Othello

Title: Othello
Author: William Shakespeare
Genre: Classic, Play
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Reason Read: Class Assignment
Rating:

My Thoughts

Even though I was required to read several of Shakespeare’s plays in high school, OTHELLO is the only one I’ve read in its entirety. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to reading it for my English class because I’m not really a fan of Shakespeare. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Because of the footnotes, some help with Spark Notes, and looking up words I didn’t understand, I actually understood most of what happened in the play.

Before I read this play, I had no idea what it was about. I was only familiar with a few of Shakespeare’s plays so it was quite a surprise to find out that this play had elements of racism, sexism, infidelity, betrayal, and murder. It wasn’t one of my favorite reads, but I did enjoy it for its beauty and controversial story. It made me think.

Critics of OTHELLO often complain that they think the play itself is racist and / or sexist. Personally, after having read different criticisms and the play itself, I feel that some of the characters are indeed racist and / or sexist, but I don’t feel like the play itself is. Because Shakespeare made Othello the hero of the story and in such a high position, which would’ve been unheard of in his time, and because he had Desdemona go against conventional norms for women of the time, I think Shakespeare was trying to get people to think outside the box instead of perpetuating racism and / or sexism.