LITERATURE

1. What was your purpose? What effect were you trying to achieve?

The purpose of this paper was to educate the reader on the major themes, the major conflict,

2. What was interesting about the process you went through in writing this paper, and what did you learn from it?

I found it personally interesting to have read the play, then to watch the film. I feel I learned much more about the play itself and events that occurred through watching the film.

3. What was the most difficult about this paper, and what did you learn from the attempt?

What was most difficult truly was getting all of my ideas onto paper and I learned that really summarizing a play is much harder than one would think.  

4. What do you see as the strengths of the paper, and what would you try to do if you were to revise it some more?

I see the strengths of the paper to be the inside knowledge of Venetian history as well as previous experience reading the play.

5. What’s not a part of your paper that you think might help a reader understand or appreciate it more? What didn’t you put in? Are there certain events or feelings or memories that led you to write on this topic or to take this approach?

Really I think if I could add anything else in my paper I would maybe explore the role of the other characters aside from Othello, Desdemona, Iago, and Emilia.

 

6. What kind of feedback or response would you like from your instructor?

I would appreciate any feedback that would help this to be a better paper.

Drama Critique III

Oliver Parker’s film version of Othello would be well received because of its somewhat casual approach to a Shakespearian classic. Through Parker’s interpretation, the film provided the viewer another opportunity to further understand this timeless classic in a more simplistic manner. His directing and the performances of both Laurence Fishbourne and Kenneth Branaugh helped to effectively identify the major conflict, complications, climax, and the resolution that are all present in Shakespeare’s original writing of his classic, Othello.

From the very beginning of the film Othello is faced with one major conflict that is not resolved until essentially the climax of the film. Othello, as he is Black and also not Venetian, suffers from the effects of racism on all fronts. In the opening scene of the film, Othello marries Desdemona in a private wedding ceremony unbeknownst to her father. Iago and Roderigo spy upon this marriage and immediately run to Barbantio, Desdemona’s father, and request that he hold “the moor” accountable for his daughters abduction. From this scene Parker lays the tone for the racism that Othello will be subjected to. It is not even a question of Desdemona loving Othello, rather Barbantio accuses Othello of some sort of witchcraft by which he charmed Desdemona into marrying “the moor.” This set of words, “the moor”, become commonplace throughout the opening exchanges between Barbantio, Othello, and the Court of Venice demonstrating that he is nothing more than his skin color. This is quite comical because Othello is a general in the Venetian Army and has experienced great success in the many battles he has been sent to fight in. One would think that such a title would harbor success, yet that could never be further from the truth. The reality is, Othello is black, he fights for a city state that is overwhelmingly white, and a marriage between Desdemona and Othello could not possibly be through the willing of Desdemona.

Desdemona, played by Irene Jacob, enters the scene as Othello gives a detailed description of how the two fell in love. Oliver Parker takes this a step forward by illustrating the events that take place in the romance between Othello and Desdemona. Othello recalls that it was his stories of battles and victories that caught the ears of Desdemona and she became entranced by these stories. Othello and Desdemona became closer as he told her more and more on his returns and this ultimately blossomed into a relationship. In the acted out portion of this account Desdemona at one point is touched by the words of Othello, and Othello uses the handkerchief his mother gave him to wipe away her tears. This action would ultimately have bearing on the rest of the film. When the scene returns to the mock trial of Othello, Desdemona confirms all of what Othello said and wishes for her father to accept Othello as his son in law. Barbantio rather than accepting Othello more or less gives Desdemona away to “the moor.”

The final scene, in which racism runs rampant in Parker’s film version, is where Othello and Desdemona are symbolically reunited on Cyprus. Laurence Fishburne commandeers an emotional role and thus portrays it well in this scene. As they are reunited Othello and Desdemona partake in a long passionate kiss that in a way symbolizes the passion and love they have for one another. One criticism of this scene is possibly the “love” may have been a bit overdone; however, this works to Parker’s benefit of portraying racism as a major theme of his film. As the kiss commences, the once joyous Venetians who have just returned from a victory against the Turks, take on a more subdued attitude. As the camera pans the group, it becomes clear that there subdued behavior is not out of respect for this tender moment being shared between two lovers, but rather disgust that she is kissing a moor. There is an eerie almost awkward silence as Othello proclaims his love for Desdemona in front of hundreds of Venetians, none of whom share in his happiness.

Parker’s directing style takes full advantage of the use of accents to keep the setting authentic. For all of the Venetians, who make up the majority of the cast, speak with a very delicate Italian accent. In a way this helps the listener to focus on the words without being overwhelmed by Sheakesperean English because accents always intrigue the ear. To amplify the overbearing theme of racism, Othello, who is neither Italian nor white, speaks with a strong powerful voice with an ethnic rather than Italian accent. This accent sets Othello apart. and in some scenes the characters seem to assume a different attitude when he speaks opposed to when they speak with each other. It almost appears that they think he is dumber because of the way he speaks, a fact that is most prominently portrayed in Othello’s final encounter with Emilia prior to the climax. She seems to speak in a less glamorous manner when dealing with Othello as opposed to how she speaks with Desdemona.

Aside from racism, jealousy also rears its’ ugly head in Parker’s film version of Othello. Kenneth Branaugh, playing Iago, is the lynchpin of this theme through his Machiavellian schemes and his witty banter and asides to the audience. Iago upon hearing the disgust of Roderigo toward the newlyweds hatches a plot to both remove Othello, and to fulfill the wishes of Roderigo, or so Roderigo would hope. Iago, in the eyes of Othello, turns from villain to hero from the opening scenes until their arrival on Cyprus. Iago called Barbantio’s men to confront Othello following the marriage with Desdemona, and after seeing how such a situation could actually benefit him, befriends Othello and assures him that he has his full support and backing. Unbeknownst to Othello, Iago is a cunning opportunist who hopes to fuel Othello’s passion into jealousy of the charming Michael Cassio. Iago hopes to gain leverage in the situation by emerging as the hero and portraying Othello as the villain. Iago, a native Venetian, harbors great resentment for Othello because he was overlooked for “a moor” for the position of General in the Venetian Army. He then cleverly uses Michael Cassio, a Florentine, to create jealousy by manipulating situations where they see Cassio and Desdemona alone. In the opening scene in Cyprus Iago cleverly speaks of how Cassio and Desdemona dance and how they seem to have such great chemistry between them. He even includes details such as “the sparkle in her eyes,” hoping to get Othello to doubt the marriage from the beginning. As a result, Othello gradually becomes more and more convinced that Desdemona is indeed having an affair with Michael Cassio.

This constitutes a complication in the rising action as Othello is no longer fueled by his love for Desdemona, but is rather enraged by even the possibility that Desdemona has fallen for another man. The power and emotion of Othello is portrayed well by Laurence Fishburne as he gradually spends less and less time with Desdemona and more time with Iago. Iago continues to feed lies to Othello, and Othello believes it all. In an encounter with Desdemona, Othello openly slaps her in front of her family, enraging her cousin and also causing Desdemona to withdraw from him. As she passionately loved Othello from the beginning, Desdeoma loves him until the end. Even through this tough situation, she still proclaims her innocence even falling to tears over Othello doubting her fidelity. Irene Jacob does a fantastic job in playing the role of a woman being accused of a multitude of offenses and yet seemingly tries to put that behind her and focus on how much she really loves and cares for someone. It was very realistic in that respect, because she did not have anything to hide and she loved with a whole heart. Othello, however, as stubborn as he is passionate is seemingly unattached and despite Desdemona’s best efforts remains unmoved. Fishburne portrays this role with expertise especially in the final scene of the rising action. While Iago and Othello meet and talk in the prison, Othello hides around the corner as Cassio approaches. Bianca, Cassio’s lover. comes down in a fit of rage after finding the handkerchief of another woman. This handkerchief as it turns out happens to be the very same handkerchief that Othello gave Desdemona. Iago cunningly used his wife to retrieve the handkerchief and plant it on the bed of Cassio. As a result, Othello sees enough incriminating evidence to conclude that Desdemona is unfaithful and he falls into a spat of rage and slips into a seizure. During this seizure, Othello fails to hear the words of Cassio proclaiming his innocence to Bianca which would in turn, turn out to be decisive. Through his rage he nearly rips the chains from the walls of the cell, and after coming too he concludes that he must tell Desdemona of her crime and bring her to justice.

Othello in a rage returns to go to bed with Desdemona once more. He asks if Desdemona has prayed that eve. For if she has not, she may want to if she wants to reach heaven. Desdemona acts surprised, but seems almost prepared for this moment. She has felt Othello’s love for her failing and she does not quite understand why, but Othello’s seemingly irreversible rage will be the death of this marriage. She asks if Othello intends to kill her, and for what crime she may deserve this. Othello once again tells her of her unfaithfulness and gives proof as to what she has done. At this moment she is lost for words, and before she can come up with a rebuttal Othello dramatically smothers her with his pillow. Desdemona who truly loves Othello fights for her life and through her previous actions, one would be sure that she would forgive Othello even for this if she were to survive. Her efforts, however, fall in vain and she succumbs to death. Emilia then enters the room and scolds Othello for what he has done. She then explains to him that Iago had asked for the handkerchief for unannounced reasons and that Othello was foolish to believe the lies of Iago. Even as Iago’s wife, Emilia does not believe every word of the callous calculating character that is Iago, but she had expected no less from “the moor” and in reaction she cries out “Murder! Murder! The Moor has killed my mistress!”

The conflict and climax of Parker’s film ultimately reaches a dramatic resolution with all parties having their quarrels resolved. Upon hearing word of Iago’s betrayal, Othello unleashes immeasurable rage upon Iago mortally wounding him as soon as he comes into the room. Emilia then atones for her actions and makes Iago accountable. Upon finding out Emilia is the cause of this snare in the plan, Iago stabs Emilia and she collapses upon the bed next to her mistress. Othello once he realizes the enormity of his crime is slipped a dagger. As discreet as it would be in person, Oliver Parkers, seemingly shows this exchange so that those with a careful eye will notice the dagger and those who did not will realize what happened in the following action. Othello dramatically walks to the side of the bed and asks for forgiveness from Desdemona’s family and those who died through this struggle. He then takes the dagger and stabs himself in the stomach giving him time to die by the side of his lover. Whatever fate awaits him he is willing to accept the consequences and he dies. Iago then is the only wounded character remaining and he too expiresfrom his wounds, but not a second before he hears the magnitude of his actions. Oliver Parker closes the scene with Emilia, Desdemona, and Othello being draped in sunlight while Iago symbolically is cast into the shadows. I believe he does this as the three innocent characters died as a result of Iago, the cunning and evil antagonist of the film.

Parker reincarnates Shakespeare’s timeless classic into a film version that is as casual as it is informative. In order to understand Othello one must understand the supporting details as well as historical fact to really understand the complexities and conflicts that arise in the film. The directing of Oliver Parker and the performances of both Laurence Fishbourne and Kenneth Branaugh helped to effectively identify the major conflict, complications, climax, and the resolution that are all present in Shakespeare’s original writing of his classic, Othello. Watching films is an effective tool in understanding a play and as well as providing in some cases a refreshing alternative to reading. Through reading of other film critiques on the same movie, generating some interesting ideas was not a great difficulty, and those critiques helped to explain the film in greater detail.