Book Review: Othello

I kissed thee ere I killed thee: no way but this,

Killing myself, to die upon a kiss

So here’s the thing about Othello is that it’s like watching a train crash in slow motion. Its not a bad play, on the contrary, it's one of Shakespeares best. The play deals with themes that are, unfortunately, still relevant today. Themes such as race, jealousy, globalisation, war etc are still going on today. However, I hope that in today’s world, these issues are headed in the right direction.

But here is the run down of Othello. Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, has stolen away the daughter of a senator called Desdemona. And many people are not happy with him because of it, no less her father and of course, her spurned wooer Rodrigo. Iago, is our main antagonist and decided to exploit Othello for his own pleasure and for revenge against loosing a promotion to a younger soldier, Cassio, whom he believes inferior. Iago convinces Othello that his wife Desdemona is unfaithful, her lover being Cassio. The crux of the matter lies on a handkerchief, the first token of lover that Othello gave Desdemona. This is dropped by Desdemona, found by Emilia, Iago’s wife and used to convince Othello of Desdemona’s infidelity. Thus sealing Othello’s fate and the deaths of countless others.

Like I said its a massive shit show. But a great shit show. Othello, poor man, is so enchanted by Desdemona that he cannot believe, at first, that the lady would be unfaithful. But slowly with the poisoned words of Iago, does he start to believe that she was too good for him. And the she believes it. And wants someone younger… like Cassio. Cassio, is a rather unlucky ducky. He is the unwitting foil in all of this. He is suffering from the anger and suspicion of Othello, so decides to appeal to the wife to make her husband see sense. As you can see, the fact that Desdemona accepts and pleas to Othello to forgive Cassio the more suspicious Othello gets of Cassio and the more paranoid he becomes of his wife. Its a vicious circle here. It's the crucible to end all crucibles.

So, as I mentioned earlier one of the big themes in this play is race. Othello is rarely mentioned by name, even by his wife. (In all fairness to Desdemona she does call him ‘my lord’) Othello is mostly know as ‘The Moor’. Most iconically by Iago who, loves to drop in a ‘I hate the Moor’ and its variants at every possible moment. But here’s the thing about Iago and indeed Rodrigo, they have both been emasculated by someone who is not the same race as them. One can easily assume that both Iago and Rodrigo are white. Obviously, because then they wouldn’t call Othello ‘The Moor’ except out of pure spite. Loosing out on a promotion and hating someone because of it is just a wounded pride, but Iago chooses to hate Othello in more ways than one in emphasising his race. And that makes Iago malicious. Rodrigo, he is just a muppet who got his pride hurt when Othello ‘stole’ Desdemona from him. He is a foil that easily goes along with the crowd. Also, Desdemona. She is the epitome of beauty, grace and all round perfection. She is the envy of those around her… and those around Othello. There was no way this story would end happily, in reality there were only three loyal people in this drama: Emilia, Cassio and Desdemona. Both women are wronged and, subsequently murdered by their husbands. Cassio is a good man with good intentions. Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with many a good intention. And hell is where it all ends.

This is undoubtedly one of Shakespeare best plays, by a long shot. Or at least, that I’ve read so far. Its a tale fraught with tragedy and woe, the unfortunate hubris of Othello is that he simply loves his wife. The Machiavellian moves and counter moves of Iago exploits the very core of Othello’s love and loyalty for his wife. Iago’s foils of Emilia, Cassio and Rodrigo - well, what better way to rally the troop than to inspire them with hate?