Othello by William Shakespeare

[Corinne]

This goes without saying: it's a tragic story. Othello is a quintessential tragic figure, falling prey to the lies and deceits of his inferior officer Iago, who convinces Othello that his wife, Desdemona is unfaithful. The jealousy and rage that result from Othello's belief that Desdemona is having an affair with his right hand man (Cassio) leads to numerous innocents being maimed and killed. I sorta figured it would end up that way somehow :)

At the crux of this story is Iago - the lying and conniving standard bearer who wants to improve his standing in the army and goes about purposely ruining the lives of all those around him in order to gain the post of lieutenant. Iago is, ironically, constantly being called "honest" and "true" by his companions, he almost has a split personality. Shakespeare lets us even hear his thoughts occasionally- how carefully and craftily Iago leads everyone to their doom. It was so painful to see Othello slip deeper and deeper under Iago's spell, knowing how pliable he was allowing himself to be under Iago's hands.

And poor Desdemona and her unlucky token. If only she'd kept that danged handkerchief in her pocket, she might've had a chance to prove her innocence. Well, possibly. It's hard to say if anything could've broken through Othello's belief that she was untrue to him. How sobering to watch something beautiful like the love between Othello and Desdemona twist into something so very ugly - a reminder to constantly take everything you hear with more than a grain of salt. Ulterior motives and hatred can breed misery for anyone not on his guard.

Shakespeare is a genius. The lyrical nature of the turns of phrase and the way the characters interact and react is fascinating. Let's end with a few of my favorite quotes:

Regarding getting drunk (one night of drunkenness for Cassio starts a whole chain of horrible events for him)
"O that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!"

Regarding reputations
"Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving"

Regarding jealousy (ironically enough, it's IAGO saying this to OTHELLO!!)
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on."

Well said, William Shakespeare. Well said.

[Mark Weissman]

It's interesting that many people, even those in your husband's category, shy away from reading Shakespeare, despite the fact that so much of contemporary literature and film is based upon his works. In fact, my daughter had to read Hamlet this past year for her English class. (She'll be a senior this year) and she was asked to write an essay about some facet of Shakespeare. I suggested to her that a good topic would be the use of Shakespearean works in contemporary film. We sat done and began to name popular films based upon Shakespearean plays. The list we came up surprised both of us; it was enormous. We both were amazed how well his plays hold up.

I'm glad to hear that your book club is trying to read a Shakespeare-a-year. Actually, I found that reading many works back-to-back was very helpful. You get into the rhythm of the iambic pentameter and the plays become very "readable."

[Corinne]

I liked both Hamlet and Othello a lot - but I think King Lear might actually be my favorite. I can't actually imagine my husband reading Shakespeare, although is a brilliant guy :) My book club is trying to read a Shakespeare-a-year. I guess in 30 years or so I'll have read them all :)

[Mark Weissman]

I was recently in need of new reading material and hadn't made my usual pilgrimage to the local bookstore. I decided to re-read some of my Shakespeare; an act causing my wife to raise her eyebrow and comment once again on the how could she have married such a geek. Despite her mild reproach, I dove into the bard. I thoroughly enjoyed Othello. I think Hamlet is still my favorite, but Othello is right up there.