Willie Ho

When first reading Othello, all I knew was that he was not light skinned. This affected my depiction of the play. The play may be in fact speaking of something more than a story between the love of Othello and Desdemona so far. It could be a reflection of the slavery and the relations between slaves and their masters during Shakespeare's time. When Othello and Desdemona claim to love each other they cannot have a regular marriage. They are summoned by the Duke due to Brabanzio because they suspect Othello of using some magic to woo Desdemona. That isn't the case but the Duke and Brabanzio believe so because they are unwilling to accept the fact that there can be a love between two races. Shakespeare is trying to send out a message to the society in which this play was released to.

Othello act 1 and 2

Among many Shakespearian tragedy, Othello was the only unfamiliar story to me. I only knew the major stream of story and never bother to read this unlike his other writings. Othello was written differently compare to other Shakespearian tragedy that Othello's tragic life has nothing to do with family,nor kingdom. Othello tells story of a man who were happy but yet he has sense of inferiority toward others. He was a black man and married to beautiful white woman named Desdemona. When Aigo was rejected for his promotion from Othello, he seeks for vengeance. Othello was set up by Aigo to mistrust his own wife Desdemona that she was cheating on him with handsome white man named Cassio. Othello ended up killing Desdemona with his own hand. Later he finds out that it was all Aigo's plan. His heartbreak led to his suicide. This is a story of a man who doubt himself and shallow up by his inferiority.

Othello Acts I and II

As I read Othello, I found it to be one of those plays that I just wanted to intervene and set everything straight. First off, the character Iago (obviously the antagonist), is so deceptive and conniving; he just uses the characters to make situations play out in his favor. He would pretend to be one type of person with one character and completely switch his words and personality with another character; playing each and every one of them for fools. He seems to be trying to bring Othello down, but Othello is oblivious to this plan. Secondly, Othello is portrayed as this naïve character that seems to trust Iago. So far, the play follows the characters through this conflict and Iago’s plot of Othello’s demise.

Courtney Lum

In many ways I feel as though Shakespeare had created his characters to be very one dimensional. Othello is characterized a good natured man, who’s naivety and trust will ultimately be his demise, meanwhile Iago is pure evil who’s only characteristics support that by him being manipulative, untrustworthy, and deceitful. Since the characters are given such simple personalities it is extremely easy to distinguish the protagonist/ tragic hero (which in this play would be Othello) and the antagonist who will most likely cause his demise (which would be Iago). Yet given such simple characteristics, the plot is seemingly complex, for it an intricate love conflict in which Othello has married the woman Roderigo lusts for, so Iago, who has been helping Roderigo in his pursuit of the lady and also hates Othello for his own reasons, plots against him.

Othello

This week in class we began reading the Shakespearean tragedy, Othello. I never really enjoyed reading Shakespeare in the past mainly because of the difficulty I have reading his strange use of the English language. His wording takes time to get accustom to and sometimes I’ll have to read lines many times to understand what he’s trying to say. However, the plot of Othello is intriguing because of the varying themes of love, jealousy and deception. Iago is considered the antagonist of the play, although it’s not obviously seen in the reading. Iago is annoyed that Othello did not choose him for promotion in the Venetian army and even though he is Othello’s trusted “friend”, he is simultaneously plotting his demise. It will be interesting to see how Othello’s trust in Iago will ultimately lead to his downfall, which is what I assume will happen.

Othello

I have never read Othello, but I have seen the movie, O. I really enjoyed the movie, actually, most likely because, even though it’s based on Shakespeare’s play, they don’t in that way. To be honest I’m not really a big fan of Shakespeare. I tend to like the overall concept of the story better then I enjoy actually reading it. Othello hasn’t proven to be an exception to that as of yet. As I have only read act 1 so far I have only gotten into the beginnings of the story. Iago is evil, but also kind of clever, which is interesting. I also find Iago’s rage and pure passion for revenge to be interesting, especially since I know he’ll cause a lot of damage throughout the play.

Felicia Ooi; Othello Acts I & II

I found the plot of Shakespeare's Othello to be one full of deception and intrigue as well as a lot of political conflict. While Othello is the protagonist of the play, Iago definitely has to be the antagonist, albeit one who does not outwardly portray himself as an antagonist. In fact, Iago plays the role of Othello's supposedly faithful ancient (ensign bearer). What we do know though is that Iago is nursing a grudge against Othello for not choosing Iago to be his liutenant, overlooking him in favor of Michael Cassio. The first act itself shows Iago plotting with Roderigo against Othello in an attempt to overthrow Othello's from his current position in the military by convincing Brabantio that Othello had stolen Desdemona away. However, this plan failed as Othello managed to convince the Duke of his and Desdemona's mutual love for each other.

The second act showed us more of Iago's devious plots, even convincing Cassio to turn against Othello. Iago plays on the fact that both Roderigo and Cassio are in love with Desdemona and uses this to his advantage. Iago is certainly the epitome of a conniving and treacherous back-stabber. What puzzles me though is how Othello can be so oblivious to Iago's treacherous actions.

Othello Acts I and II

In the first Acts of this play, we are introduced to its main characters. Iago is evil, conniving and the antagonist of the play. He is basically "the sheep in wovles clothing." He pretends to like everyone while striking each of them in their backs. Othello so far is seen as a noble man who believes in justice. Desdemona is a very passive and submissive wife. She not only loves Othello but worships him as well. Roderigo and Cassio are two people who are secretly in love with Desdemona but cannot have her since she is already married to Othello.
Iago's main reason for not liking Othello is because he was passed over in postion of army and his position was given to Cassio. This is the main bone of contention in this play and it starts the ball rolling from the first scene. Due to this Iago decides to take revenge on Othello no what it takes and uses anybody (Roderigo, Cassio) to get to his goal.

Margaret Yoon: Othello Acts I and II

Reading Othello is proving to be quite an interesting experience because I have never encountered a character as deceptive as Iago in any Shakespeare play I have read. Even Medea, who was very persuasive in her words, is not as manipulative as Iago, because she does not feign her true intentions to the extent that Iago does. Because he uses deceit in nearly all of his actions, I feel a natural sympathy towards Othello, whereas I had a little contempt for Jason because he was unfaithful to Medea as a husband. But Othello is more innocent and virtuous, which is furthered by Othello’s entrance in the play, for he appears as a character with quiet calm instead of the passionate and violent persona Iago connotates with him, taking away any credibility the reader has for Iago.

I found Othello’s societal position particularly intriguing because he is welcomed but also remains a foreigner in Venetian society. For instance, his race, physical appearance, and life history distinguish him from other Venetians, which ignites Brabanzio’s fears that he has utilized withcraft on his daughter. At the same time, other characters, such as the duke, treat him as vital part of the state. This is underscored when Othello and the others enter and the duke immediately delves into business, telling Othello that they need him to war against the Ottoman Turks. It is after addressing Othello that the duke notices Brabanzio, and when Brabanzio asks for justice, the duke wants to hear more from Othello. Once Othello delivers his moving speech about winning Desdemona’s heart, the duke feels the matter is over and Othello is not at fault. Thus, Othello continues to overshadow and overpower Brabanzio physically and politically.

Discussion questions: How does Othello’s “flaws” contribute to Iago’s goal to destroy him?

How does isolation on the island of Cyprus allow many of the play’s effects to develop?

Blindness appears yet again as recurring theme in tragedy. Which characters are blind to the “truth” or “reason,” and what comparisons can be made to other plays and works we have read that emphasize blindness?