(Desdemona by Alexandre Cabanel. Photo credit to @sof01 on flickr.)

This adaptation by Oliver Parker was really enjoyable to watch, and as some of my classmates have already noted in their respective posts, it was successful in its presentation due to the cutting and addition of certain lines. I think it worked well for the most part, though I was disappointed to see these lines cut:

“She wished she had not heard it, yet she wishes/That heaven had made her such a man. She thanked me,/And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her,/I should but teach him how to tell my story,/And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake.” (1, 3, 187-192).

I think these are important lines that give Desdemona some depth beyond the story of the adaptation; the unfortunate wife of a jealous husband. These lines don’t so much alter the story or her character, but inform her motivation to be with Othello beyond her faithfulness due to her religion. In these lines, it’s revealed by Othello that she expressed her desire to endeavor on such adventures, and getting close to the source of this journey, namely himself, pleased her to no end. The stories made her want to be with him and they were the key to her seeing more to Othello than “the Moor”. Her motivation to be with Othello is closely related to her lack of stories, his make up for her void. He completes her, and she, in listening and accepting these stories through his eyes, completes him. Not including these lines in the film simply makes for a character that goes unexplored, a character in Desdemona that would have been really interesting to see. In the same way that Othello’s tales give depth to his character in Desdemona’s eyes, these lines give Desdemona depth in Othello’s eyes and in our reading of her.  I think the addition of these lines would have been more valuable than it may at first let on.