Essay Analysis of Shakespeare's Othello with links to Orson Welles' adaptation and Parker's 1995 version

The challenge in this unit has been to evaluate the play after considering what others think. How has your own view of Othello been augmented by other views?Discuss through close reference to Shakespeare's original text and at least two different ways of considering Othello.

William Shakespeare's tragic play Othello explores the deterioration of Othello due to one tragic flaw - jealousy. The original text provides a thematic foundation contributing to my perceptions of an obscure antagonist's motive and the impacts of his deception. Personal evaluations of racist and feminist ideologies that arise within Othello are augmented by reinterpretations including the flawed masterpiece of Othello(1952) directed by Orson Welles and Oliver Parker's modern feature film Othello(1995), exposing perspectives shaped by context. Considering numerous interpretations of Shakespeare's Othello broadens the perspectives of individuals, strengthening personal understanding.

Iago is a heinous villain in Othello, but it is his motive to devastate Othello that fascinates responders, provoking a spectrum of psychoanalytical responses.

From the Library of Congress: TITLE: Thos. W. Keen...

English: Photographic full-length portrait of Edwi...

Illustration of Othello and Iago

Iago declares a hatred for Othello because Othello chose Cassio over him for lieutenant "Mere prattle without practice…But he, sir, had th'election", speaking with spiteful alliteration, stating that Cassio lacks soldiership whilst also exposing his personal jealousy. Iago also assumes Othello has slept with his wife "'twixt my sheets he's done my office" with no reasonable evidence, using this perverse logic as an incentive to injure. Simply labeling Iago as the personification of evil does not do justice to Shakespeare's skill of character development, leading Leslie Y. Rabkin (1973) to presume Iago was a sadist who suffered from self-contempt and a desire to project the feelings onto others. A majority of the play depicts Iago as the puppeteer "I'll pour this pestilence into his ear", his superiority exaggerated with metaphor, comparing rumours to a virulent disease that plagues Othello's mind with...