Essay about Updating the Setting of Shakespeare's Othello

The language and literary techniques used in William Shakespeare's Othello enrich the settings, plot, characters, and themes. Othello is a complex tragedy about good versus evil, loyalty, love, sexual jealousy, appearance versus reality, and intrigue, told in a first person point of view. The play takes place during the Renaissance in Venice, Italy and in Cyprus over three days. It is written in blank verse, usually unrhymed iambic pentameter. The protagonist, Othello, is a Moor well respected by senators for his valiant service in war and married to Desdemona, a Venetian woman. The play is entitled Othello and the plot and action encompass him, thus supporting his position of

Shakespeare's Othello creates a racial vision through comparing between the black and the white people. Shakespeare connects the vision of black people (Othello) with evilness, darkness, and with the devil. While white people (Desdemona) "that whiter skin of her than snow" (4.2.4), represents purity, lighten, and goodness. Othello is represented as a devil because of his skin color and from this we can see how racial prejudices subsisted strongly in the mid sixteenth and in the seventeenth century. Actually Shakespeare uses Othello's complexion as a symbol of his “true” essence. Shakespeare success in representing Othello in a way which provokes the audience,

Othello is a Shakespearean tragedy involving the schemes and plots of the villainous Iago against the Moor, Othello, and his wife Desdemona. Frantic Assembly’s performance of Othello incorporates the dramatic languages and perspectives of Physical theatre, as well as heightened Realism, to effectively re-contextualize the play for a modern audience. The re-contextualized play is very successful whilst still being true to the original text, combining parts of the Shakespearean script with an array of music, dance and movement resulting in the creation of a unique contemporary physical theatre. The elements of drama, along with conventions of both physical and Elizabethan theatre, were used by Frantic Assembly to create a contemporary play

“Othello” is a Shakespearian tragedy set in sixteenth century Venice during the Turkish and Venetian Wars. The story follows the powerful Moor of Venice, Othello, and his tragic moral, military and marital downfall due to the corruption instigated by his jealous ancient, Iago. Throughout the play, the themes of womanhood, appearance versus reality, as well as prejudice in identity are explored. Further, contemporary responders can extract individual meaning through applying the literary criticisms.

Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s

When pairs of texts are considered together, their universal themes and ideas lead to greater understanding, appreciation and insight of both the old and the new. The texts Othello, William Shakespeare (1600) and Othello, Geoffrey Sax (2001), ring true for this statement. Despite the differing contexts and ages, the universal themes of racism and betrayal bring new meaning to each of the texts. The primary meaning from the juxtaposition of the two is that of the human condition, and how the problems faced in the 17th century are faced in modern times.

Fear of cuckoldry is widely known theme in medieval and Renaissance English literature. Fear of cuckoldry was also a widespread fear in English society during those eras. Men often treated their wives as possessions. Once men and women married, divorce was almost impossible, especially since it was almost impossible to prove that one had been cuckolded. If one were cuckolded and one’s wife had another man’s child, one might spend decades taking care of that child and passing on one’s money and belongings to that child without ever knowing that one had been deceived. Unmarried women are seen as their fathers ' property and the play 's two marriages are marked by jealousy and cruelty. Most

“When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself.” – Jodi Picoult. Othello is a very well-known Shakespearian text and is still relevant to today’s audiences. The themes in “Othello” are still applicable to today’s many audiences; Betrayal is a key theme presented in Othello, and is also still relevant to today’s audiences. Racism is a significant addition presented in the play, and unfortunately still pervades contemporary society. Madness and jealousy drive the action as it thrives in the play; these destructive emotions are still

   The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains a number of themes; their relative importance and priority is debated by literary critics. In this essay let us examine the various themes and determine which are dominant and which subordinate.

Othello by William Shakespeare raises the issue of how rampant beliefs and attitudes in a society can cause a person to question their sense of self. In a society where racial equality is near non-existent, Othello, a black skinned foreigner in the Venetian society, is constantly reminded of his status as an outsider. Othello, however, is not depicted in a stereotypical manner and despite occupying a highly respected position he is often confronted with blatant racism throughout the play. The prevailing attitudes and beliefs of Venetian society towards Othello are exploited by Iago in order to manipulate Othello’s self confidence and emotional state.

The play Othello, written and introduced by William Shakespeare, was interestingly written with the influence of a short story written by Cinthio, a famous writer of the time. Cinthio’s Moor depicted certain cultural and historical aspects that were prevalent during the 17th century; for instance, one of Cinthio’s main points related culture and ethnicity and how they many allude to jealousy. William Shakespeare, upon incorporating his own rendition of Cinthio’s Moor, created and staged the play Othello. Othello contains much of the same main themes and character tools and foils as does Cinthio’s depiction; these similar plot and character elements include the characterization of the Moor, Ensign,

In Othello every character has their own personalities that makes them the person they are. In Othello there are characters that show true grit, a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset. Each characters are different which makes the book even more interesting. True grit means to endure and push through to do something better no matter what it takes. An example of grit is studying for a long period of time for a test and enduring the amount of work that must be completed. The definition of mindset is the established set of attitude held by someone. There are two other types of mindset as well. There is growth mindset and fixed mindset. Growth mindset is when the person isn 't

In the play Othello, jealousy is shown to be very evident through the actions of the characters. Jealousy is an emotion that everyone shares, and it is ultimately responsible for the tragic ending of the play. Everyone feels jealous at certain times of their lives, and this feeling can cause people to do irrational things. This human emotion also shows people to be weak in the sense that they are never happy with what they have. Shakespeare shows through Othello, Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio that jealousy is the most corrupt and destructive emotion.

Only by considering a range of perspectives can we truly appreciate the world of Shakespeare’s Othello. It is through my exploration of these perspectives and their relationship with changing morals and values that has enriched my understanding of the play. One such reading of the play challenges the marginalisation and objectification of woman in a patriarchal Venetian society, while taking into account the changing role of women in modern society. Another interpretation of Othello examines its post colonial elements through the protagonist Othello, and his insecurities of being a black man in a white society. My interpretation of the play as a portrayal of the values existing in Shakespeare’s time is filtered through these

It has recently come to my attention that not enough people understand how great William Shakespeare’s Othello has been to our lives. When people look at this book, some of them think that it’s one the most amazing classics of all time, but other think that it’s nothing more than a bunch of clutter, which in reality, it’s not. So I began to research about it, explaining it by the main themes: Jealousy, Warfare, Marriage and Race. Which’ll lead up to the conclusion on how these main themes tie to this story all together. However, it would be safe to assume that William Shakespeare’s Othello is going to be around for a long time and have an enormous impact on the lives of many people.