Physical Componets

The stage directions in this play are extremely specific. It makes the play more unrealistic. When the music begins during a scene and the lighting changes, it adds effect to what the character is saying. However, it is meant to be seen and not read so it doesn't come off the same way. For example, when Tom is talking about getting out of his house and seeing the world, the picture of their father lights up. As he keeps making his point, it lights up even more. This would make sense if we were the audience watching the play. However, it seems unrealistic reading it. Another example is the songs that come on. Randomly when Tom is making up with his mother, Ave Maria starts to play. The perfectness of the songs and the lights creates the unrealistic tone.

protagonist and antagonist

I think that the antagonist in this play is Amanda. She seems like she is always pushing her kids around with things she wants them to do. She has no concern for what they want in life. She signs Laura up for college and trys to throw all of these different things at her that clearly are not what she wants. It is sad because Amanda has good intentions but she is going about it all the wrong way. Amanda also does this with Tom. She is constantly fighting with him. Amanda does not agree with what Tom does every night. She doesn't believe that he is actually going to the movies and she thinks he is off doing bad things. At first, I thought Tom was serious about all the sarcastic things he was saying to his mother. It caught me off guard. I think that Amanda is so scared of what Tom is doing because she is afraid that he will do what his father did and leave them.

FIGHTING SCENES/ EMILIA

yesss. stab. stab. stab. I cannot help but laugh when I read these fight scenes. It's sad because people are dying but it's funny because they say things like Roderigo, "Oh, I am slain!" (V.i.28.) It's funny because he's yelling oh no im dead! Not very realistic. I am really interested to find out how the Othello movie portrays this fighting scene. It was pretty hard to follow because so many people were stabbing each other. The triangle of Iago, Roderigo, and Cassio was severely confusing.

I am really proud of Emilia. She stood up against Iago. FINALLY. After him telling her to shut up and go home every time she talked was getting really old. He was a jerk to literally everyone in this story. At the end, she dies a hero. Emilia reveals the truth to Othello to let him know how innocent his wife really was. Because of this, her husband stabs her. His rage causes such a mess at the end of this play.

TRAGEDY

Did everyone die? Typical. When I was reading the end, I was getting really sad. It's so unfair that Desdemona has to die for no reason. "in her be, even the bed she hath contaminated" (IV.i.190). And the villain lives. Shakespeare always does that to me. Anyway, this was definitely a tragedy. Hence the death. Tragic. They all happen at like the very last second of the play. At the end of Act IV, nobody had died yet. I was getting super nervous when I started reading Act V because I knew it wasn't going to be happy. The worst part of the play is when Othello learns the truth. The man he thought was his honest friend turns out to be plotting against him and causes him to kill his wife. Othello is so shaken by this that he takes his own life. It is interesting to me because they say that Othello took his life because he was "great of heart". Nowadays, suicide is not looked at as a noble or brave act.

SUSPENSE

One of the questions is to answer how suspense was created. There is so much unknown information flying around in this movie. At this point, Iago is controlling a good majority of the characters. Othello has been lied to and is lacking crucial information (i.e. his wife is innocent!). He is in the dark about almost everything. Othello has no idea who his real friends are. Iago has this huge master plan that he is constantly telling the audience through the play. Once all the characters exit, he turns to the audience and unravels his next steps in the grand plan. Therefore, the audience has all of the information when the main characters are left in the dark. This lack of information leads to the death of Othello, Roderigo, Desdemona, Emilia, and probably other people that we don't even know about. Moral of the story, Iago and the audience are the only people who know the truth.

SMART GUY...

Iago is so evil. It seems like he has ridiculous anger building up inside of him. He does all of these things to break down Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona. He suspects Othello of sleeping with his wife Emilia. Big deal? He treats his wife like crap. If I were her I would get away, too. I think there is a deeper motivation for everything Iago is doing. Nobody would go that far to tear happy people apart. His master plan is very impressive, though. I keep waiting for someone to call Iago out but everything he plans works out perfectly...so far! I really like Othello. I think he is a hard working, honest person. He won Desdemona fair and square and he treats her very well. People keep calling Othello black and ugly. It's obvious how easy it is for Desdemona to see pass that because Othello is such a good husband to her.

GOOD AND BAD PEOPLE

The protagonist in the first three acts is clearly Iago. He is doing everything he can to get back at Othello. He pretends to be his faithful friend. Iago uses Roderigo like a tool to help complete his master plan. He tricks him into thinking that he will eventually get Desdemona. Little does he know, Iago is taking all his money and has no intention of setting him up with Desdemona. Iago is horrible to his wife. He treats her with incredible disrespect and always tells her to shut up. The antagonist is Cassio. Unlike Iago, Cassio treats all women like princesses. He has great manners and always greets them and talks with them. Because of this, Iago uses this quality to turn Othello against him. Cassio is a good man and has always worked hard under Othello. However, Iago is bringing out the worst in him by giving him alcohol and spreading all kinds of rumors about him. Again, his jealousy is causing him to act as the bad guy.