That bloody handkerchief.

It lies there, a silent witness to a tale of mystery and perhaps, horror. The deep red stains on it seem to tell a story that is yet to be unravelled.

The images accompanying it add an air of enigma. The first image, a compressed photo, shows a scene that could be related to the origin of that bloody handkerchief. It might be a crime scene or a place where something tragic occurred.

The second image, a gif, perhaps hints at some kind of movement or action that led to the appearance of the bloody handkerchief. It could be a struggle, a chase, or something even more sinister.

As we look at these images and the bloody handkerchief, our minds are filled with questions. Who does the handkerchief belong to? What happened to cause the bloodstains? Will the mystery ever be solved?

Only time will tell as we continue to explore this strange and captivating story.

New York City, sometime in the late 1990s:

I'm in the first semester of my freshman year of college. I'm in way over my head financially. (Manhattan is expensive, y'all!) I'm working 40+ hours a week, making a whopping $6.50 an hour selling porcelain dolls at a certain famous toy store for the Christmas season and attending classes full time. One night while I'm at work, listening to some old rich biddy yell at me because her credit card is expired and I can't magically make it work. (“NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE TO GET MY DRIVER TO DRIVE ME ALL THE WAY BACK TO CENTRAL PARK WEST TO GET THE NEW CARD, I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY!!”) when I realize “Oh, fudge.* My term paper on Othello is due tomorrow morning!” I'm supposed to have written about how reading the play differs from watching it on film (specifically the 1995 version starring Laurence Fishburne as Othello), but have inconveniently forgotten about actually reading the book … or watching the movie, for that matter. So after work I swing by the Astor Place Blockbuster to rent the film. (Where the manager yells at me because I don't have my own pen to fill out the membership application – I'm still salty about it twenty-five years later because shouldn't a business that relies on paper forms have a stock of pens?!) and proceed to go back to my dorm room and do what any fine red-blooded American college student would do: I watch the movie and bullshit the actual book-related bits. Even got a good grade in the end, thank you very much.**

Anyway, here I am in the present day, working my way through the 2015 PopSugar Reading Challenge. (I realize it's 2024, but I didn't like this year's prompts so I'm completing a previous year's challenge instead), and lo and behold one of the prompts is “A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't.” So, whoo hoo, I've finally read Othello two-and-a-half decades after the fact.

And, well, what is it with the men in Shakespeare's plays? They're dense and gullible and incapable of actually communicating with their spouses. I mean, why have an honest conversation when you can just strangle your wife in bed, amirite?

But, anyway, it's a perfectly fine play, Othello's stupidity aside. It's not my favorite Shakespeare, but it's still a solid four-star read.

*Not actual f-word used.

**I'd go on to repeat this minor bit of sorcery years later during grad school when writing a paper comparing two editions of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without having actually read either.

Here's my thing:

Who am I supposed to root for?

Othello? He appears to lack the basic skill of communicating with others. He becomes extremely jealous and enraged based on mere speculation about his wife, whom he has been married to for less than a week, to the point of having a seizure. And then he treats her appallingly.

Desmonda? In her initial speech, she defends her marriage to Othello, but then seems to do very little else. She is constantly bent on pleasing everyone. She jokes with Iago, defends Cassio, and repeatedly proclaims her love for Othello. However, she never seems to have any motivation other than the happiness of whomever she is with at the moment.

Cassio? He seems to have no distinct personality other than reacting precisely as Iago anticipates.

Roderigo? The so-called "nice-guy" of the 14th century who complains about being "friend-zoned" throughout the play and seems incapable of independent thought.

I couldn't even bring myself to root for the villain. Iago all but admits that he has no clear motive, and he spends a significant amount of time digressing from the plot to expound on his reasons for hating women.

I guess I still have a preference for Shakespeare's comedies over his tragedies. While this is clearly a well-crafted situation and a true tragedy, I just didn't feel any emotional connection or care at all.

Also, my childish brain couldn't help but go to this every time I read Iago's name:

Hands down, this was the worst pillow fight in history. It started off with such promise. People gathered, pillows in hand, ready for some fun and chaos. But it quickly devolved into a disaster. Some of the pillows were so old and flat that they had no impact when they hit. Others were filled with lumpy stuffing that made them more like weapons than toys. The participants themselves seemed to have no idea what they were doing. Instead of engaging in a lighthearted battle, they were pushing and shoving each other, causing several people to fall and get hurt. There was no sense of teamwork or sportsmanship. It was just a messy, unorganized, and ultimately disappointing affair. By the time it was over, everyone was left feeling frustrated and disappointed. This was definitely a pillow fight that will go down in history as one to forget.

When we encounter envy and self-interest with stupidity... then we deserve all the misfortunes that fall upon our heads.

A tribal Arab military leader named Attila fled to Bandقية. He fell in love with the beautiful Italian girl, Didemona. He replaced his love with a greater love.

They got married.

But who would believe that they lived happily ever after? Of course not, because we are with Shakespeare here.

His envious and malicious friend, Iago, succeeds quickly in sowing the seeds of doubt in the weaker side, Attila!

In a tragic scene that no one will forget, Attila listens to his voice... and only his voice... and with his hands, he strangles his beloved and chaste wife, who never believed that a beauty as pure as her could love a man with dark skin, curly hair, and in his forties.

And as a result of his stupidity, which we see often throughout the ages, he soon discovers that he has strangled his happiness with his own hands.

All because of his lack of confidence in himself. Truly, one of the most beautiful things written about envy... and its effect on the fools.

“Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens to the which our wills are gardeners.” This profound quote by William Shakespeare from Othello sets the stage for a captivating exploration of the human psyche. Othello is indeed one of my all-time favorite plays by Shakespeare. I have a penchant for the villains, and Iago is nothing short of a nearly perfect antagonist. He commands the stage, with almost one-third of the lines in the play. It's as if Shakespeare took every rotten aspect of humanity and crafted it into beautiful prose. Iago isn't a monster because he is foreign to us; rather, he is a perfect monster because he so closely mirrors the worst within all of us. Wicked man, wicked us.

Othello, although not as fascinating (to me) as Iago, is still a remarkable character. His descent into madness, his fits, his passion, his otherness, and his race all contribute to making him a dynamic and powerful figure. He is enough to balance Iago, but ultimately not enough to overcome him. One of the reasons this play has endured and will continue to be powerful for a long time is the reactions it evokes regarding interracial and interethnic relationships. It seems that for every step forward society takes, we often fall back at least one. Shakespeare, however, bravely delved into this complex issue over 400 years ago. Bravo!

Just a few of my favorite lines from the play include: “The robb'd that smiles, steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.” (Act 1, Scene 3), “It is silliness to live when to live is torment, and then have we a prescription to die when death is our physician.” (Act 1, Scene 3), “O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!” (Act 2, Scene 3), and “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” (Act 2, scene 3).

“Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens to the which our wills are gardeners.”

― William Shakespeare, Othello

"Othello" is a black and white tragedy. And it's not just because the protagonist is dark-skinned while the other characters are not. All the characters in the play are defined by their main characteristics and seem to be almost completely consumed by them. Othello is passionate and jealous, Desdemona is loyal, and Iago is envious. Shakespeare loves to play with madness in his works, and the delusion caused by love always burns the strongest.

In the tragedy, the image of a very powerful antagonist is wonderfully developed. Iago, with envy dripping from his mouth, is the typical villain of those more secretive ones who wrap their poisonous web around everyone. Something like Cardinal Richelieu, but with more limited indirect victims. And Iago himself deliberately kneels not to just anyone, but to the two-faced god Janus - for whom there are ears to hear the warning that resounds in this cell.

I thought about the question of why Othello is a Moor and not an ordinary Venetian. Perhaps it is to be revealed even more among the homogeneity of the other characters. In fact, it is precisely this difference that is the catalyst for the partial conflict - Desdemona's disobedience and the rift between her and her father. Othello's difference, which for others is just an external sign - the dark color of his skin, is mainly in his quickly inflammable character and the depth of his feelings. The bad thing is that "if you look into the abyss for too long, the abyss will also look into you." And his love for Desdemona starts so tenderly and gently: "And so we twain did fall in company; / She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them. / This only is the witchcraft I have used."

Still, Othello is probably one of Shakespeare's most romantic protagonists. He is capable of sacrificing everything that stands in the way of his love, even the wife he loves. Such a sense of fatality first left me with Claude Frollo - the priest from "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", who said of Esmeralda "either mine or no one's", and was also ready to sacrifice her because of his love for her. In Shakespeare's tragedy, of course, this happens several centuries earlier and probably anticipates the literary fashion for love killings (or perhaps finally confirms it). Torn by doubts, Othello decides to suffocate Desdemona in himself - out of love. Beautifully sung by \\n  Queen\\n - “too much love will kill you just as sure as none at all”.

Shakespeare's works are full of such complex and vivid characters, and "Othello" is no exception. It explores themes such as love, jealousy, and betrayal in a profound and thought-provoking way. The play shows how easily our emotions can lead us astray and how important it is to maintain our rationality.

The character of Othello is particularly interesting as he is a man of great passion and strength, yet also extremely vulnerable. His love for Desdemona is so intense that it blinds him to the truth and leads him to commit the unthinkable.

Iago, on the other hand, is a master manipulator who uses Othello's insecurities and jealousy to achieve his own ends. His actions are despicable, but at the same time, they make for a fascinating study in human nature.

Overall, "Othello" is a timeless classic that continues to captivate audiences today. Its themes and characters are as relevant now as they were when the play was first written, and it serves as a reminder of the power of love and the dangers of jealousy.

At the beginning, I want to document the personality of Emilia, the wife of Iago, one of my favorite literary characters. Her philosophy in life, her thoughts and their consequences really intrigued me.

As for drama, I don't think there is any dispute about Shakespeare's genius. If there is, I have been on the side of his admirers for more than ten years. My relationship with his works started with "King Lear", although it wasn't the first thing I read of his. "Romeo and Juliet", the famous one, preceded it, but it was the least appealing to me among what I read of his works.

"Othello" is a story about love or the madness of passion -God forbid- whose secret I don't know for a human being. Why doesn't the side of happiness that lifts him to the stars shine on what he experiences of excess, envy, and the desire to possess, which ignites a fire that burns its owner first? In the play, no one escaped love, and people still believe after it that it is the highest stage of love.

Should love be so violent that it only occurs with a burst of the soul? Those kinds that, as if without will, try to balance... and then rush to get rid of the one they love or towards their own destruction.

October 2023

4.75 stars
**This is a spoiler-filled review**

After a year of reading mostly books in the 3-star range, suddenly I have a 5-star and a 4.75-star read within a few days? It seems almost too good to be true. And both of them are related to Shakespeare? I would never have believed it. But here we are. Othello was truly brilliant.

It follows a cast of characters who are gradually undermined by Iago, who despises Othello and will stop at nothing to disrupt his wonderful life with his wife Desdemona. I must say, for a play written in the 17th century, it is quite progressive in its portrayal of race (Othello is a black general) and women. However, it's still the 17th century, so it's important to look up the trigger warnings.

First of all, the humor in this play is excellent. There's a moment when Roderigo, who is unfortunately in love with Desdemona, says he wants to drown because she is married to Othello. Iago's response, "Come, be a man. Drown thyself! drown cats and blind puppies", is both hilarious and a clear indication of his villainy. Similarly, drunk Cassio had me laughing out loud. His adamant denial of being drunk when it was so obvious was a great comical moment.

Secondly, the characters in this play are amazing. Emilia is a badass. In Act IV Scene III, her speeches to Desdemona sound like something from the Mary Wollstonecraft era. "Let husbands know / Their wives have sense like them: they see and smell / And have their palates both for sweet and sour, / As husbands have". I was shocked considering the play premiered in 1603. The way she slowly realizes and then exposes her husband Iago for his treachery in the end is really cool. Iago himself is an interesting villain. The use of dramatic irony to make sure the reader knows his plans while the other characters don't is a great way to build tension. I also found it fascinating how he was able to exploit the flaws of each character.

The climax of the story, where Othello smothers Desdemona, was well-discussed in Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro. I think the build-up could have been better, which is why I deducted.25 of a star from my rating. However, I still think this scene was heartbreaking as both Othello and Desdemona are victims in a way. Iago's hatred for Othello is largely fueled by his prejudice, which is very evident in Act I. It's interesting to note that most of the secondary characters aren't as prejudiced against Othello, which is quite a lot for the context of this work.

Lastly, the drama and stakes of the play were extremely well done. The entire last scene is super dramatic and believable. I was on the edge of my seat reading what was happening by the bedside. Lodovico's final outcry to Iago is also very interesting as it subverts the motifs. Overall, I loved Othello more than I thought I would ever love a Shakespeare play. I hope more people will come to appreciate this wonderful work.

It had been quite a while since I had delved into the works of Shakespeare. As is always the case, it took me some time to adjust to his unique narrative style.

I seize this opportunity to express that the method (along with the translation; my proficiency in the original language is far from sufficient) is truly magnificent. Especially Othello's tirades, which I frequently find to be brimming with lyricism. The character of Othello himself is utterly fascinating. He possesses so many admirable qualities, and yet, like any great tragic hero, he is also极具destructive. I couldn't help but wonder about Shakespeare's choice of a Moorish hero. At the time of writing, relations with the Ottoman world were in a relatively good state, with an ambassador having recently visited London. This little historical discovery is like the icing on the cake.

However, the character I like the most is undoubtedly the puppeteer of this tragedy, the infamous Iago! At certain moments, when he appears to be almost omniscient, Iago skillfully pulls the strings of his revenge, which is far more critical than the initial "wrong." I wholeheartedly recommend spending a great deal of time with this classic to anyone desiring to embark on a journey into the world of Shakespeare.

As the first work, it was very dear to Shakespeare

4 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

I actually loved this play. The story was engaging and filled with drama. However, I just wish my girlies didn't have to suffer as much. The hardships they endured really tugged at my heartstrings. I think I'm going to do a reread soon to fully appreciate all the details and nuances.

What made me really fall in love with this play was reading an essay by the critic Jerry Brotton called "Remembering Desdemona". The essay was written extremely well. It analyzed the portrayal of toxic masculinity, the ceaseless sexualization of women, and the theme of reputation in a very thorough and insightful way. It was so good that I initially thought it had been written by a woman, considering how well these concepts were explained and understood. But imagine my surprise when I found out it was written by this man. I truly love his big brain and the depth of his analysis. <3