Nov. 20th Blog 13: Othello

During this semester we have only read two tragedy plays and while one, Hamlet, can be seen as completely false, the other, Othello, has some believable qualities. Iago is a very good liar and he is seen causing trouble. I would say everyone has encountered someone like Iago. We normally talk to someone who is a very good listener like Iago but they take that information and turn it around so they can use it against us. Iago sees Desdemona and Cassio hold hands when Othello arrives at Cyprus. He uses this show of affection, even though it means nothing, for his revenge. He is very observant.

In Act 3 scene 3, Othello wants Iago to give him a reason to why Desdemona is disloyal and Iago goes on to tell Othello what he has heard or seen even though we know those things are false. I like how Shakespeare has Iago though. He shows us that even if we trust someone and tell them everything and act a certain way around them; they can use those things against us so we should be careful what we say and how we act.

I do feel bad for Emilia. She’s married to Iago who is clearly, what I would call, crazy. He’s not just mean but when he kills his own wife, that shows just how crazy he is. He is so bent on his revenge that even killing his wife does not affect him.

I also feel bad for Othello. He is manipulated into thinking these things about his wife, that she’s had an affair and does not love him. So by this manipulation, he kills his wife. This does seem realistic though because some people today in this world will kill their spouse if they suspect or even catch them having an affair. But just like I hear these kinds of stories in the news, I also don’t feel bad for Othello when he finds at that his wife did not have an affair but he can’t do anything but kill himself. Like I always say when I hear these kinds of stories, just talk with your spouse or get a divorce because killing someone for an affair will just come back to harm you more. Othello knows that he will have to face the consequences for killing Desdemona so he chooses the safer option for him which is death.

Overall this story is very believable and will make people question their loyalties and whether those friends or even family members will use anything against them in the future for revenge.

Nov. 13 Blog 12: Troilus and Cressida; Othello

Othello and Troilus and Cressida are two very different plays. I think I liked Troilus and Cressida better though probably due to having read the Aeneid and the Iliad before. Othello was so much more realistic due to the racism in it and how that is still a thing today. I was very shocked by the end of the play. I did not believe Othello would kill his wife, Desdemona. I kept thinking if only he had talked to her and not just accused her of having an affair. I guess when someone like Iago plants so many thoughts into your head, like he did with everyone in the play, you believe him because he seems like a person you could tell all your secrets to.

Othello wanted to fit in even though of his race but he wanted to fit in the wrong way. He killed Desdemona because that’s what the white men around him would do if they caught their wives cheating but thats not a way to fit in. He should have just been himself and talked it out with Desdemona and she would more than likely still be alive. I find it crazy how everyone does not like that Othello is black but they don’t seem particularly hateful towards his face just like Iago going around talking about him but does not talk bad to his face. But that could be because if Iago does that then his plan to get a higher rank would not work, he needed to be honorable to Othello’s face to act like he has had no part in anything that has been going on.

I know Iago is an evil character but I can relate to him. He listens to everyone and plots against them. Its like when one person tells a confidant a secret but doesn't want someone else to know so then that confidant goes to that person that wasn't supposed to know and tells them what the other person said. This kind of thing happens now, someone tells someone something and then it makes its way around to everyone and starts some kind of conflict. Othello is a play everyone can relate to something in their life.

The one character I really liked was Emilia. I have always thought men and women are the same. Emilia is the same; she lives in a world dominated by men, but she knows things aren't the way they seem. It looks like men dominate but behind the curtains, the women have affairs and do other things men do. This still happens today, some couples look happy but behind doors its a different story.

Nov. 6th Blog 11: Troilus and Cressida

Shakespeare’s play, Troilus and Cressida, does not stick to its title. When I had first gotten the book, I thought it would be about a guy named Troilus and a woman named Cressida but no its not. The play is about this war over Helen. Helen and Cressida can be seen as foils though. Here we have Helen who left her husband for Paris while Cressida does not want to leave Troilus, she is forced to. Although she is forced to, she promises to be faithful but that does not happen; she ends up with Diomedes. So both women break their promises. I have some favorite scenes that just seem interesting and odd to me.

In Act 1, scene 2, on page 27, Cressida and Pandarus are talking about the men especially Hector and Troilus. I find it odd how Cressida says in line 78: “He is not Hector.” She keeps coming back to how Troilus is not Hector. I know Shakespeare confuses us and wants us that way so I felt like maybe this was his way of confusing us on how Cressida feels. She does have feelings for Troilus but does not want anyone to know.

In Act 3, scene 2, line 7: “...I stalk about her door”. Troilus says this to Pandarus who is trying to help him get together with Cressida. This line though, I thought was very interesting for Troilus to say. He is basically saying that he has been stalking her which does seem kind of strange and most people today would see it as something crazy and possibly call the police, but his way of doing things paid off for a little bit. I mean he did get together with Cressida.

We talked about Act 4, scene 3, today in class. This was one of the moments I had as one of my favorite scenes. I thought it was so crazy when Paris just basically tells Troilus that he can’t help him to keep the woman he loves because it is out of his hands. But, this whole war is about Paris keeping the woman he loves and Troilus has been helping him with that. I thought about it this way, just like Angela was saying in class today, that I would do anything for my brother and my family. Troilus has been doing everything he can to help his brother but when he is in need of help, his brother says oh he can’t do nothing about it.

Where I thought this play would be about Troilus and Cressida just from the title, it turned out to be about Paris, Helen, and the Trojan war, just like the Aeneid and the Iliad. Since I had already read those two, it was easier to follow along in the play and to see Shakespeare’s way of doing it his way.