There is a huge difference between reading a play and watching it be performed. When you are able to see it you see the gestures and facial expression that words can’t give you. You are able to grasp the emotion of the characters by simple movements or placements and that is what happened in a scene of Othello the movie. The scene that stood out to me the most was the scene where Iago and Roderigo are telling Brabantio about his daughter and Othello. “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are making the beasts with two backs.”(page 15, lines 129-131) He is slandering Othello’s name to make it seem a lot worse that his daughter is with a Moor. He is manipulating Brabantio to make him have a huge problem with the situation that is happening. What was said was very important but I want to focus on where Iago was standing compared to Roderigo and the importance of it.

It was interesting to see that Iago was standing behind wall so he cannot be seen while speaking to Brabantio while Roderigo was standing out in the open. What was interesting about this situation was that when I read the play we did not know that this was happening. We believed that they were both speaking to Brabantio face to face. We do not know how Shakespeare originally wanted it but when the film was made they through that little twist on the scene. That twist was important and perfect to show the type of person Iago was. Through this scene, you were able to see that Iago is a man that hides from his actions. Just like his plan to destroy Othello he manipulates every character in the play but none of them know just like Brabantio was not sure that it was Iago speaking. He was using Roderigo as his puppet so he could receive all the blame if it were to get back to Othello. I thought that this was a great move by director Oliver Parker because of the creativity and symbolism that it brought to the scene. This is why it is very important to watch plays be performed as well as reading it. You are able to pick up on things that were impossible to see while reading the text. Iago is a coward and a snake that will use whomever to get to his goal and that is exactly what Parker shows through this scene.

Visual element-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOG_Cc-DKZI

Skip to 3 minutes and 55 seconds and you will see the scene where Iago is hiding behind the wall when telling Brabantio about his daughter.