So Far So Good

Personally, I like Iago's character.  I understand that at times he is occasionally conflicted between motivations and excuses for why he does the things he does, but does that make him a bad person?  No, but I suppose turning your superior against his wife and ruining his second-in-command's life probably does.  Oh, whatever.  Literature needs more villains with the depth of character that Iago possesses.  I really like the humor Bill injects into the story, too.  I mean, here I am studying the text more than 400 years after it was written, and I still find it funny.  And I'm not even a nerd!  I'm a little disappointed by the lack of death thus far, but I've been assured that Act V is a bloodbath, so that's encouraging.  I guess I'm just caught up by how awesome everything is going for Iago, and I'm waiting for the bubble to burst.  Obviously, I want Emilia to die first.  She is annoying and a burden on society, and if she survives while everyone else dies I will be über upset.  I like Roderigo for some cruel and twisted reason (I probably find his naïveté endearing), but I've come to realize that when you read Bill you can't get too attached to any one character.  As of right now, my reaction is plainly put: so far, so good.

Gilbert Gottfried: Yikes!

It's pretty hard to read this play without constantly thinking of Aladdin, not only because Iago's name appears so frequently on the page but also simply because it's an awesome movie.  Some people forget that on occasion...right.  Anyways, I suppose I'll answer #4 this time (I'm linear like that).

Dramatic suspense is created almost exclusively through Iago's character and his common asides and soliloquies reserved for the audience only to hear.  Because the audience so often knows more of Iago's motivations, true intentions, and diabolical plans than he lets other characters in the play see, they also can look to future potential actions by Iago and other characters in anticipation.  For instance, at the end of Act IV, I know that Iago has convinced Roderigo to try and kill Cassio and Othello to try and kill Desdemona; however, suspense builds as I know not whether these actions will be carried out or not and if so, how.  Because the audience has known Iago's plans all along, and because they have worked out flawlessly up until the end of Act IV, there is suspense in pondering how it all falls apart in Act V, the finale.  And because Othello is a tragedy, you know there are a ton of people who are going to go down.

Here Goes Nuthin', Nuthin'-Special

Well, I must admit that after a dreadful hiatus, it's great to be back in the blogosphere doing what I do best, blogging about literature's greatests.  Over the past couple of weeks (and while I was away on retreat last week) we have been studying Othello, a 1603 drama by our very own Bill Shakespeare.  I, along with my classmates, have been giving the insurmountable task of analyzing the work (original, believe me, I know) by answering general questions on dramas.  For this first blog (at which point I have read only up until Act IV), I will answer #3.

The protagonist of the work is the eponymous Othello, a Moorish captain given the duty of protecting the nation of Venice from attacking and leading her armies.  The antagonist of the work is Iago, Othello's trusted ensign.  Two foils that stick out to me in the story thus far are Cassio and Emilia (not to each other, mind you).  Cassio, a young, flirtatious, and impulsive lieutenant, is the perfect contrast to a veterened, self-controlled, and devoted Othello.  Emilia foils Desdemona for her lack of ability to stand up to her husband, Iago, while Desdemona defends herself, and women, against the chauvinist.  Two minor characters who serve dramatic functions by moving forward the plot are the Duke and Bianca.  The Duke's primary purpose is to give Othello a need to explain the story of his courtship with Desdemona, and Bianca is used by Iago to trick Othello into believing a pompous Cassio slept with his wife.  Both shed light on the major characters, in this case Othello, by leading him to express himself either through words or emotions.