Universal Shakespeare

Other movies based off of plays by Shakespeare:
Scotland, PA=Macbeth
Chimes at Midnight= The Merry Wives of Windsor
Get Over It= Midsummer's Night Dream

By creating movies based off of Shakespeare's plays, the writers have made them universal. The writers have broadened the audience of the plays. By putting some reference in the movies about Shakespeare, they have dropped a big hint.

If someone was just to watch the movies without reading the plays before, they wouldn't be able to make the connection. That's what happened to me with "O."

Men in Dresses

How weird would it have been if we saw this acted out back in Shakespeare's day? Every character would have been a man. How would you react to a man dressing as a woman? Would that have any effect on the way you portray the characters? Would it make you feel like the scenes in the bedroom were less than serious?

I think that it would have been difficult for me to watch this play acted out if everyone was a man. I just think men should not wear dresses. You would see women with beards. I probably would have taken it a lot less seriously because I wouldn't be able to hold in my laughter if a man came out in an elegant gown. It would be very awkward for me for some reason.

My Reaction

As I was reading, I had some thoughts about the characters in Othello. I wrote them down, so here it goes:

Othello: He's an idiot for believing that his wife cheated on him. He doesn't have any proof! If he really loved her, he would ask her for the truth before accusing her of doing something wrong. Why doesn't he listen to her when she tells him that she hasn't done anything? What a stupid man!

Iago: He doesn't even know if anyone has slept with his wife. Why doesn't he find out if anything actually happened? It's really dumb that he wants to break apart a marriage when there's no proof for his reasoning.

Desdemona: What a naive little girl! She should stand up to Othello instead of letting him make her feel horrible. If she knew that he was going to kill her, why didn't she try to run away?

As for the ending, I think that Iago should have been tortured to death for what he did. What a jerk! I am really glad that his wife stood up to him. I'm a little upset that she died. The innocent died and the villain lived. What kind of an ending is that? I guess that's Shakespeare for you!