The modernised basketball film “O” translates William Shakespeare's tragedy script Othello into a high school teen drama. The film gets its individuality and power from the fact that its plot, themes, motivations and actions of its characters are a modern comparative to the seventeenth century play. The director and writer of the 2001 film ‘O’ have produced a near identical productions, all while adding a more modern twist to the context of a high school violence. Every wondered why modernized versions of Shakespeare’s plays are so successful? It’s because the writers and directors take the work of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan era plays and adapt their meanings, plot and values for a modern audience to appreciate. Jealousy, woman and power will …show more content…
Jealousy is expressed through many different characters perspectives. Iago’s jealousy if a major focal point throughout Shakespeare’s play, Iago gets so jealous that he becomes a very racist person with some terms such as thick-lips, sooty-bosom and Moor to describe Othello. His racism towards Othello makes him think that he shouldn’t be under Othello in the Military and Desdemona and Othello shouldn’t be together. During the Elizabethan time it was very uncommon and highly frowned upon to see a white person and coloured person to be married, let alone the person with the higher rank to be coloured. Similar in the film ‘O’, jealousy and racism is a big problem during the time why the film took place. Although the settings have changed during the centuries, jealousy and racism between Othello and ‘O’ still remain somewhat the same. …show more content…
in the Elizabethan era the ideologies they had towards woman were that they belonged to their husbands and fathers, woman were submissive, woman were objects and were to be kept and controlled, woman didn’t have a voice to speak in society, they were to be obedient. In Othello Desdemona challenges these ideologies in the Elizabethan era, Desdemona rebels against her father and loves a man of a lower rank, Emilia challenges the dominant man by questioning her husband, she also defies her husband Iago by telling the truth about the manipulation, Desdemona supports the Elizabethan cultural assumptions by allowing Othello to murder her by being submissive. Quote/Evidence In the film ‘O’ Desi is a submissive character. ‘O’ is transformed to suit a modern audience. Resembling the play Othello Desdemona gives into her husband when he murders her. Unlike in the play Othello, Desi doesn’t challenge Odin, or given a chance to confront Odin before she dies. The audience is positioned see woman as still being powerless in society and the white male is dominant, woman have no voice, domestic violence is acceptable by the dominant male, woman are sexual objects and are to be controlled and woman are not challenging dominant power structure. Because of this the story ends in
Othello weaves a tragic tale of love, jealousy and murder. Set in Venice and progressing to Cyprus, Shakespeare’s Othello follows the cursed path of its namesake, a black soldier whose love for his wife ultimately results in her death. Woven into the socially and emotionally delicate plot is a multitude of key themes, including race (Othello’s colour), love, and jealousy.
Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’ and the contemporary appropriation of a film ‘O’ by Tim Blake Nelson are based on the societal values and morals of their time. Issues such as racism, the use of language and deception are timeless making them evident throughout both contexts, hence the engagements in both textual forms.
Jealousy is someting that can cloud the minds of even the most smartest people.It can friends enemies and blur people's judgment and convince themselves of something that is false .throughout the book anger is a big motivator for the characters.
‘Othello is one of the brilliant plays written by William Shakespeare. It is the story of man named Othello and how his mind was twisted and manipulated by a man named Iago and how Iago made Othello think that his wife Desdemona was cheating on him with his lieutenant Michael Cassio, which results in many deaths. Tim Blake Nelson has creatively restructured ‘Othello’ into a film to appeal to a teenage audience. It still contains the same central ideas which are racism, jealousy and deception which will be analysed on how they are portrayed in ‘Othello’ and are creatively reshaped in ‘O’.
William Shakespeare’s Othello & Tim Blake Nelson’s “O” each demonstrate the issues of their respective contexts through the chosen mediums of both composers. Shakespeare’s Othello uses the medium of theatre to present ideas such as jealousy, appearance versus reality and racism through a variety of literary techniques while also encompassing the conventions of a classic Shakespearean tragedy. These ideas remain universally relevant in Blake Nelson’s modern day adaptation “O” which parallels the ideas conveyed in Othello through its cinematic techniques. Both texts, through these universal ideas conveyed, also demonstrate values relevant to both contexts such as honesty, truth and honour.
Although misperceptions about the other gender are dangerous causes of downfall, flawed views among one’s own gender are also great contributors to destruction. Othello and Desdemona best exemplify this notion. Desdemona presents herself as pure, compassionate, and understanding towards everyone, especially Othello. Shakespeare theorizes on how some women believe the stereotype about females is valid and must be followed, and men can exhibit the same
Love and jealousy are ideas that have gone hand in hand for many years. From the beginning of time, jealousy has caused strife and division among families and friends. Adam, the first man, had Cain and Abel as his sons. The first family on earth had jealousy that tore the family apart, when Cain killed Abel, because of Cain’s jealousness towards God’s favor on Abel (English Standard Version, Genesis 4:4-5). Jealousy abounds in all avenues of life, sometimes to the point of destroying everything in the path, including the jealous party. In Shakespeare’s masterpiece Othello, the character Iago reveals himself to be extremely wicked in the following ways: his extreme jealousy towards Cassio’s promotion, his
In the play, Othello, jealousy and envy are prominent themes from the beginning to the end. As the play starts to unwind, you can see jealousy is the major cause of all the drama in the play. Jealousy or envy is a feeling of discontented or resentful longing by someone else’s possessions , qualities or luck. Iago becomes engulfed by jealousy and it causes him to corrupt Othello. They are two men that cause similar crimes but we sympathize for Othello and hate Iago because they have different attitudes towards their crime.
Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in
In the story of Othello, all of the conflict, violence, and harm that occured was a result of jealousy. Iago, one of the victims of jealousy, made a hypocritical statement to Othello where he called jealousy a green-eyed monster. This monster known as jealousy not only consumes the people that it hates, but also consumes the person itself. Jealousy is the culprit for any character that had died in the story. Jealousy fueled each scene to the next in Othello and the more that is added, the more damage it does as seen with its effects on Roderigo, Iago, and Othello.
Jealousy is a powerful drug. When someone is jealous, one can only imagine how far someone would go because of it. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, there were several characters that went through different ways of processing their jealousy. Iago’s jealousy provokes his idea to get back at the people he felt was not deserving enough of the things they had or their happiness. His plans succeeds but by the end, no one wins. Iago’s jealousy forms at the beginning of the play which causes Othello’s jealousy towards the end and because of it, it results in people hurt mentally and physically.
Othello has suffered less in its modern interpretation than any other of Shakespeare’s tragedies, it would seem. So insistently did Shakespeare keep this tragedy unified about the theme of jealousy and the central victims of the passion, so obviously did he mould his plot about the black Moor and the
Jealousy is the sensation to envy someone and have the desire to avenge someone. The infamous play Othello portrays the consequences of jealousy. Throughout the play, Othello tragic flaw is his own jealousy. Othello jealousy causes a transition of character. Othello was once the charming noble gentleman and it is now turned into a vicious callous monster. Othello’s jealousy was his downfall that cost the deaths of multiple lives.
Jealousy is described as someone who is feeling or showing envy of someone because of their achievements and advantages. Jealousy plays a major role in Shakespeare’s play Othello. There are many instances throughout the play that show jealousy between the characters. Throughout the play, jealousy is used for destructive purposes only. I believe that Iago longed to get revenge on Othello for previous issues. This only results in a long line of accusations and disputes between the characters in Othello.
The play Othello by William Shakespeare was published during the 16th century, it is one of Shakespeare’s popular and controversial plays. Shakespeare depicts Othello’s race as placing him apart in some respects from the predominantly white European society in which he lives. Jealousy is another of the main themes in Othello. Iago is the first character to start the sparks of jealousy in Othello, and in the end, causes the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. In the end, racism and jealousy are the causes of the tragedy in Othello.