How to Read Shakespeare's Othello (Pre-Play Prep) (Patreon)

Welcome to Venice, where we are bracing ourselves to meet noble Othello, his new wife Desdemona, and his traitorous officer Iago.

The Tragedy of Othello is a gripping, strangely melodic tale, and its themes of jealousy, manipulation, and race continue to affect us today.

As usual, please use these pre-play preps however best suits you. Feel free to utilise the timestamps to jump to the topics where you would like the most direction.

Below the timestamps, we have links to everything mentioned, scenes to focus on, and reading assignments in anticipation for the deep-dive lecture and appreciation.

Keep in mind that we have some deliberate spoilers in the discussion for a very good reason.

We are discussing:

• film adaptations
• recommended criticism
• the characters, themes, and story
• focused challenges and assignments

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 why read Othello?
• 3:00 the tragicomedy formula
• 4:00 heroes, villains & cuckolds
• 5:30 Shakespeare’s source materials
• 6:15 tragedies of the bedroom
• 7:00 the “Othello Music”
• 8:00 the popularity of Othello
• 8:50 the challenges of Othello
• 9:00 problematic plays
• 9:50 The Merchant of Venice
• 10:30 The Taming of the Shrew
• 11:30 the problem with Othello
• 12:10 Othello performance history
• 15:00 Shakespeare’s first audience
• 17:00 race, prejudice, & performance
• 18:00 who was Othello based on?
• 22:00 sexuality, betrayal & belief
• 23:00 the seven ages of man
• 24:00 Iago as Machiavellian playwright
• 25:00 the story & characters of Othello
• 26:30 play-specific challenges
• 31:00 recommended adaptations
• 32:50 deep-cuts recommendations
• 33:00 questions to consider

📚 Recommended Editions

• Arden - Othello: Our top recommended edition once again has a fantastic introduction for historical grounding (just be careful about spoilers).
• Everyman Tragedies: Volume One of the Tragedies has every single play we've read together so far.

🎬 Recommended Film Adaptations

• This 1995 film with Laurence Fishburne as Othello and Kenneth Branagh as Iago is a thrilling adaptation, and well worth a watch.
• Whilst I wouldn't personally recommend Orson Welles' 1952 film version of Othello, you might find it interesting to hear the actor talk through the filming process. 

🎙️ Worthy Audio Production

• It might take some flexing of our sourcing skills, but it is well worth tracking down Paul Robeson's different recordings of Othello. He has a rich baritone and intimately understands the character. Robeson and Fishburne are both very much my Othello. And here's Robeson in a great interview talking about interpreting Shakespeare.

🎼 Musical Appreciation

• Here is Herbert Von Karajan with the Berliner Philharmoniker gifting us a gorgeous rendering of Verdi's opera Otello. And this opera from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France is incredible.

📖 Deep-Cuts Shakespeare Criticism

• The chapter entitled 'The Othello Music' in G. Wilson Knight's Wheel of Fire is brilliant aesthetic criticism. It pairs nicely with A. C. Bradley's chapter on Othello in his book.
• Masks of Othello by Marvin Rosenberg gives a good overview of the performance history of the tragedy.

(Optional) Reading Challenges:

• As Othello is a play about the nature of proof and erroneous belief, you might find it useful to start systematically collecting knowledge of cognitive biases (lists like this one abound online). Learning about one new cognitive bias per day will make us much more difficult to be deceived - by others and ourselves.
• Try to isolate instances of the "Othello Music" - those beautiful passages, like glittering gems, which can stand alone from the play (unlike the wild weeds of King Lear).
• Spend extra time lingering on Iago's soliloquies. Can you make your way into his mind? Can we see him as anything more than evil villain? 
• And do continue collecting your favourite passages, reading aloud, and comparing your reading of the play with any adaptations you enjoy.

Scenes to look out for:

• Act 1, Scene 1, 'I am not what I am' (interpretation)
• Act 1, Scene 3, 'I hate the moor' (interpretation)
• Act 1, Scene 3, 'Put money in thy purse' (interpretation)
• Act 4, Scene 1, 'I am glad to see you mad' (interpretation)
• Act 5, Scene 2, "It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul" (interpretation)

Questions to think about:

1) What is Iago’s motivation? And how evil is he?

2) How do the issues of race that performances have thrown up sit with us today? And what has been your experience with prejudice, racial or otherwise?

3) What has been your experience with the “green eyed monster”?

Happy reading, everybody!