Othello (No Fear Shakespeare) (Sparknotes No Fear Shakespeare)

Shakespeare, William, Sparknotes Editors

ISBN 10: 0606366431 / ISBN 13: 9780606366434

Published by Turtleback Books, 2003

About this Item

Gut/Very good: Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit wenigen Gebrauchsspuren an Einband, Schutzumschlag oder Seiten. / Describes a book or dust jacket that does show some signs of wear on either the binding, dust jacket or pages.

Seller Inventory # M00606366431-V

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Othello (No Fear Shakespeare) (Sparknotes No Fear Shakespeare)
• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0606366431
• ISBN 13: 9780606366434
• Condition: very good

About this title

Synopsis

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of "Othello" on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains

The complete text of the original play

A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language

A complete list of characters with descriptions

Plenty of helpful commentary

Review

If anything, Othello has increased its stature as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies ever since it was first written, between 1603 and 1604, due to the victimisation suffered by its tragic hero, Othello, as a result of his skin colour. Othello is a "noble Moor", a North African Muslim who has converted to Christianity and is deemed one of the Venetian state's most reliable soldiers. However, his ensign Iago harbours an obscure hatred against his general, and when Othello secretly marries the beautiful daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio, Iago begins his subtle campaign of vilification, which will inevitably lead to the deaths of more than just Othello and Desdemona.

An extraordinary play, both for its dramatic economy and power as well as its remarkable language, from Othello's bombastic "traveller's history" to Desdemona's elegiac "willow song", the play raises uncomfortable questions about ongoing questions of not only racial identity but also sexuality, as Othello and Desdemona's sexual relationship becomes the voyeuristic site of Iago's attempt to destroy them. Particularly fascinated with the question of what it means to "see", Othello also contains one of the greatest tragic death scenes in all of Shakespeare, with Othello's final identification with "a malignant and a turbaned Turk". --Jerry Brotton