|
Othello
''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulated by his ensign, Iago, into suspecting his wife Desdemona of infidelity. ''Othello'' is widely considered one of Shakespeare's greatest works and is usually classified among his major tragedies alongside ''Macbeth'', ''King Lear'', and ''Hamlet''. Unpublished in the author's life, the play survives in one quarto edition from 1622 and in the First Folio. ''Othello'' has been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both among playgoers and literary critics, since its first performance, spawning numerous stage, screen, and operatic adaptations. Among actors, the roles of Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia (Iago's wife) are regarded as highly demanding and desirable. Critical attention has focused on the nature of the play's tragedy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Othello And Desdemona In Venice By Théodore Chassériau
''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moors, Moorish military commander Othello (character), Othello as he is manipulated by his Ensign (rank), ensign, Iago, into suspecting his wife Desdemona of infidelity. ''Othello'' is widely considered one of Shakespeare's greatest works and is usually classified among his major tragedies alongside ''Macbeth'', ''King Lear'', and ''Hamlet''. Unpublished in the author's life, the play survives in one quarto edition from 1622 and in the First Folio. ''Othello'' has been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both among playgoers and Literary criticism, literary critics, since its first performance, spawning numerous #Stage adaptations, stage, #Screen, screen, and Otello, operatic adaptations. Among actors, the roles of Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia (Iago's wife) are regarded as highly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Othello (character)
Othello (, ) is the titular protagonist in Shakespeare's '' Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). The character's origin is traced to the tale "Un Capitano Moro" in ''Gli Hecatommithi'' by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor. ''Othello'' was first mentioned in a Revels account of 1604 when the play was performed on 1 November at Whitehall Palace with Richard Burbage almost certainly Othello's first interpreter. Modern notable performers of the role include Paul Robeson, Orson Welles, Richard Burton, James Earl Jones, Laurence Fishburne, Laurence Olivier, Patrick Stewart, and Avery Brooks. Role Othello is a Venetian general. After their time in Venice, Othello is appointed general in the Venetian Army. His officer Iago tricks him into believing that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with his Lieutenant, Michael Cassio. Othello kills his wife out of jealousy by strangling her, only to realize that his wife was faithful after Emili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desdemona
Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venice, Italy, Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello (character), Othello, a Moors, Moorish Venetian military prodigy. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the Republic of Venice, Desdemona accompanies him. There, her husband is manipulated by his Ensign (rank), ensign Iago into believing she is an adultery, adulteress, and, in the last act, she is murdered by her estranged spouse. Role in ''Othello'' In the play's first act, Desdemona has eloped with Othello, a Moor in the service of the Venetian Republic. Before the Duke of Venice, his councilmen, and her father, she proclaims her love for Othello and defends her choice. Her father reluctantly accepts the union but warns Othello that she will someday deceive him. When Othello is sent to Cyprus in the line of duty, Desde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iago
Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's '' Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates Othello and devises a plan to destroy him by making him believe that Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio. The role is thought to have been first played by Robert Armin, who typically played intelligent clown roles such as Touchstone in ''As You Like It'' and Feste in '' Twelfth Night''. Role in the play Iago is a soldier who has fought beside Othello for several years and has become his trusted advisor. At the beginning of the play, Iago claims to have been unfairly passed over for promotion to the rank of Othello's lieutenant in favour of Michael Cassio. Iago plots to manipulate Othello into demoting Cassio, and thereafter to bring about the downfall of Othello himself and also others in the play who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roderigo
Roderigo is a fictional character in Shakespeare's 1604 play '' Othello''. Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian, is manipulated into funding the antagonist Iago's plot against Othello in the hopeless belief that Iago will aid him in courting Othello's wife Desdemona. In the later acts, Iago recruits Roderigo to assassinate Othello's former lieutenant Michael Cassio, though he is killed by Iago when he fails in his attempt to do so. Despite Shakespeare heavily basing ''Othello'' on Cinthio's Italian language tale ''Un Capitano Moro'', Roderigo has no counterpart in the original text, unlike other characters, suggesting that Shakespeare created the character himself. Sources While Shakespeare based ''Othello'' on a number of sources, the play was primarily based on the 1565 tale ''The Story of a Moorish Captain'' in Italian by Cinthio.Shakespeare, William. ''Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth''. Bantam Books, 1988. Role in ''Othello'' Roderigo is introduced in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emilia (Othello)
Emilia is a character in the tragedy '' Othello'' by William Shakespeare. She is married to Othello's ensign Iago, and is a maidservant to Othello's wife, Desdemona. Role in ''Othello'' Emilia first appears on stage in 2.1 when she arrives in Cyprus with Iago, Desdemona, and Roderigo. Iago resolves that Emilia should "move for Cassio to her mistress" at the end of 2.3.Shakespeare, William. ''Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth''. Bantam Books, 1988. In 3.1, Cassio asks Emilia to allow him to privately confer with Desdemona, which she does. She finds Desdemona's handkerchief in 3.1 and gives it to Iago, who swears her to secrecy. Despite her involvement in the handkerchief's disappearance, she comforts Desdemona when Othello becomes enraged after discovering that it is missing in 3.4. In 4.2 when questioned by Othello, she firmly states Desdemona's innocence. In 4.3 she later discusses with Desdemona their differing views on marriage and fidelity. Emilia st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Cassio
Michael Cassio, or simply Cassio (), is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's ''Othello''. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader". In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant under Othello's command who becomes one of Iago's several victims in a plot to ruin Othello. Sources ''Othello'' has its source in the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" from ''Gli Hecatommithi'' by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. His story may have been based on a historical incident which occurred in Venice around 1508. No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime. Gabriel Chappuy had produced a French translation in 1584, but Shakespeare's version hews more closely to the original.Shakespeare, William. Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth'. Bantam Books, 1988. Cassio is based upon Cinthio's squadron leader. Role in ''Othello'' Cassio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackface
Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a global perspective that includes European culture and Western colonialism. Blackface became a global phenomenon as an outgrowth of theatrical practices of racial misrepresentation, racial impersonation popular throughout Britain and its colonial empire, where it was integral to the development of imperial racial politics. Scholars with this wider view may date the practice of blackface to as early as Medieval Europe's mystery plays when bitumen and coal were used to darken the skin of white performers portraying demons, devils, and damned souls. Still others date the practice to English Renaissance theatre, English Renaissance theater, in works such as William Shakespeare's ''Othello''. However, some scholars see blackface as a specific pract ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bianca (Othello)
Bianca is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). She is Cassio's jealous lover. Despite her brief appearance on stage, Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago's scheme to make Othello believe that his wife Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. Role in ''Othello'' In Act 3, Scene 3, Iago reveals to the audience that, having surreptitiously obtained the handkerchief that Othello had originally given Desdemona as a lover's token, he will lose it in Cassio's lodging. Upon discovering the handkerchief in the following scene, Cassio admires its craftsmanship and asks Bianca to copy it for him. Bianca, already furious with Cassio for his apparent disregard of their relationship, suggests that the handkerchief is a gift from another woman, but eventually agrees to his request. Midway through Act 4, Scene 1, and prior to Bianca's entrance, Othello has been secretly observing a bawdy discussion between Iago and Cassio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brabantio
Brabantio (sometimes called Brabanzio) is a character in William Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). He is a Venetian senator and the father of Desdemona. Brabantio makes his first appearance in 1.1 when Iago and Roderigo rouse him with the news that Desdemona has eloped. In 1.2, Brabantio is led to the Sagittary, where the newlyweds are found and there accuses Othello of using magic to bewitch his daughter. In 1.3, he brings Othello to trial before the Duke and once again accuses him of using witchcraft upon his daughter. When Desdemona arrives, she tells her father that she respects him only because they are related, and that Othello is whom she truly loves. Brabantio grudgingly accepts what she says, but not without complaining to the senators in an attempt at having Othello stripped of his title; when this is unsuccessful, he disowns his daughter. Film interpreters of the role include Friedrich Kühne in the 1922 silent version starring Emil Jannings, Hilton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of River Avon, Warwickshire, Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including William Shakespeare's collaborations, collaborations, consist of some Shakespeare's plays, 39 plays, Shakespeare's sonnets, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays List of translations of works by William Shakespeare, have been translated into every major modern language, living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
