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3.86 of 5 stars
Folger Shakespeare Library The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Each edition includes: • Freshly edited text based on the best early read full description

reviews

Oct 09, 2011
Othello, abridged:

OTHELLO: I love my wife!

IAGO: She gave Cassio her handkerchief.

OTHELLO: OMG THAT CHEATING WHORE!

DESDEMONA: Hi honey!

OTHELLO: I KEEL YOU!

DESDEMONA: *dies*

EMILIA: Dude, what is WRONG with you?

OTHELLO: Huh?

IAGO: Yeah, I totally made that whole wife-is-cheating-on-you thing up. PUNK'D!

OTHELLO: OMG I KILLED MY WIFE FOR NO REASON! I KEEL MYSELF!

and...scene.
21 comments like (274 people liked it)
Jan 23, 2013
Joshua rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Will you, I pray, demand that demi-devil
Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body?
-Othello, end of Act V

When I was about 9 years old, I put a healthy, live mouse into my parents' microwave oven. It was a summer day and I was all alone. I had this devilish feeling inside me. I knew it was wrong, but I had to do it. I grabbed a kitchen chair, dragged it across the floor, stood on it, opened the door, and threw the mouse in. Then I hit start.

At first it was no big deal. The light turned on inside, More...
15 comments like (46 people liked it)
May 24, 2010
Greg rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Here is my copy of Othello with the felty suspicious looking fox bookmark that Karen made for my birthday:



He's protecting this book, and doesn't trust anyone!

Othello would have done well to be a little less trustworthy. Silly Moor.

A bunch of other reviews I noticed have pointed out that this is in some way a great study of sexual jealousy. I think this is an interesting reading of the play, and really more telling of the reader and his or her own feelings / history than the play itself. If thi More...
30 comments like (25 people liked it)
Jul 29, 2012
Paul rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Interpolation in the original text recently discovered in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England. Believed to be by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. I have rendered the non-Shakespearean text in bold :



OTHELLO
I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me;
Lend me thy handkerchief.

DESDEMONA
Here, my lord.

OTHELLO
That which I gave you.

DESDEMONA
I have it not about me.

OTHELLO
Not?

DESDEMONA
No, indeed, my lord.

OTHELLO
That is a fault. That handkerchief
Did an Egyptian to my mother give;
She was a charmer More...
6 comments like (12 people liked it)
Jan 13, 2013
Adam rated it: 4 of 5 stars
1/13/13 4 stars: Moore readings (get it?) inevitably = more appreciation of the irony drenching every line. This time an astute student inspired me to focus more on Desdemona's character than Iago or Othello's. What kind of women is she? She certainly is the seducer in the couple's relationship, and she willfully deceives her father. Until she becomes the accused, she talks back to Othello and exerts her will over him (too her detriment, she won't stop bugging him about Cassio). In the end, thou More...
6 comments like (7 people liked it)
Aug 02, 2012

In my opinion, Othello focuses upon one of Shakespeare's great literary devices. The misunderstandings between characters fuel this intelligent plot and provide grounds for Shakespeare to tantalize his audience. We the reader (or the viewer) recognise that of course Desdemona is innocent and that Iago is the mischief maker in the plot. And so to build suspense Shakespeare dangles this information tantalisingly in front of our very noses.

The one problem I have with Othello is the nature of its c More...
4 comments like (8 people liked it)
Jul 22, 2011
Alex rated it: 5 of 5 stars
The white on black, the black on white
Explosive mix it makes, so easy to ignite
By jealousy venom, inserted drop by drop into suspicious mind,
And vicious fantasies force fatal spring of hate to wind
And there you go ... flame of rage
Burns out lives, while getting out of its mental cage

1. Memorable 5
2. Social Relevance 5
3. Informative 3
4. Originality 5
5. Thought Provoking 5
6. Expressiveness 5
7. Entertaining 3
8. Visualization 4
9. Sparks Emotion 5
10. Life Changing (Pivotal, crucial, determining, More...
4 comments like (4 people liked it)
May 12, 2013
Esdaile rated it: 5 of 5 stars
You need to be a certain age to understand and appreciate this drama of the ravages of jealousy, that "green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on". I disliked the character Othello when I first saw this play when I was about 14 but I was a couple of years too young to understand. Later, the play becomes harrowing. Two elements need to be taken into consideration to appreciate this play, no three-1)jealousy makes blind and turns a man or woman into a donkey, 2) we should never forget More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Feb 24, 2009
Paul rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Iago thinks everyone is evil and to prove it he makes his friend Othello kill his wife. Why? If we knew, Iago wouldn't be so evil. A persistent theme through out the comedies is how is love proven and what is more important, friendship or love. Here these themes are deadly serious, and therein lies the tragedy. Othello does trust his friendship more than Desdomonia, if he didn't wouldn't he see thru this idiot plot? Much is made of Othello's skin color by critics, but really that is just a herri More...
2 comments like (3 people liked it)
Dec 04, 2007
Robin rated it: 1 of 5 stars
I loathe this play. Othello loves his wife and yet he doubts her by trusting Iago, who he knows is an unsavory fellow? Moron.
9 comments like (11 people liked it)
Nov 09, 2012
Kristen rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Yeah, I've finally conquered my fear of Shakespeare . . . next up: dogs.
4 comments like (3 people liked it)
Jan 18, 2009
Ayne rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Hands down the worst pillow fight in history.
0 comments like (24 people liked it)
Sep 16, 2012
Jane rated it: 4 of 5 stars
OMG WTF SO TRAGIC
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Feb 13, 2013

I enjoyed reading "Midsummer Nights Dream " as a 4 year old child. I actually could reada bit . The pictures were quaint , and pretty in the old book I found in my Grandparents library, i thought i had read the book.

Could a precoscious child read Shakespeare? Could a child even begin to grasp the subtlety, the complexity, the droll, often silly, or vulgar humour, the gut-wrenching tragedy? Could a child see the foreshadowing , the irony . Could a child see the racous, the adult love and lust More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Mar 16, 2012
Riku rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I decided to start my mission to read all 38 of The Complete Plays of Shakespeare with Othello. It turned out to be a good decision to start with the New Cambridge edition.

I was considering this reading as an academic reading of the bard and it generally took me almost 3 hours of constant reading to get through one average sized (10-15 pages) scene! Even after reading every scene three times - once aloud and twice normally - I still never felt I had enough of it, and moved on to the next only du More...
2 comments like (15 people liked it)
Jun 05, 2010
LeAnn rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again. -- Othello, Act 3, scene 3, 90–95

And in saying, Othello foreshadows the chaos that rapidly descends upon the players -- him most of all. As Othello's violent emotional storm continues to build to its climax, Iago stands in the eye directing it with the cool detachment of the sociopath. Othello's words also foreshadow his soul's doom -- "perdition catch my soul" -- when he fails to hold fa More...
0 comments like (4 people liked it)
Apr 10, 2009
Becky rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoy Shakespeare, but sometimes I really wonder at him. Of course, he was a genius, but I don't really feel like this was his best work. If it had been filled in a little, and was a bit more fleshed out, it would have been much better in my opinion.

Basic story (And there will be plot spoilers here), love-struck Othello is manipulated by Iago into believing that his freshly-minted bride is cheating on him with his friend. Othello then hires said manipulator to off said friend (now ex-friend) More...
1 comment like (6 people liked it)
Jul 10, 2012
I really enjoyed reading the original Othello in high school. I thought it very humorous and clever. You will definitely see a lot of Shakespeare's culture influenced in this story. It's a classic that should be read (the original) at least once in your life. I went to a really and I mean REALLY ghetto school for a bit of my sophomore year and my English teacher said that we wouldn't read most of the classics like in other schools because most people didn't know how to read or found the classics More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Oct 17, 2007
Seizure Romero added it
I can't really give this one a fair rating. Amazing, yes; Iago is arguably the most devious bastard in western literature, yes; great depth & complexity of characters-- all of this is true. My problem is that in graduating from high school and subsequently earning an English degree I had to read this play at least six times. For some reason this was every professor's favorite example of Shakespearean tragedy, villainy, character interaction, storytelling, you name it. I have been intellectua More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Nov 23, 2008
Chris rated it: 5 of 5 stars
"Bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!"

That's Hamlet the Slow Avenger ranting about Claudius, but the same and bolder could be said of Iago. I know he's the vilest of Shakespeare's villains--which would place him high in the running for vilest world-wide--but at some point those just become words. It's the page-by-page visceral experience of watching him secrete his evil that makes my blood boil. As I reread this, I wanted to throw the book, tear it, set it More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Apr 21, 2009
Nazmus rated it: 5 of 5 stars
that's a nice work by the great man i think before merry u should read this book it will help u to get happy life forever .in our life there's an yago who always make some bad things so u should know about this yago and love the desdemonia (
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Lara rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Although I haven't actually read it yet, Shakespeare was meant to be seen as performance anyway, right? Othello is my absolute favorite of Shakespeare's play. I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire time- most unusual for a Shakespeare, where normally the ending is looming and obvious.
On a side note, one of my favorite movies is Stage Beauty with Claire Danes, which explores themes of gender and asks questions about behavior in relation to Desdemona and Othello.
Rid yourself of high school More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Apr 29, 2010
Courtney added it
Othello Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. This book deals with jealous, deceit, and murder. Othello is a play written in Shakespeare’s time period of the late 1500’s to early 1600’s. The main problem or topic in this play is Othello is lead to believe that his wife, Desdemona is cheating on him. There is not really a target audience that Shakespeare was trying to reach. After having read Othello, I think it was a well written tragedy for that time period and Shakespeare was a More...
2 comments like (1 person liked it)
Mar 22, 2009
YOYA CODE: 5Q 4P

A. Pre-Reading/Anticipatory Thoughts:

I read this book for the second time this semester before I taught it to my seniors at KMHS. The first time I read it was for my Shakespeare seminar my last undergraduate year in college. I enjoyed it the first time because the timeless themes apply to today's culture in several ways. Iago's jealousy and motives are based on hearsay; many people today get jealous for lesser offenses than Iago believes Othello and Cassio commit. If we turn More...
1 comment like (1 person liked it)
Feb 21, 2009
Stevie rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
May 09, 2013
Othello has to be my personal favorite by Shakespeare. I definitely vote Iago as best villain ever. The depths of emotion and betrayal that are explored in this story speak of age old human dilemmas, yet transcend time to still be relevant today.

I love how clever Iago is as he sets everyone up for failure, and I find how misguided and hurt he is to be beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally over the whole broody male stereo type (i.e. "girl's don't go for the broody guy" or "I don't usually More...
Apr 25, 2013
Melissa rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This is what I wrote for school:

In the play Othello, written by William Shakespeare, Othello the main character is deceived by Iago the villain and mastermind of the tragedy. More importantly he was blinded by his own emotions and feelings to the point of losing his mind. Lies and jealousy lead him to act irrationally and murder his own wife.

Othello never got his own proof nor investigated Iago's accusations towards Desdemona because he put all his trust in Iago. Othello saw Iago as a honest and More...
Apr 17, 2013
Miguel rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Una muy buena obra de teatro que considero superior —por una buena diferencia— de la tan famosa "Romeo y Julieta".

Me gustó mucho el personaje de Yago, el manejo en general que le dio Shakespeare es excepcional. Toda su maldad, cinismo e hipocresía es muy disfrutable, pues aunque me llegó a dar algo de coraje lo que estaba leyendo, jaja, y que yo no podía hacer nada creo que esto es precisamente lo que hace que se disfrute.

Una obra que refleja a la perfección cómo los seres humanos creemos más lo More...
Apr 10, 2013
Clement rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Shakespeare’s purpose for writing Othello is to tell his audience that what goes around comes around. He wants to tell people that whatever you do will either have positive or negative effect depending on what you start in the first place. The story is written to tell readers to know who their real friends are meaning know who you can trust to not put you in a bad position or rely on to never betray you. Iago tricked Othello into killing his wife and betrayed Rodrigo by killing him after promis More...
Mar 06, 2013
Allison added it
William

Shakespeare's purpose in writing Othello was to entertain. Along with the purpose of entertainment I think Shakespeare wrote to teach a lesson. When reading the book a prevalent theme was that truth always prevails.


 The

theme that was most prevalent in the tragic play was truth always prevails, and jealousy can turn you into an unrecognizable monster. He demonstrated these themes well throughout the play. Especially in the ending scene when he shows the ultimate outcome. The outcome of t

More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)