Shakespeare Appreciated: Othello

Othello, Shakespeare Appreciated by William Shakespeare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. -- Othello, Act 3, scene 3, 90–95 And in saying, Othello foreshadows the chaos that rapidly descends upon the players -- him most of all. As Othello's violent emotional storm continues to build to its climax, Iago stands in the eye directing it with the cool detachment of the sociopath. Othello's words also foreshadow his soul's doom -- "perdition catch my soul" -- when he fails to hold fast to his love for Desdemona. This aside, spoken aloud perhaps where Iago can hear it, is the emotional crux of the play. But I digress. I should review this edition of Shakespeare's famous play of class and race conflict, of madness and manipulation. Shakespeare Appreciated provides students of the play an excellent means to understand it in depth. On this CD, the play is presented in two versions: a full-length one with commentary and one without. In addition, it claims to be the only source of an unabridged reading of the original story that Shakespeare used as the basis for his Othello, an Italian story titled Cinthio. The commentary, incredibly useful for its explanation of the social and political events in Shakespeare's England, does wear a bit on the listener's nerves by constantly interrupting to point out all of the sexual references. At some point, I wanted to say, "Yes, yes, we get it already." Or did I? Isn't Iago's continual sexual crudity critical to understanding him (as much as one can understand a sociopath) and the manner in which he inflamed Othello's doubts and suspicions to the point of murder? Through his constant crude sexual remarks, Iago successfully convinces Othello that his reputation is damaged (another theme in the play.) In this light, we must conclude that Othello's murder of Desdemona is an honor killing. Given Othello's heritage as a Moor, this interpretation is not only intriguing but likely accurate. When at last he kneels over her sleeping body, he hasn't come to strangle her in a fit of passion, but in cold-blooded "justice" for her crime against his name. It is all the more chilling to consider the long history of this practice and to realize that Shakespeare recognized it as one of a triune of evils that includes racism and class prejudice. It is no coincidence that Iago, who combines all three in himself along with a lack of empathy, is one of the greatest villains in literature. Shakespeare Appreciated effectively sheds light on the Bard's genius in handling them and explains why Othello holds such power even today. View all my reviews >>