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My thoughts while reading Othello:

Act One Scene 1- When Iago was first introduced, I knew he was the ultimate villain. He's charming enough to make you like him, and then he makes a fool out of you. In the play, Iago makes a fool out of many people;however, his first victim of choice is Roderigo. I felt sympathy for Roderigo, a man who is simply blinded by love. He does not realize that Iago is making him look like a loser and a birdbrain. All Roderigo wants is a way to Desdemona's heart. This may be classified as stupidity or as an admirable action, depending on your perspective of love. Another character that I perceive as foolish or possibly ignorant is Brabantio. How could he not realize that his daughter was not in his house? Does he just not care about her, or is he easily fooled? Either way, I couldn't understand how he could blame Othello for his own oblivion. Scene One also presents the first looks at race in the play. Othello is referenced as the "Moor" and is called names such as "Thick-Lips." I was surprised at Shakespeare's look at race. Throughout the story there are references to skin color. I wondered how audiences perceived this. Did they laugh? Did they sympathize?

Scene 2- Iago continues his trickery in Scene 2, making Othello believe that Brabantio found about the marriage in his own way. I feel bad for Othello being wrongly accused. I wonder what Brabantio's reaction would have been if Othello was a white general. Maybe Brabantio would have been better able to forgive his daughter for sneaking away with a man, if that man's skin color matched that of Brabantio's.

Scene 3- In Scene 3 I was introduced to the Duke and Desdemona. This is the only time in the play in which we will encounter the Duke. However, like many of the other characters in the play the Duke sort of has a "me not we" attitude. He upholds justice by not killing Othello, but most of this is in order to keep Othello as an active general. If they were not in a time of war or Othello was not as skilled of soldier would the Duke have let him explain himself? Would the Duke have just blindly followed the accusations of Brabantio? No one knows for sure, but I definitely would also put question on the character of the Duke. Desdemona is probably my favorite character within the story. She has very few speaking parts when you take a look at the actual script. However, an audience is able to see that she is a loving and caring character.

Act Two

Scene 1- Act Two opens with the discussion of the Turkish fleet position by Montano and several gentleman. This is also when Cassio starts to come into the action. Cassio is always loyal to Othello, and during the story Iago continually tries to tarnish the reputation of Cassio. I personally like Cassio, his loyalty and trustworthiness make him the kind of person that you would want as your friend. This scene also presents a view of Iago's relationship with Emilia. If I were Emilia I would never let Iago call me ugly and a dirty whore. Of course at the time of __Othello's__ publication women would never have been able to stand up for themselves as they do today. I also found one of the sweetest moments in the novel to be when Othello arrives in Cyprus. Desdemona and Othello greet each other with love and pure happiness, unknowing to what will come between them in the end.

Scene 2- As the Herald announces that celebration is in order for everyone, I started to wonder what kind of mischievous deeds would take place at the celebration. A party with tons of people and the probability of many of them being drunk, foreshadows danger and tom foolery approaching.

Scene 3- During Scene 3 I began to wonder how Iago could live with himself? While there are many power hungry people in the world, Iago is possibly one of the most scheming and manipulative characters I have ever witnessed in literature. Sometimes a character commits crime because he has a substantial motivation for doing so. On the other hand, Iago clearly has no pertinent motivation for trying to hurt so many people. Othello did pass him up for a promotion, but that does not justify pulling dirty and unethical tricks on him. Iago may think that Othello and Cassio slept with his wife, but he never provides solid proof for this accusation either. I also wonder why Cassio plays so easily into Iago's hand. If he didn't want to drink, he never had to. He is too concerned with what others think then following his own moral code. Othello also surprises me in this scene. He thinks very quickly and just demotes Cassio without ever giving him a second chance. Kind of harsh if you ask me.

Act Three

Scene 1- This scene introduces us to the Clown, another of my favorite characters. The Clown, while playing only a minuscule part in the play, provides for humor and for Shakespeare to show off his wording skills. Shakespeare has the Clown produce many puns and double meanings in order to add distortion to the plot that is occurring. I also had hope at this point in the play that Cassio would be forgiven. However, in the coming scenes I learned that this wish was not plausible.

Scene 2- I thought this scene was fairly pointless. It establishes trust between Iago and Othello but is very small and does not contribute at all to the overall plot.

Scene 3- Desdemona sets herself up for trouble by assisting Cassio. She never could have known that Othello would go completely mad, but it does seem a little too friendly to help him out that much. Iago again makes me disgusted during this scene. He preys on Cassio because Cassio had been given the job that he desired and Cassio is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Othello also proves his love for Desdemona in this scene. Even though he starts to be suspicious of Cassio and Desdemona, he grants his wife her wish. Othello also sings her praises when Desdemona departs. I think it is important for Shakespeare to establish this love initially so that he can eventually destroy it in the end. Emilia is another character that I feel bad for. She is married to a verbally abusive and degrading husband and she is only trying to win his affection. However, she becomes quite mistaken when she tries to win his love by giving him Desdemona's handkerchief. She never knows what Iago will use it for, and she never knows that it will be used to murder Desdemona.

Scene 4- Scene 3 ends with Othello in a jealous rage. The suspicions that Iago seeds in his mind drives Othello into an angry fit. In contrast, Scene 4 starts with a conversation between Desdemona and the Clown. Shakespeare offers slight humor before the novel turns into a terrible tragedy. Othello then starts his pattern of acting weird around Desdemona. He is obviously overtaken with jealousy and it is driving him to madness. I wonder why he just doesn't ask Desdemona. They have trusted each other over big issues like race and a secret love. However, this small rumor destroys them. Maybe if Othello had remembered that trust is really important in a relationship he would have never gotten himself into such a mess.

Act Four

Scene 1- My hatred for Iago builds during the entire story. With every trick he pulls, I become more and more angered at him. In addition, Othello is stupid for believing him. He puts his entire trust into one man, a man that he before passed up for promotion. In the meantime, Cassio is beginning to trust Iago too. I just wanted to scream, "Don't you know he is a little weasel?" However, none of the characters are cognizant of what Iago is doing to them all. I wish Othello would have been happy with returning to Venice. Othello would have returned to Venice, still a hero and still a respected man. However, instead of hoping for a good life with Desdemona in Venice he thinks only about the fact that Cassio has taken his place.

Scene 2- Othello makes his biggest mistake at the start of Scene 2. He refuses to trust Emilia, who has no motivation to lie to him about Desdemona. The fights between Desdemona and Othello also remind me of relationships today. Often times someone is hiding something or is mad and they wont tell why. If Othello had just been more open with Desdemona, none of the events would have ever happened. However, he is insecure as to why an affluent white girl would marry him. If he was more confident in himself he never would have had to question Desdemona. In Scene 2, I also started to wonder why Roderigo stays around. I understand that Iago is very tricky. But, Roderigo what were you thinking? You had your doubts about him but you didn't trust your gut!

Scene 3- When I first read the song the Willow, I was instantly saddened. I believe Shakespeare uses this song to set up the somber events that are about to take place. Desdemona is completely innoncent and she is the character that suffers the most. That's probably why they classify it as a tragedy though.

Act Five

Scene 1- Throughout this I just anticipated everything crashing apart. It is almost as if you hold your breath wanting to scream out for everyone to stop, but you never can. I'm glad that Shakespeare included onlookers like Gratiano and Lodovico. Because most of the characters are so intertwined, it was nice to have people that aren't involved be a witness to the events. There perspectives on the madness really adds to this scene. In the end I feel extremely sorry for Roderigo. On one hand he was so easily tricked by Iago. Nevertheless, everything he did was in the name of love, which I consider admirable. Cassio was also on the short end of the stick. He never intended to hurt anyone, but was wrongly accused many times.

Scene 2- As everything is crashing apart, I wondered how Shakespeare wasn't depressed writing this. Most people find satisfaction and pleasure in the happy endings. However, Shakespeare wrote multiple tragedies and they didn't have medication for depression back then. Out of all the tragedies, I believe that Othello is the most devestating of all. While Caeser is murdered over stately affairs and ambition, Othello sees his whole life crash apart and murders the one person he truly loves. Once I completed my reading I was very interested in watching it performed. The play is very moving in its written form, but I bet it is even more tragic when it is performed by professional actors.