Rating: 
Summary: One of Shakespeare's Best
Review: I agree with the critics on this one. I feel that 'Coriolanus' doesn't get enough credit as a play; I think 'King Lear' receives far too much credit; but I think 'Othello' rightly deserves to be considered one of Shakespeare's greatest Tragedies. I even consider 'Othello' to be among Shakespeare's greatest plays even when all the Comedies, Tragedies, and Histories are judged together. This is a very powerful play and shows how a good, honest, successful man can destroy his life by having his fatal flaw of insane jealousy manipulated against him by his enemy. The one thing that bothers me about this play is my contention that the entire mess could have been averted if Othello simply sat down with his wife and simply had a real and honest conversation with her. If Othello communicated properly with his wife there could have been a very happy ending and Shakespeare could have called this play 'Much Ado About Nothing II'. I very highly recommend this play and I consider this to be Shakespeare's third greatest Tragedy right behind 'Coriolanus' and 'Hamlet', respectively.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare's Othello is the Ultimate Tragedy
Review: Shakespeare's Othello is an interesting and dramatic tragedy. If you like imagery and irony, you will like Othello. Shakespeare uses the power of imagery skillfully to develop themes throughout the play. For example, recurring animal imagery is used to sharpen the contrast between people and beasts, showing how Iago and Othello begin to act more like beasts than human beings. Irony also adds much to the plot of Othello to make it interesting and exciting for the reader. Much of the irony used is dramatic irony because the reader knows of Iago's plot, while the characters in the play have no idea what is about to unfold. The relationship between men and women in Othello is another aspect of the play that makes it interesting to read. Iago's wife Emilia, for example, is very cynical towards men, probably from years of living with Iago. Othello and Desdemona's relationship is also intriguing. In the beginning of the play, Othello and Desdemona are seemingly deeply in love with each other. Othello, however, is rather easily convinced that his wife is cheating on him and becomes angry to the point where he cannot forgive Desdemona. He decides to kill her. As she is being murdered, Desdemona tries to protect her husband's innocence in her own murder. Another interesting aspect of the play which makes it stand out from other Shakespearean plays is the race of the main character. Othello is black and a Moor, or Muslim. This fact brings up issues to be explored in the play. Shakespeare shows the characters being separated not only by status and rank but also by their place of origin and their religion. Overall, Shakespeare's Othello is dramatic, well-written, and thoroughly explores how evil a human being can become.
Rating: 
Summary: Moor is less
Review: Othello is in many ways the most tragic of Shakespeare's heroes, because his ultimate destruction is so
much a function of his best qualities, as opposed to folks like Hamlet, Lear, and MacBeth, who are
destroyed by their worst. Othello is a noble warrior, but very much an innocent and far too trusting of
other men's counsel, and so he is easy prey for Iago, who in turn may be Shakespeare's greatest villain,
because he is so purely evil. Richard III, by contrast, while a force of malevolence, is also just more
interesting and intelligent than those around him. Iago has none of Richard's beguiling qualities, he is
little more than the sum of his own jealousies and hatreds. And so, when this noblest hero and this
most vile villain collide, the events that follow are tragic in the human sense, not merely in a dramatic
sense. We mourn the loss of a superior being, in Othello, not just the general destruction of life. Othello is also distinguished by just how trivial are the provocations that set events in motion. Iago
uses little more than a single prop, an embroidered kerchief, and his own treacherous words to bring
about a series of deaths and the fall of a great man. In this sense it is the most writerly of plays,
reflects most fully Shakespeare's own confidence that he can take such slender threads and weave a
compelling drama. One despairs of ever saying anything novel about Shakespeare, he's been written
about so much, but the thought occurs that Iago might represent Shakespeare himself. Consider that it
is Iago's tongue and a flimsy plot device of his contrivance that force the action of the drama and his
jealousy of the handsome and much-heralded leading man that provides the motive. Surely
Shakespeare, who so loved the device of the play within a play, might have relished the idea of a play
that's a simulacrum of his own profession? I like to think so. But in the final analysis, Othello does not capture us in the same way that some of the other tragedies
do. The main characters are so unambiguous that they lack a certain depth. The plot is so contrived
and so inevitable that it seems mechanical rather than natural. You can imagine a world in which
Hamlet exacts his revenge without hesitating or where Lear realizes he's acting like a fool, but you
can't imagine a world in which Iago allows Othello and Desdemona to live happily ever after. That's a
pretty serious weakness. GRADE : B+
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE TRAGEDY
Review: Othello relects the true meaning of a tragedy both in its content and its structure.Tragedy is 'a story of exceptional calamity produced by human actions, leading to the death of a man in high estate.'The downfall of Othello is caused by his own actions, rather than by his character, or rather the two work in unison to create the stage for his downfall.
This is what captured my attention when I read this play.It is very profound to realize the fact that Shakespeare uses Iago to set this stage on which Othello is a mere player.
I love the character of Iago. His total confidence, the superiority that he feels when psychoanalysing human nature, his rational thinking and intellectualism sways the reader to think: 'Wow, this is a compelling and sophisticated man we're dealing with here!'
However, my admiration of Iago does not in anyway undermine my love of Othello. His poetic and calm demeanor makes the reader feel the pity and terror for him when he falls from grace (catharsis). Yet, we are made to understand that the reason why he is made to appear a gullible and ignorant fool to some readers is that he does not have any knowledge of a delicate, domesticated life. Venetian women were foreign to him. This tragic flaw in Othello added to the circumstances used by Iago to destroy him.
The meaning, and hence the tragedy of the play is conveyed through the use of Shakespeare's language, style, literary devices and imagery. Without these dramatic effects, readers would never be able to enjoy the play as much, although the dialogue is at times difficult to decipher.
I thoroughly enjoyed Othello and it is my hope that more people find it enticing as I have. I would be delighted to contribute more of my reviews to that effect.
Rating:
Summary: Best Shakespeare play.
Review: The theme of jealousy dominates this play, in which the conniving Iago attempts to get revenge on Othello by causing him to believe that his wife, Desdemona, is betraying him. Othello is a tragic hero with the flaw of jealousy, and Shakespeare's poetic words bring life and emotion to the center of the play.
Rating:
Summary: Takes the entire text and dramatizes the presentation
Review: This full-cast dramatic recording of a classic Shakespeare takes the entire text and dramatizes the presentation, which results in a package capturing the excitement of both live play and written word. Audio listeners will enjoy the results; especially the pairing with classical music.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare's domestic tragedy
Review: In this modern day and age, many readers can have trouble relating with even such brilliant Shakespearean characters as Hamlet, Macbeth and Prince Hal. Deeply human as each of these are, how many of us can really identify with medieval Danish, Scottish or English royalty? Of course, master playwright that he was, Shakespeare was always able to beautifully surmount the structures of monarchy to reveal the human spirit; and yet in a play like Othello, we can find just as penetrating an examination of human nature in the context of a much more familiar social situation. Here, as in Hamlet and even Macbeth, the concerns are of love, jealousy, and crimes of passion -- but without the cloak of kings and courtiers. Further, Iago may be the single most intense character created by an author known for his characters' condensed intensity. Some try to go even further and claim that this is a play about race relations; however, in fact Othello's status as a Moor is of very little significance in the play as written, coming to the surface only once or twice early on. Instead, he is the tragedic everyman: the profound lover whose mind is twisted by the voices of those around him, the military man who finds himself lost and out of place when he returns to start a family. I heartily recommend this masterpiece for anyone looking for Shakespearean genius in a strikingly modern form.
Rating:
Summary: That Shakespeare!
Review: This was the first Shakespeare play I read and i've got to tell you that this play is great. Sure, the language takes some getting use to, but the whole plot makes up for this fault. This play is a true tragedy, and this edition helps you really understand what's happening. This is a brilliant play with helpful footnotes
Rating:
Summary: Pure Tragedy
Review: This play embodies tragedy, and may be my favorite play by Shakes. Othello has wonderful elements - some of the most unbearable and longest dramatic irony of any play, a devilish villain whose true motives we are left to guess, a virtuous but flawed protagonist, the triumph of evil over good. Othello is a gut-wrenching play and should be appreciated for its sheer dramatic energy and passion. Certainly other questions are explored - such as the issue of racial insecurities even in a successful and admired man among prejudiced people. However, perhaps the most important things to take out of it is the sheer evil that Iago spreads around him, puppeteering the good characters with strings of wickedness.
Rating:
Summary: It's no tragedy to read this play.
Review: Othello is only the second play I have read by Shakespeare. I enjoy this play far better than Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps the reason for my enjoyment of this play stems from the satisfaction I got from choosing this play on my own rather than reading it as an all class assignment like that of Romeo and Juliet last year. More importantly however, are the all too human themes, notably jealousy, discussed in this play that grabs my attention. While my review is for the most part positive, there are some disappointments in this play. The character, Othello, is one of nobility and unswerving loyalty both to his profession and to his wife, Desdemona. This is what his character should rightly be, as Othello is an army officer of high rank. Yet, it seems that a few venomous words from Iago is all it takes to stir enough jealousy within Othello for him to readily murder the wife that he seemed to have so faithfully loved. Even at my youthful sixteen years, Othello's character seems faulty and either paints a false picture of nobility and loyalty or jealousy. Or maybe it is because of my age that I fail to realize that perhaps Shakespeare sought to express the power of jealousy in such a way that even a person of such high rank in the military can stumble quite easily at the first taste of jealousy. I just learned this year in English that, according courtly love, love does not come without jealousy. Maybe one can apply this to Othello in terms of his love for Desdemona. For him, love could have come with jealousy attached to it. Just as much as Othello loved Desdemona, he is just as full of jealousy if ever he were to hear of someone loving his Desdemona. Unfortunately, his handling of the situation was not very noble and I am nevertheless disappointed in this. Jealousy also affected Iago when Cassio was chosen instead of himself to be Othello's right-hand man. Iago was corrupt to begin with and jealousy heightened this corruption. Iago's character is also a mastery of irony and hypocrisy; either that or the other characters were too gullible. All, in all, Othello is an intriguing play that has raised many more questions than I am able to discuss here, be it time constraints or intelligence capacity constraints. Shakespeare has hooked my attention for many plays to come.
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