Rating: 
Summary: Deplorable!
Review: "Othello" is a play that will show you how unredeemable human beings can be. It'll make you question everyone, along with his or her motives and beliefs. It also shows you how men lusted after women in the late 16th century, but how women could not lust after men. The double standard was put to the test, and, as always, women lose this battle. Women may sell themselves as whores, and are ridiculed for it, but the men who use their services are overlooked. This is a foul play and I think Shakespeare held women without regard. Othello was a despicable man who had little self-esteem I do not recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Deplorable!
Review: "Othello" is a play that will show you how unredeemable human beings can be. It'll make you question everyone, along with his or her motives and beliefs. It also shows you how men lusted after women in the late 16th century, but how women could not lust after men. The double standard was put to the test, and, as always, women lose this battle. Women may sell themselves as whores, and are ridiculed for it, but the men who use their services are overlooked. This is a foul play and I think Shakespeare held women without regard. Othello was a despicable man who had little self-esteem I do not recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody Farce It Is
Review: "Bloody farce" was the indictment of "Othello" made by the dramatist Thomas Rymer, one of Shakespeare's contemporaries. He was right. Perhaps he was right because "Othello" in his time had not yet fully enjoyed the fake aura of a "master play" that it has boasted ever since. "Othello" features the shortcomings and mannerisms of "Hamlet", but without the benefit of the (sporadic) linguistic inventiveness that Shakespeare evinced in the other play (another of those wrongfully praised). In "Othello", though, what we mostly see is an utterly improbable set of characters acting out in an affected, theatrical manner - even while pretending to deal with issues of real life, portraying genuine psychologies. Yes, there is lots of jealousy in this world, and murders do happen - but for anyone to fly off the handle the way Othello does in this play, one has to be supplied with much better and much more extensive corroborative psychologic evidence than what is offered to us in "Othello"! Instead, what we see is basically someone growing insane on the basis of getting to know bits and peaces of ludicrously circumstancial evidence, plus, thanks to a puppet cartoon character named Yago, some innuendoes and probings that are anything but devious or subtle. Yago's behaviour and aims are so obvious and laughable that one would think one was reading a comedy if everything wasn't presented to us in a deadly serious manner, clothed in the solemn literary forms of a tragedy. As a reader or viewer, you simply never get to enjoy "Othello": instead, you spend your time working hard to swallow the improbabilities that the author presumes to present to us as having anything to do with life or human emotions. Similarly, the character of Desdemona is yet another prop on the stage; she serves to provide Shakespeare with more flesh to be disposed of at the end of the play. As in the similarly flawed "Hamlet", there remains an artificially contrived heap of corpses left as the curtain falls down -yet as poetry, "Hamlet" still held some interest and therefore was to a degree palatable; by contrast, "Othello", even as poetry considered separately from the drama, is unexciting and drab. To summarize, "Othello" is a wash-out. The present writer recognizes the right of the previous reviewers to find "Othello" worthwhile; but in the same way contrary readings should also be allowed to be voiced. If the present review could contribute ever so slightly to tarnish the impeccable image that "Othello" enjoys in most readers' minds; or if it at least prevented "Othello" from being listed in Amazon files with an absurd gross rating of five or even four and a half stars - then the present writer would feel vindicated; as well as recompensed for the hours he lost perusing "Othello"!
Rating: 
Summary: Needs No Introduction
Review: "Hamlet," "Othello" and "Macbeth" are the best Shakespeare plays ever written. They are filled with deceit and betrayal, especially "Othello," which is the most interesting and easiest to understand. Once you read it you'll understand how gullible Othello is, how betrayed Desdemona feels (and for good reason) and how truly evil Iago is, and also learn how the lives of six people are ruined by a misplaced handkerchief. Now I want to see the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: The illusion of trust and the semblance of honesty
Review: "Othello" is a wonderfully constructed tragedy. At its core, we have Othello, an experienced black general, who is however terribly naive off the battle field and puts his trust in anyone who seems remotely honest. After his marriage to Desdemona, a white senator's daughter, Othello departs with her to Cyprus to fight the Turcs. Once there, however, his ensign Iago proceeds to torment him by suggesting that Desdemona is unfaithful to him; Othello believes him and thus leads the play to its tragic ending. What is played upon here is the subtle difference between semblance and truth - Othello trusts too easily the ironicaly called "honest Iago" and only believes what he sees. He demands proof, but the "proof" that Iago gives him is nothing more than a subtle game of illusion in which Iago seems honest and Desdemona unfaithful. Language plays an interesting part also, with Othello believing every one of Iago's sly suggestions and interpreting Desdemona's innocent replys as proof of her infidelity. The play is constructed around two couples: Othello and Desdemona, Iago and his wife Emilia. Both are jealous men, Iago believing his wife has been unfaithful to him with the general - and yet Othello isn't, like Iago, evil by nature, just a weak trusting fool. Desdemona and Emilia are both innocent of these charges, and yet the former is more pure and naive than the down to earth Emilia.What is remarkable in this play is the tension between conflicting forces or themes: between the honest Othello and the evil Iago; between the "angel" Desdemona and, in turn, the "devil" Othello/Iago; between illusion and truth; jealousy and trust; appearances and proof; good and evil, black and white. Like King Lear, like OEdipus, Othello is blind to the truth and only realises it too late.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent edition of one of Shakespeare's best tragedies.
Review: "Othello" is one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies, and since most people, even those who have not read or seen the play before, probably already have a basic idea of the plot, I will keep my synopsis short. The military general Othello is a Moor, a black man, who has just married a Venetian woman, Desdemona. Theirs is a marriage of opposites in many respects - race, age, upbringing, etc. - and yet they have overcome all this and are happy with each other. But Iago, perhaps Shakespeare's most infamous villain, is determined to ruin Othello, who has promoted another man, Cassio, to the lieutenancy, a position Iago feels should have been given to himself. He therefore sets about poisoning Othello's mind against his chaste and loving wife, convincing the Moor that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. The events that follow lay out one of the most masterful and heartbreaking examples of dramatic irony.While I am not usually one to go in for tragedies, I do thoroughly enjoy this particular play. The story is expertly woven, with each twist in the plot simultaneously wrenching the reader's / viewer's heart. We know exactly what is going on, even though the characters do not, and this is what makes "Othello" such a very tragic story. And yet, in the end we are left with a sense of resolution and justice, not merely empty sorrow, and perhaps this is what appeals to me about this play. Nevertheless, I do not think the play is perfect (though my 4-star rating here is in comparison with Shakespeare's other works, and not drama in general; against most other drama I would award it a 5-star rating). While I do think Iago is a brilliant character, I cannot help thinking that his hatred for Othello seems rather disproportionate to the wrongs he thinks have been done against him. He is upset over not being given the lieutenancy, but is this reason enough to bring about so many deaths? There is also the fact that Iago suspects his own wife, Emilia, has been unfaithful with the Moor, but Iago has no actual proof of this. However, this disproportionality is one I am willing to overlook for the sake of enjoyment of the play. What bothers me slightly more is that Othello, presumeably a very intelligent man, would allow a mere suspicion to grow into such an intense state of jealousy when he has no definite proof of his wife's infidelity. One would think he would do some investigation for himself, rather than being content to have Iago feed him all the "facts." I now wish to comment on the particular edition of this play that I read - the 1993 "New Folger Library" printing, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. I have read several of of the Folger versions of Shakespeare's plays, and have found them unbeatable as far as making Shakespeare's works accessible to the layman. The book is laid out with the text of the play appearing on the right-hand page of each two-page spread, while the left-hand page contains textual notes that are of tremendous help in understanding the play. Words and phrases that have become obsolete since Shakespeare's day are defined clearly, and any allusions that would not be obvious to a modern reader are also explained. The fact that one can access these notes without having to flip back and forth through the pages makes it much easier to maintain one's place and train of thought. Another thing I like about this particular edition is that it contains the entire play. Two versions of "Othello" were published in Shakespere's day - a Quarto, which was a small and slightly condensed version, appeared in 1622, and the longer Folio version was published in 1623. Each version is slightly different, containing bits and pieces not present in the other. This printing of the play contains the entirety of both versions combined into one, with brackets around those words that appear in only one or the other of the original printings. In addition to the play itself, this book contains an excellent introduction, with information about the play, the language of the time, drama in general, Shakespeare himself, theater in Shakespeare's day, a bit about his other works, and some editorial notes on this particular edition of "Othello." Thus, even the rankest newcomer to Shakespeare will not be at a loss here, though the book is equally suitable for those already familiar with Shakespeare and his works. At the end of the book is a brief but interesting and well-written essay entitled "Othello: A Modern Perspective" by Susan Snyder which offers further analysis of the play. I highly recommend the Folger editions of any of Shakespeare's plays to all readers. They are wonderful for use in the classroom, and also make it much easier to delve into Shakespeare on one's own.
Rating:
Summary: a story about black people.
Review: actually, i haven't read the book but seen the movie, the theme is really good, one of
Rating:
Summary: The Ocular Proof
Review: As a play, "Othello" encompasses many things but more than anything else it is a study of pure evil. Although Othello is an accomplished professional soldier and a hero of sorts, he is also a minority and an outcast in many ways. As a Black man and a Moor (which means he's a Moslem), Othello has at least two qualities, which make him stand out in the Elizabethan world. He is also married to a Caucasian woman named Desdemona, which creates an undercurrent of hostility as evidenced by the derogatory remark "the ram hath topped the ewe". Othello's problems begin when he promotes one of his soldiers, Michael Cassio as his lieutenant. This arouses the jealousy and hatred of one of his other soldiers, Iago who hatches a plot to destroy Othello and Michael Cassio. When Cassio injures an opponent in a fight he is rebuked, punished, and subsequently ignored by Othello who must discipline him and teach him a lesson. Iago convinces Desdemona to intervene on Cassio's behalf and then begins to convince Othello that Desdemona is in love with Cassio. This is actually one of the most difficult Shakespeare plays to watch because the audience sees the plot begin to unfold and is tormented by Othello's gradual decent into Iago's trap. As with other Shakespeare plays, the critical components of this one are revealed by language. When Othello is eventually convinced of Cassio's treachery, he condemns him and promotes Iago in his place. When Othello tells Iago that he has made him his lieutenant, Iago responds with the chilling line, "I am thine forever". To Othello this is a simple affirmation of loyalty, but to the audience, this phrase contains a double meaning. With these words, Iago indicates that the promotion does not provide him with sufficient satisfaction and that he will continue to torment and destroy Othello. It is his murderous intentions, not his loyal service that will be with Othello forever. Iago's promotion provides him with closer proximity to Othello and provides him with more of his victim's trust. From here Iago is easily able to persuade Othello of Desdemona's purported infidelity. Soon Othello begins to confront Desdemona who naturally protests her innocence. In another revealing statement, Othello demands that Desdemona give him "the ocular proof". Like Iago's earlier statement, this one contains a double meaning that is not apparent to the recipient but that is very clear to the audience who understands the true origin of Othello's jealousy. Othello's jealousy is an invisible enemy and it is also based on events that never took place. How can Desdemona give Othello visual evidence of her innocence if her guilt is predicated on accusations that have no true shape or form? She can't. Othello is asking Desdemona to do the impossible, which means that her subsequent murder is only a matter of course. I know that to a lot of young people this play must seem dreadfully boring and meaningless. One thing you can keep in mind is that the audience in Shakespeare's time did not have the benefit of cool things such as movies, and videos. The downside of this is that Shakespeare's plays are not visually stimulating to an audience accustomed to today's entertainment media. But the upside is that since Shakespeare had to tell a complex story with simple tools, he relied heavily on an imaginative use of language and symbols. Think of what it meant to an all White audience in a very prejudiced time to have a Black man at the center of a play. That character really stood out-almost like an island. He was vulnerable and exposed to attitudes that he could not perceive directly but which he must have sensed in some way. Shakespeare set this play in two locations, Italy and Cypress. To an Elizabethan audience, Italy represented an exotic place that was the crossroads of many different civilizations. It was the one place where a Black man could conceivably hold a position of authority. Remember that Othello is a mercenary leader. He doesn't command a standing army and doesn't belong to any country. He is referred to as "the Moor" which means he could be from any part of the Arab world from Southern Spain to Indonesia. He has no institutional or national identity but is almost referred to as a phenomenon. (For all the criticism he has received in this department, Shakespeare was extrordinarlily attuned to racism and in this sense he was well ahead of his time.) Othello's subsequent commission as the Military Governor of Cypress dispatches him to an even more remote and isolated location. The man who stands out like an island is sent to an island. His exposure and vulnerability are doubled just as a jealous and murderous psychopath decides to destroy him. Iago is probably the only one of Shakespeare's villains who is evil in a clinical sense rather than a human one. In Kind Lear, Edmund the bastard hatches a murderous plot out of jealousy that is similar to Iago's. But unlike Iago, he expresses remorse and attempts some form of restitution at the end of the play. In the Histories, characters like Richard III behave in a murderous fashion, but within the extreme, political environment in which they operate, we can understand their motives even if we don't agree with them. Iago, however, is a different animal. His motives are understandable up to the point in which he destroys Michael Cassio but then they spin off into an inexplicable orbit of their own. Some have suggested that Iago is sexually attracted to Othello, which (if its true) adds another meaning to the phrase "I am thine forever". But even if we buy the argument that Iago is a murderous homosexual, this still doesn't explain why he must destroy Othello. Oscar Wilde once wrote very beautifully of the destructive impact a person can willfully or unwittingly have on a lover ("for each man kills the things he loves") but this is not born out in the play. Instead, Shakespeare introduces us to a new literary character-a person motivated by inexplicable evil that is an entity in itself. One of the great ironies of this play is that Othello is a character of tragically visible proportions while Iago is one with lethally invisible ones.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting & Intriguing
Review: At first, when I saw this book I was upset someone would try to remake a great Shakespeare play in another written form. However, Lester thoroughly explains himself and his reasons for wanting to make this play a novel. 'Othello: a novel' explores a different face of the play that has been hidden. It adds new characters, removes others, and places them in England instead of Italy but the plot and all of the deceitfulness it entails remains intact. Shakespeare had a way of using common themes that live today but still eluded boredom and cliche. And Lester continues this tradition in his novel with his beautiful and unique use of simile and metaphor. It's a great book to read that should not be overlooked!
Rating:
Summary: Iago undeniably the most likeable Shakespearean villain
Review: Despite his Machiavellian and snakelike nature, Iago strangely and inexplicably endears himself as the most likeable villain in all of Shakespeare. It can be argued that Iago was unduly wronged in that the noble & educated, yet untested Cassio achieved the promotion of lieutenant over the common & uneducated, yet more battle-proven Iago. Iago also asserts that his blunt and disrespectful wife Emilia has slept around and made a cuckold of him with Othello. Although there is no proof as to the latter charge, Iago is nothing short of the embodiment of a veritable myriad of rage, fury, jealousy, and a relentless and all-encompassing passion for vengeance on The Moor. Upon reading Othello the first time, I found myself empathizing with the honorable, yet naive General Othello, and even moreso with the innocent and untainted Desdemona, whom Othello "loved not wisely, but too well." After reading Othello the 3rd time, I've come to a greater appreciation for the convoluted and diablolical genius that is Iago - and how masterfully Shakespeare constructed this great character and the storyline of Othello with so fewer characters than is typical of his other great plays. It is with fewer characters that the ingenuity of Shakespeare is allowed to shine. With the likes of Iago, The Bard is able to achieve as great and superior characterization in Othello as in any of his other masterpieces. While he may be the last guy on the block you might invite to dinner, you would be a knave to deny the incomparable surreptitious cunning and genius of Iago nonetheless. As far as the many Othello movies go, I must state that Kenneth Branagh is absolutely masterful and convincing as the sinister Iago. I wholeheartedly recommend Othello to any and all readers who have a flair for both wisdom and entertainment achieved as one.
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