About this title: This newly revised Signet classic includes an extensive overview of Shakespeare's life, a unique introduction to the play, a comprehensive stage history of notable actors, and historical and contemporary dramatic criticism.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Yale university press: G, Cumberlege,, New Haven
Date Published: 1947
Description: Very Good. 188 p. 18 cm. Includes facsimile reproduction of "the title-page of the Elizabethan club copy of the first quarto edition. " "New edition revised by Tucker Brooke. " The 1918 edition edited by Lawrence Mason. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books, Baltimore. Maryland
Date Published: 1960
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The book is very solid with bright, unmarked pages except for the introduction which has underlining and margin notes. A previous owner's name and address are written on the first end paper. The cover has minor shelf & edge wear. The spine has heavier wear. read more
Description: Good. Nice copy! INT: lightly tanned pages, no rips, tears, bent page corners, or markings of any kind. EXT: name written on leading page edges, edge wear & spine creases. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780140714630ISBN:0140714634
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Like new condition. Only a couple markings with pen. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 145 p. Pelican Shakespeare (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671722814ISBN:0671722816
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. many notes in margins. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 368 p. Contains: Illustrations. New Folger Library Shakespeare (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Date Published: 1977
ISBN-13:9780671488376ISBN:0671488376
Description: Good. 25th Prt'g. Water stain left edge of front cover. Edges lightly creased from use; corners bumped; spine creased; light soiling. Outer pg. edges soiled. Prev. owner's name written on 1st page. Some underlining & marginal notes. Text looks good. Sharp corners. Tight Spine. See my website for cover image. read more
Edition: 24th printing
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Washington Square Press/Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780671481858ISBN:0671481851
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Good clean pages, a few were found with underlining, no spinecrease's, shows some shelvewear. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Washington Square Press
ISBN-13:9780671722814ISBN:0671722816
Description: Good. Spine is smooth. Covers show some wear at the edges and corners. Good reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Washington Square Press
ISBN-13:9780671722814ISBN:0671722816
Description: Good. Spine is well creased. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Good Grade C average reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
"I hope my Shakespeare teacher sees this rant because I did NOT enjoy this play! The only character I semi-halfway like(d) is Desdemona, but she ends up getting killed! Iago's a total nub who messes with everybody's head and Othello's got some serious issues. The man can't even trust his freakin wife and immediately assumes that only because "honest Iago" tells him so, his wife is cheating on him. First off, that's a load of bull. Seriously, someone should gag Iago with dirty socks and make him listen to Swedish yodeling(no offense to those who are fans of or actually perform Swedish yodeling). And Othello ought to take some marriage counseling classes because the poor guy can't even believe his poor wife when she's telling the truth. Seriously, Othello sucks, like, fo'real. This play had many a good topics to discuss, about duality and what-not, and racism, but it just got tiring with the same themes that are totally repetitive. Maybe it's because our class, over-analyzes every single freakin line in the play that I dislike it so much. However, I am glad we are done reading about the Moor and his lying, back-stabbing compadre whose name resembles that of a certain parrot in a certain animated film about a certain street rat and a magical lamp!"
Othello - is that the rightful name to this Shakespearian play? The story is about how one character's life comes to a tragic end and how another character brings the lives of others to such tragic ends. Whether the play's "hero" is Othello or Iago has always been a much-debated idea. So even though the author decided to call it Othello, thereby just slightly proving whom he projected the play should belong to, readers still say that Shakespeare was erroneous for choosing this title. Othello is the character who, in the play, is deceived in many ways. His emotions become twisted and his intentions become one with those of Iago's, but at the start he was a steady leader, a character with enough significant power to be considered the main character. On the other hand, as the play progresses, Iago slowly takes over the major role because the lead role cannot be given to a person who loses control. The lead role must be given to the person who gains control, and that is Iago. So is Iago the rightful hero of this play? Well, he is not at first, but his slow and underhanded ways of taking control take effect not only on Othello but also on the play itself. In the beginning, of the play Othello is a strong, trusted, loyal and well renowned man. He is a character whom people depend on to make the right choices and for these reasons he holds claim to the title of "hero." Unfortunately for him, Iago obliterates everything that Othello stands for along with his relationship with Desdemona; he toys around with Othello and makes him look like a fool. Every man has a flaw; the more important one is, the more one suffers severely: both of these expressions could be used to explain Othello's downfall. Iago's plan acts as a poison on the man and finds Othello's hamartia, which is the green-eyed monster: jealousy. He attacks the General in his Achilles heel and slowly takes over his life like an invasive poison: "I'll pour this pestilence into his ear;" (Iago). And because Iago is able to bring Othello down from such an important position, Othello's fall hurts more, for he goes from having everything and being in control to losing it all. And because of this Iago can take control. By the end of the play, it appears that Iago is the main character not only because he is the most imposing individual but also because he literally has complete control over the outcome of every event. Throughout the play, he is able to accomplish his first personal goal, which is to reach the position of lieutenant. By bringing himself up to a more important role, he brings the other characters down below his own level. By that point in the play he is holding the reigns and he really has no limitations. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Iago plays the role of god in Othello. Shakespeare does not create the archetypical villain; Iago is the dawn of a new type of villain, one who does not care only about getting more but also about gaining pleasure from his actions. This pleasure comes from the destruction of others. He instills doubt into the mind of others and drives them crazy. Shakespeare's intentions are to let the reader know that Iago is going to create a world of chaos and watch the world burn; and there is nothing anybody can do to stop these actions.
This book is a book that is truly fascinating to read. The fact that it is written in shakespearean language makes the reader focus more but it is also a disadvantage because it is hard to understand. William Shakespeare creates a great tragic story with dynamic characters that makes the word "hero" seem so undefined. I really like this book because it is full of suspense, drama and the characters create events for each other that just seems to lead to another tragic event for others which is why William Shakespeare's plot for 'Othello' is instantly appealing to readers.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in William Shakespeare's tragedies or his basic studies. This book would also be great for people who like books that are full of drama, suspense, irony, and dynamic characters. I wouldn't recommend this book to readers that don't like reading old/ middle english."
"My favorite of all the tragedies! One of the best plays ever written with a compelling cast, lots of drama, and some major mind-games. What makes this play so awesome?
-IAGO!!! Possibly the best character ever penned by Shakespeare, and I don't say this lightly because there are some other masterfully written characters out there. Utterly wicked, a compulsive liar riddled with...well jealousy seems to start his rage, but it's definitely fueled by something else. Intention or no, Shakespeare truly created a work of metafiction in Iago; he's the writer of the events happening between Othello and Desdemona. They're his characters and he's the puppet master. Entertainingly evil and very interesting, Iago truly makes this play.
-Some truly great imagery. Black/white is the obvious one, but there are so many others scattered throughout the play. It goes without saying, but Shakespeare really immerses the reader into the atmosphere and the characters really have some wonderfully evocative lines. Perhaps the best example is the turning point of the play, in which Iago finally convinces Othello of Desdemona's deception. Othello's need for proof is finally met with the handkerchief, and the rest unravels from there.
-One-liners. Shakespeare has some great ones in this play. There are many notable long passages and speeches, but Othello contains some of the best one-liners in all of Shakespeare. Now, granted they generally contain some racist overtones (the whole play does, but Othello truly comes out on top of it - his actual demise has nothing to due with race and although racial slurs are always in the background of the play, no actual behavior is demonstrated; that is to say, the characters may be racist, but Shakespeare's depiction of Othello is surprisingly progressive for its time), but if you're able to contextualize the play, they're very funny. Some of the best include:
"Men should be what they seem; or those that be not, would they might seem none!" "...an old black ram is tupping your white ewe" "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse." "O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." "Who would not make her husband a cuckold, to make him a monarch?!?"
If you haven't read this play, I'd very much recommend it. It gets a lot less attention than some of the other tragedies; Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear are all far more frequently read than Othello. I think this is such a shame because it's a very dramatic, theme-heavy book that contains some wonderfully disturbing scenes and characters, which is nicely balanced by some very humorous and witty dialogue. A must read."
"Human beings like to watch accidents. I don't know why. You may disagree with the premise, but ask yourself this question: If a train with fifty cars were to derail, skid, and plummet off a cliff with four hundred passengers aboard, would you turn up the volume on Rush Limbaugh and drive past, or get out of your car to peer into the wreckage?
Othello is a great and memorable play not because of its title character, but because of its timeless villain, Iago. Iago is a lot like you and me. He'd slam on the breaks, rip the keys out of the ignition, and sprint to the disaster site. Iago, however, isn't--hopefully--a lot like you and me. He'd not only watch the wreck; he'd be the one putting pennies on the rail to see if he could make it happen.
I may be alone here, but I have always been fascinated by purely evil characters. Nowadays I see a lot of sympathetic villains whose mothers didn't breast feed them and whose daddies walked out when they were five. It's nice to have a bad guy once in awhile who just wants to set the world on fire. He might give you reasons, and Shakespeare's Honest Iago offers a few we might plug into our Jealousy+Revenge Scheme=Train Wreck scenario. The problem, however, is that Iago doesn't just set his sites on Othello. Anyone who comes near the guy ends up with a sword in his gut. And it may just be my mental inflection of the character while reading him, but he seems to be enjoying himself. Of course it's also a human thing to ask the Why question. Why does Iago do this?
The great thing about these types of villains is the answer we get is more self-reflective than normal. What if Iago gave us a good reason for his actions? What if the Joker's dad had really put a blade in his mouth? What if Anton Chigurh told us why he stalked around with a cattle gun putting holes in peoples' foreheads? What difference would the rationalization really make? Does it excuse the behavior? Do we want to empathize with evil people? If so, why? Is it that the line between wanting to see the accident and causing the accident is so thin?
I'm sure a lot more can be said about the play than this, but characters like Iago demonstrate how far ahead of his time (and how relevant to our time) Shakespeare was. Aside from this legendary character, of all the Shakespeare I've read so far, this play was the most accessible. The cast is a tad more contained and regular. The storyline is more domestic with less interludes and subplots. On the whole it's a fascinating work.
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