STILL manages to live with himself even when he knows people think these things about him!

A really bad Iago

I don't know if you guys watch the office, but there's an episode where Andy tries to get Michale to fire Dwight.  The joke is that Andy is doing a really bad job of what Iago does, but Michale is too trusting and incompetent to figure out that he is scheming. 

Othello Act 4

There is no doubt this play is frustrating for the reader because of the seemingly aloof characters.  They all seem to fall a little too perfectly into Iago's hands.  However, I have a theory about why these "coincidences" are so.  It is obvious that the people in the play are not a standing off to the side watching Iago as he stares into the camera telling us all of his evil plans and thoughts.  The characters have no indication of Iago's masterful plan, because all they see is "honest Iago".  They have no reason to believe anything other than what he tells them, because he has a reputation of being honest.  Beside the obvious fact that the characters in the play do not see his soliloquies or his asides, Iago has another strategy that helps him achieve the unbelievable.  Iago has yet to actually do a vicious act.  He just aids the others in doing things that get them in trouble without them realizing what they are doing.  They put themselves in bad situations, and they are completely oblivious.  This strategy is how Iago achieves turmoil.  He sets up others in such a way that Iago looks good and is never suspected of being the villain.

Othello

After talking today in class, I find a lot of the advice Iago gives to people to be ironic. He tells Othello not to be jealous, but Iago himself is jealous of Othello. He also tells Othello to not believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio because he has no proof, but in on of his asides Iago tells us that he believes the Moor is having an affair with Emilia and he has no proof to back it up. I can't tell if he is intentionally being a hypocrite and it's all apart of the master plan or if it's just coincidence.

Othello the Movie

The scene that we watched today and Thursday in class was very interesting. I think that Roderigo's character and the way that he reacts to Desdemona's love for Othello is a little dramatic. I realize that is how his reaction is supposed to be....but he might be over doing it a little bit. Especially when he so immediately switches into a good mood as soon as Iago uses his persuasiveness. I think that Iago does a very good job with his character, acting somewhat similar to a devil figure. The movie shows him whispering into Roderigo's ear just like a little devil figure on his shoulder. Somehow, Iago's words are very influential on Roderigo and immediately pull him out of his slump. I didn't really like Iago's aside when he was just staring into the camera. I thought it was a little too obvious that he was saying something important and maybe for once finally telling the truth. The ending to that scene, with the chess pieces representing Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio was a little over the top I thought with the lightning and crackling fire. However, I did like that the chess pieces represented the plot that will occur in the play. Iago is a very clever one.

Othello the Movie

One of the reasons I liked the movie is because the actors saying things helps me understand what is going on.  One thing I don't like is that I feel that a lot of important little words are flying over my head. 
The scenes also go a lot faster than I think they when I am reading the play.  I don't know if it's because they or they abridged the play or I just read slow. 

Othello the Movie

I have yet to make an opinion specifically about the movie, but I think so far when we discuss the play in class it is more effective for me. I like the visual that the movie provides, but I feel like because Kenneth Branagh who plays Iago has been so many characters to me within the past year, including Hamlet, Gilderoy Lockhart, and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, that he hasn't quite assumed the Iago role for me yet.

On the other hand, I like Othello. I disagree with what Caroline said, but that's probably because I envisioned Othello as creepy. I didn't really imagine him as kind of a sentimental man except when he's with Desdemona, which I have so far seen in the movie. I like Laurence Fishburne in a lot of other movies, Matrix, Tuskegee Airmen, but since I haven't seen those movies in a while, his other character roles aren't interfering with my opinion of him in Othello like they do with Kenneth. 

Othello

    After reading act three, I didn't get the clown part.  I know it probably isn't important.  One thing that is really bothering me is that everyone is doing things that make Iago's task easier. 
Desdemona keeps nagging Othello about Cassio being reinstated and Cassio makes a secret meeting with Desdemona, and when Othello shows up, he storms out.  If Cassio just went home and Desdemona just stopped talking, everything would be okay. 

Othello the Movie

I really enjoyed the parts of the movie that we watched in class today.  I do think that the actor that plays Othello, though, has very little emotion which makes his role less effective in the play.  His speech to the Duke was a lot more effective to me personally when we went over it in class than when he said it in the movie.  I also find him to be a little bit creepy in the movie, and I don't see him being like that when I picture him when I am reading.  What are y'alls thoughts on the actor that plays Othello?

Othellow

When I was reading Act II, I was very confused about why Iago encourages Cassio to petition to Othellow to get his job back.  Wasn't the whole point to get him fired and out of Othellow's respects? Maybe I am missing something.  Could someone please help me figure this out?

What's Iago Really After?

I definitely agree with Julia that Iago is similar to Dorian in that every evil action he does is driven by selfish desires, and the thought that doing so will make him a better person. Iago is obviously jealous to a certain degree of the success that Othello has reached. In Iago's mind, Othello doesn't deserve to have this kind of recognition or ranking. So instead of taking his lack of promotion like a man, Iago targets Othello, the most successful one there, and tries to bring him down. Just like the Devil did in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", Iago is trying to take down the most successful in order to satisfy himself with just a pinch of pride for doing so.

Othello

I am wondering if y'all think Iago has a similar internal struggle as Dorian Gray. They both create chaos, and I wonder if Iago is immune to it, or if he like Dorian has some kind of internal turmoil. Looking forward to reading a lot more of the play this weekend!

I really found our discussion today in class to be very interesting.  The thing that absolutely amazed me was the comparison between Iago saying, " I am not what I am" in Othello, and God saying "I am what I am" in the Bible.  I think the contrast between the two is really interesting because Iago is the opposite of God because he is so evil, and this quotation confirms that he truly is similar to Satan.  The thing I wonder about though is if Shakespeare meant for Iago to say those lines to contrast God saying "I am what I am" or if it has just been interpreted to be that way.

Othello

   I actually read Othello in eighth grade for Independent Reading, but like the first time I watched the Godfather, a bunch of things flew over my head.  I never really took the time to think about Iago, I just really did not like him, and I didn't really like talking about him.  Now that we are discussing him, he seems a little more interesting to me.  When we were talking about his mind set, he really seemed like a modern villain because the way he finds pleasure is so strange and hard to understand.  The way he takes everything as an insult makes him feel so nasty.

Another thing that I kinda glossed over when I read the play was the amount of racial commentary/content.  The way that the race issue seems really modern to me.  I think it is interesting that people back then found it interesting. 

The Godfather

I thought the movie was really good, and it really ties into what we are learning this year. The characterization of evil that comes through as "doing good" is fascinating. At first, I did not care for Michael, because I thought his intentions were evil rather than "business" like his father. Don Corleone focused on the business side of things and keeping the family on top.