4. We are all unwitting Shakespeare quoters, sometimes "without rhyme or
reason.” If you are "in a pickle" because you have been "eaten out of
house and home" and even your "salad days" have "vanished into thin
air," you are quoting Shakespeare. You've been "hoodwinked" and "more
sinned against than sinning." No wonder you're not "playing fast and
loose" and haven't "slept a wink" and are probably "breathing your
last." It's "cold comfort" that you are quoting Shakespeare. If you "point
your finger" at me, "bid me good riddance" when you "send me
packing" and call me a "laughing-stock," "the devil incarnate," a "sorry
sight," "eyesore," and a "stone-hearted," "bloody-minded" "blinking
idiot" and wish I were "dead as a door-nail”, then I would say that you
possess neither a "heart of gold" nor "the milk of human kindness,"
especially considering that we are "flesh and blood." Now that we have
gone "full circle" and you are still waiting with "bated breath" since I have
not been able to make you "budge an inch," it is "fair play" for me to quit
this sermon since Shakespeare himself taught me that "brevity is the soul
of wit." After all, it is a "foregone conclusion” that we all speak
Shakespeare's language!
adapted from Take My Words: A Wordaholic's Guide to the English Language by Howard Richler
6. Let me ask
you!
Compare a scene in the movie
O to the corresponding scene
in Shakespeare’s Othello. In
some cases, there will not be a
direct correlation. In that case,
you may refer to themes as
long as you use textual
evidence. How does the
director both stay true to
Shakespeare and make the
film more relevant? Which is
more successful? Why
8. MOTIVATIONS: HUGO VS. IAGO
One of the main differences between Shakespeare’s Othello and the film O is Iago/Hugo’s motives. While still based in
jealousy having been shunted aside, denied a higher position, and thinking his girlfriend is cheating on him, Hugo has the
added element of being a neglected child. As an adaptation, this makes a lot more sense to the modern audience because it
actually resonates, whereas Iago killing and tricking in an almost detached manner feels more like a villain killing for fun. Iago
had his own reasons as well, but compared to Hugo they seem less substantial because he is a grown man and one who doesn’t
necessarily have a terrible life–only one we conjure from his own point of view. O has evidence of child neglect and/or abuse,
which we can garner from his father’s actions during coaching scenes, and his general lack of attention for Hugo, shown in
such cases as in the office where he casually dismisses Hugo’s English grade and then asks about Odin. Adding that to the fact
he’s a senior and was denied recognition for his past four years of work on the basketball team, regardless of if he is amazing
or not, makes him a sympathetic character for the most part. It also contextualizes his treatment of Emily, whereas for Iago we
have to assume Emilia cheated on him, he is being overly jealous, or he’s trying to justify himself. A teen who was probably
ignored for the greater part of at least two years, perhaps even before that, is likely to be paranoid of his girlfriend cheating on
him because he is used to never being anyone’s first choice. This still does not justify his actions considering the way he chose
to go about it and the amount of people he implicated, but it does give insight into the formation of school shooters as we’ve
been speaking about. The film even opens and ends with soliloquies about “flying” and capturing people’s eyes, and reminds
the audience of cases of children acting out in order to receive some form of attention. Overall, Othello is more difficult to
garner an emotional response from whereas O is much more successful at making us believe in why the murders happen.
9. HUGO AND RODERIGO CALL THE DEAN
In the original Shakespearean text, Desdemona is asked whether or not she loves Othello and
if she had been influenced by magic. Desdemona claims that she honestly does love Othello
and has not been manipulated to do so. Unlike in the film where, Desi’s father and the dean of
the school, asks her if she had been harmed or forced by Odin to do anything she didn’t want
to do. In this case, it has less to do with love and magic and more to do with whether or not
Odin had been physically or sexually abusing her. This is a smart move by the director as this
approach caters to more modern audiences. With the racial tension in communities, it is not
uncommon to hear people accusing black people of being abusive simply because they’re
black. Not only that, this film is meant to be a realistic take on Othello and therefore magic has
no place in O. Additionally, Desi’s father is only made aware of the relationship between the
two of them when a not-so-anonymous caller tells him that Odin’s been taking advantage of
her.. Again, this is a smart choice as the audience can definitely see this being a realistic
situation.
10. DESI, DADDY, THE DEAN, AND ODIN
In the movie O, I noticed that there is a scene where Dezzy gets called into the principal’s office and
was asked about whether she has been touched by Odin physically, implicated in a sexual way. She
repeatedly answers that it is none of her father’s business. Her refusal of answering the question
indicates that she may have been physically intimate with Odin. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Desdemona
is asked whether or not she loves Othello, or was it due to some magic spell that she was under. She
says that she loves Othello earnestly. In the play, it does not really directly reference anything about
whether or not Desdemona has had sexual contact with Othello, but rather focuses on whether her love
for him was true, or if it were some magic. The director stays true to Shakespeare by having the father
not want his daughter to have any physical, if any, relations with Othello. Othello is put in a place
where he is looked down upon by the father if he stays in a relationship with Desdemona. The film
makes the play more relevant by being more direct and letting us know that the father is not only
concerned about his daughter falling in love with a man that he does not prefer, but most importantly,
emphasises that the father does not want them to have sex or reproduce.
11. THE HANKY
• One major difference between O and Othello is the introduction of the strawberry handkerchief. In
both versions, the handkerchief is the smoking gun of Iago’s dastardly plan to turn Othello from a
loving partner to a jealous wretch. In both versions the handkerchief is gifted by Othello to
Desdemona and represents a sort of guarantee of chastity or loyalty, and it is its disappearance that
causes both O’s to believe irrefutably that Desdemona is cucking him. The handkerchief is also what
causes Iago to be brought to justice for his crimes, as he was forced to rely on Emelia to steal it and is
unable to silence her in time for her to expose him. In the original play, the strawberry handkerchief is
apparently the first gift that Othello gave to Desdemona, but we do not actually see or hear about it
until act three scene three, when Desdemona accidently drops it while trying to comfort a distraught
Othello. In fact, we only learn it is important after both characters leave the stage, with Emilia being
the one who first clues us in on its value. A scene later we are given the full details of the kerchiefs
exotic backstory, how it was passed down from Othello’s mother to him, but it is still interesting that it
is only halfway through the play when such an important trinket is introduced. This is in comparison
to O, where the introduction of the handkerchief is handled quite differently even if the effects of its
disappearance are the same. Unlike in the play, where the handkerchief is given early on in the
relationship before the play even begins, we see O giving the gift to Desdemona and it is only after
being together for four or so months.
12. THE MURDERS
During the play’s death scene of Desdemona and Emilia, both women say final words
that reflect their true personality. Desdemona, right before she dies, lies to Emilia, saying
she committed suicide. Even in Desdemona’s final moments, it is clear that she still
loves Othello and is loyal to him. Right before Emilia dies, she is able to stand up for
herself and Desdemona to Iago and Othello. Her last words/request prove her loyalty to
Desdemona and show the deep friendship that they had for each other. In the movie,
however that kind of closure and dignified ending for both characters is not really seen.
Desi and Emiliy both die instantaneously without any final words. Without those lines in
the death scene, I think it makes the death of both girls more disturbing and
unprecedented. Both women characters are well-developed in the movie, so it’s a
shame to seem them just become static characters moments before their deaths.
Another thing that bugged me about the movie was that O strangles Desi to death when
it clearly states in the play that Othello smothers her. I mean, the pillow is literally right
there next to him in the movie.
13. THE END
The scene that really stayed with me was the ending. Just like in Othello, the movie made the ending
very dramatic. The movie modernized it by making the weapon a gun which was used by both Hugo
and O and when O finally realized what was going on, used it on himself. The fact that they decided to
not have O not know the cause for Hugo’s betrayal made it all the more powerful when O was almost
pleading him to tell him. Hugo like in the play didn’t tell O the reason for his betrayal. In the movie
however, with Cassio being shot and taken by a paramedics, whom I assume survived, no one was
there to tell O the truth. Emilia exposed Hugo, but didn’t say why he did it. We know that it was
because Hugo was jealous because his own father favored O more than himself. To me, that made me
sympathize more with Hugo for most of the film, until he decided to kill. Granted, O was the first to
suggest the idea, but Hugo was able to enact and scheme the idea into reality. Also unlike the book,
the film decided to end the movie with Hugo saying how he always knew O would fly high, and that one
day soon, he too would fly. In my opinion that change was a good choice in the film; it helped solidify
Hugo’s jealousy and showed how he felt no remorse for what he had done. To him, he finally has an
opportunity to be noticed by everyone just like O had been.
14. SOLILOQUIES TO BE OR NOT TO BE?
Of all the differences between the film O and Shakespeare’s original Othello, I feel the most striking was the soliloquies, or
in the case of the film, the lack of them. There is not one soliloquy from the original work that is left in the film adaptation,
and we are left to infer what is going on inside of Hugo’s head as he twists the situation around him until the very end of the
film, where Hugo claims that he will one day fly above everyone. But I suspect what is going on inside of Hugo’s head is a
bit different from what is going on inside of Iago’s head. [. . .]
While I will admit, the absence of Iago’s eloquently worded soliloquies was something I feel took away from the film’s
power, I see the reason they were left out. For one, I feel like the addition of soliloquies may have broken the rhythm that
the movie was looking for, a problem that the play did not have. It made sense to place it at the end as Hugo is drove away
in the back of a squad car. This was the wrapping up of events, the conclusion of the story, to have that soliloquy looking
back on everything helps us to understand why he did it, why it wasn’t just about revenge. Secondly, language differences
withstanding, Iago’s evocation of hell and demons would not have resonated with today’s audience the way it would have
with audiences during the Elizabethan period. While certainly there is a strongly religious population in the United States, I
feel the director choose to take a more universal platform in the form of mental health. To me, Hugo seemed like someone
who had been building to this point for a long time, and whose patience had finally snapped with the slight of not receiving
the award he felt he so deserved.
15. QHQS
Q: The words of the play on their own are the medium of the story’s communication, text works
well in conveying thoughts and intents, but limited to voices, text has to be stretched into
dialogue rather than action or thought. In a medium of film, visual and audible decisions are as
important as words themselves. What purpose does the music serve?
17. EXAM REVIEW
1. Passage identification by work
2. Character identification
3. Who said it? Name the Speaker
4. Matching:
5. Terms: Fill in the blank
18. EXAM REVIEW: Short essay/Long answer: two or three
paragraphs: These are merely sample questions.
Explore the female characters in Richard III. Do they
have agency, or are they absolutely powerless? What
affect do they have on the play? The three queens
clearly see Richard’s evil intentions. What do their
insights tell us about them? About women? What does
their grief tell us? What do their fates say?
Does Othello deserve Iago’s wrath? Is Iago just
evil or can a sensitive reader understand his
hatred for Othello? What are his motivations for
destroying Othello?
