Great Works I: Remixing Memory

As mischievous as he is, Iago is one of the smartest characters within Othello. Focusing on Act 1, the reader is launched into a pool of mischief, evil genius and hate toward the character. Iago has the ability to persuade persons to believe what he intends, planting corrupt information within them, which in turn leads them to act out of the ordinary. Iago’s start goal was to be lieutenant, nothing will stop him from getting his desire. What feeds his desire, reminds me of Ravana’s sister, Surpanakha, from The Ramayana. Jealousy drove both characters to manipulate and puppeteer others in order to fulfill their wants. Using the wants of others, they allow other characters to dirty their hands in order to fulfill their wants all while helping them in the process. As others do the heavy lifting, Iago and Surpanakha sit back and rile them up. Both characters used similar tactics to carry out their desires. Iago builds his friendship with Rodrigo, leaving Rodrigo to believe that he is on his side. From there he plants information into his head, frustrating the character which leaves him vulnerable. In this example, “Make all the money thou canst. If sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and supersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her” Act 1 Scene 3, Iago persuades Rodrigo not to kill himself. Rodrigo becomes convinced that Desdemona will become weary of Othello, thus he will have his chance to lie with her. Now Iago would have had no problem for letting Rodrigo die, however without Rodrigo becoming lieutenant would be near impossible. This simple act of kindness proves to be more of a manipulative gesture.

Surpanakha lusts for Rama, however it is near impossible for her to be with him as he is married to Sita. In order to be with Rama, Sita must be dealt with. Powerless, a scapegoat is needed to fight her battle. Why not her all mighty brother Ravana. Surpanakha is able to convince her brother to pursue Sita, doing so would give her the chance to marry Rama. Ravana believed his sister was doing what was best for him, on the other hand, it all boiled down to using Ravana’s power to get to Rama. Both characters display jealousy which fueled their manipulative power in order to quench their thirsts.

Scene 2 act 3
In the passage I analyzed Othello was telling the Duke and Brabantio that he had not used any type of trickery, magic, or spells to make Desdemona fall in love with him. They had spent plenty of time together and with all that time spent there were many stories told to her which slowly helped develop love for him. This passage shows a lot about Othellos character and shows the type of person he is. A lot of things put Othello down as a character, as a “moor” Othello is put down due to his former religion (islam), his race, and last but not least skin color. Othello is then converted to Christianity and and becomes a respected soldier located in Venice. One man who respects Othello greatly immediately blames Othello for drugging/tricking Desdemona to marry him. Othello has great respect for Brabantio and real true love for Desdemona. Their love for each other truly came from spending quality time with each other and was not influenced by drugs and or trickery.

IAGO
Stand behind this wall, he’ll walk right into you.
Keep your gun up and ready.
Be quick on your feet. Don’t chicken out. I’ll be right behind you the entire time.
This can either make us or break us.

RODERIGO
Stay close. I’m not so sure about this…

IAGO
Don’t worry! Like I said, I’ll be right behind you.
[IAGO steps aside]

RODERIGO
I really have no good reason to do this, but somehow he has managed to convince me that this is right. My gun, this bullet, holds the fate of a man.

IAGO [aside]
I have practically brainwashed him; anger has consumed him.
At this point it doesn’t even matter who shoots who, I still win either way.
But if RODERIGO lives, I’ll owe him all of the money that I borrowed from him. I can’t have that. But if CASSIO lives, he’ll be a constant reminder of my maliciousness. Also, I can get caught. I can’t have that either. They both have to die. I’ll kill them both. Here they come.

Enter CASSIO

RODERIGO
It’s him! It’s CASSIO!
[he shoots at CASSIO]

CASSIO
I’ve been shot!
[he grabs the gun and shoots CASSIO]

RODERIGO
AHHHH!
[IAGO shoots CASSIO in the leg and runs away]

CASSIO
HELP! SOMEONE HELP!

The Painting above illustrates the scene when Othello stood forth in front of the assembled senate, accused by Brabanzio that he had stolen his own daughter from him by the use of witchcraft. However this accusation does not stand long; Othello fully backs himself up to the senate by explaining that he had won over Desdemona through the tales of his adventures in times of war and travel. Othello’s argument is sufficient enough for the Duke and the senate to find it reasonable and truthful. To back this up even further, Desdemona enters the room as well to defend her own reasoning in marrying Othello. After hearing all of this, the Duke wastes no time in telling Othello that he is needed in Cyprus in order to provide aid in the fight against the advancing Turks. Desdemona is found kneeing in this painting because she begs the Duke to allow herself to join along-side her own husband, Othello, on his trip to war. She does not want to be left behind and miss the action, this could be her one and only opportunity to experience something like this.

I will be focusing on lines 377-404 from Act one scene three.  Roderigo just finished telling Iago that he wished to drown himself and Iago’s response was a little surprising.  Instead of being sympathetic, he replied, “Drown thyself?” (378).  It seemed as if Iago said this line in a sarcastic tone, as if the thought of suicide was so ridiculous that he could not believe Roderigo even thought of it.  Right before Iago said this line, he commanded, “Come, be a man!” (378).  Saying these words first made the “Drown thyself?” line seem even more condescending.  It made it seem as if Iago was almost angry at Roderigo for thinking of such an outlandish idea.  Iago also kept repeating the line, “Put money in thy purse,” (382).  It seems as if Iago was saying that Roderigo’s original idea is unintelligent and Iago’s idea is much better because he keeps repeating this line.  Iago said this line six times in one speech.  Iago seemed to be very intent on convincing Roderigo to make money rather than stress out over Desdemona.  Iago continues to tell Roderigo that Desdemona will most likely leave Othello eventually so Roderigo should make as much money as he can now so that he will have a good amount of money for when Desdemona is single so he can win the woman over.  Basically, Iago is giving Roderigo false hope to try and make him feel better.

In Act 2 scenes I-II, while waiting for the ship to arrive, this when lago, Cassio Emilia, Desdemona, and Roderigo are all chatting. Iago starts to generalize and starts to badmouth/criticize all women, saying they’re all lying, deceptive and lustful creatures. “Come on, come on; you are pictures out of doors, saints in injuries, devils being offended, Players In your housewifery, and housewives in your beds” (Act 2 scene 1). It’s interesting somewhat compelling how much of a deceptive, envious individual Iago’s is, he later on comes up with an elaborate plan to make Othello think that Cassio in sleeping with his wife. Iago uses Cassio’s simple holding of Desdemona hand, against him. “You say true; t is so, indeed; if such tricks as these strip you out of your lieutenantry, it had been better you had not kissed your three fingers so oft. Which now you again you are the most apt to play sir in” (Act 2 scene 1). It seem Iago is somewhat jealous of Cassio’s position and rank, he might be jealous that Cassio got promoted to a higher rank before him. Iago in my mind is a great villain; it’s extraordinary how he plots and gets away with certain things. Later on he succeeds in convincing Roderigo that Desdemona is an adulterous, lustful women that is sleeping with Cassio. “Now sir, this granted- as it a most pregnant and unforced position- who stands so eminently in the degree of this fortune as Cassio does? A knave mere form of civil and humane seeming, for the better compassing of his salt and most hidden loose affection? The knave is handsome, young and hath all those requisites in him that folly and green minds look after a pestilent complete knave” (Act 2 Scene 1). It’s remarkable how Iago doesn’t have to really do much to persuade individuals to what he wants; he’s a very manipulative/ deceptive person, which I find very interesting for some odd reason.

Titan is the resident theater company at Queens Theater in Flushing Meadow Park. Titan’s production of Othello was unique to a lot of others because Titan is composed of only female actors. I thought these women were good performers for each of their parts. They showed emotion through their voice, their face, face and their mannerisms. The production was also unique because they didn’t perform on a typical stage. This production was right in front of the audience. The actors were within fifteen of the audience at all times. It felt like you were actually in the performance with the actors. I was also impressed by the actresses abilities to simulate slaps and fights so well. When they pretended to slap each other they slap sounded incredibly real and the reaction to the slap was great too. Even the fighting where the actresses shoved each other was acted out well. The actresses that were shoved threw themselves to the floor or into the walls like they were actually shoved.
I thought the performance was good but I would personally have preferred if men played the role of the men. The women playing Othello and Iago and all of the male characters threw me off for the first couple minutes of the play. I wasn’t able to remember who each actress was supposed to be until I realized that the women playing women were wearing dresses and the ones playing men were dressed similar to how men would dress in the time. Overall I thought the performance was good and if it wasn’t over already I would recommend it to anybody who wanted to see a production of Othello.

I went to see the performance of Othello at Queens Theatre on Friday, May 1^st. A major decision they made for this production of Othello was that female actors did all of the acting. They also changed the play to make the male characters into females. For instance, instead of Othello being Desdemona’s husband, the female playing him was instead her wife. At first this was a little odd to me because it was hard to keep track of who was a male character in the book, and who was a female. Once I got used to it, it was as if I did not even notice. I thought this was a strong decision because it was different from the norm of Shakespeare’s time. Back then, all acting would be done by male actors, even female characters. The fact that all women played the characters at this performance of Othello shows how much females have come and how much they have been able to evolve. Along with this, the actors did a great job performing the male roles. They were very strong, confident, and loud. Even though there was no background set, I was able to picture it in my head because of the acting done. In my opinion, this was an accurate and good performance of how I believe the play would have looked. The fact that all of the characters were females did not take away from the performance at all because they played such strong roles. It shows now that women can do anything, which was less heard of in Shakespeare’s time period. I believe this performance of Othello has proven that women have come a long way since then and a gender should not be such an important aspect of a human being. The women actors did just as great a job as I feel men would be able to do. I believe the performance at Queens Theatre was a great performance of Othello and very similar to how I would imagine it while reading the play.

When Iago first shares his suspicion of Desdemona’s adultery, Othello rejects it. In Act III, Scene three, on lines 177-192, Othello tells Iago that he does not doubt the sincerity of his relationship with Desdemona. What I find interesting is that Othello does not automatically begin his response by defending Desdemona. Instead, he speaks negatively of getting caught up by jealousy, “Think’st thou I’d make a life of jealousy, / To follow still the changes of the moon / With fresh suspicions” (Shakespeare, Act III)?. It is as if he acknowledges that Desdemona may be unfaithful but that it is not something worth getting caught up about. Granted, he does proceed to say good things about his wife. Othello portrays confidence when he tells Iago that Desdemona willingly and knowingly chose to marry him. I still find it weird that he never blatantly tells Iago that his wife would not cheat on him. A woman’s infidelity in the play is seen as a terrible offense so Othello should be insulted that Iago would even suggest that. I am most confused by Othello’s last line in his response to Iago, “Away at once with love and jealousy” (Act III)!. Instead of focusing on his wife’s character, he is focusing on the concept of love and the concept of jealousy. He has already established that he does not want to feel jealousy which in understandable because that might just be too painful for him. But if he is as in love with Desdemona as I am supposed to believe, then I do not see why he would want to do away with love. Love is supposed to be what caused and holds together his marriage. It is possible that he has become so jealous at just the thought of Desdemona cheating on him that he already wants to start talking about how bad love is out of bitterness. Regardless of his reasoning, his reaction to Iago’s suspicion is not as strong as it should have been considering his love with Desdemona is supposedly very strong.

For the commonplace blog’s analysis of a passage requirement, I’m using the passage in Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 149-296.

In this passage, Othello is telling Desdemona’s father Brabantio and the Duke that he didn’t use spells, tricks, or magic of any kind to make Desdemona fall in love with him. He states that they spent time together with him telling her the many stories of his adventures and she slowly developed her love of him. The main significance of this passage in the play is it gives the readers a clear view of the kind of person that Othello is. As a “Moor”, Othello is put down because of his race, skin color and his former religious follow which was Muslim. In the play, he has converted to Christianity and is a respected soldier for Venice. Despite this, Brabantio, who respects him greatly, when he hears that Desdemona has ran off to marry Othello without his permission, he immediately blames Othello for drugging or using tricks of some sort to make Desdemona marry him. Othello’s proclamation of his own innocence in this crime shows that he also has a great respect for Brabantio and a pure love for Desdemona as seen when he says “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them.” telling that their love for each other come from them spending time with each other and was not influenced or caused by outside influences.