May his pernicious soul rot half a grain a day...

I have never hated anyone more.

This week I got to read the play Othello as well as view a film production on it. I thought about how to approach this and decided to first view the play and then to read it. After all, in Shakespeare's day everyone had to watch the play only, I doubt many people were able to obtain copies of the script to peruse at their own leisure.

I watched the film and LOVED IT!!! Fantastic! I was a little skeptical about a low budget BBC film but the talent of the actors, namely Anthony Hopkins, made it magnificent. I found myself sincerely moved and invested in the play. Totally being pulled into the part I was set to play as the viewer. I didn't know how much I would like the play, but this viewing experience has made it one of my favorites. While it is not my favorite tragedy of Will's, it is the most tragic tragedy.

I then read the script and found that this was a lot of fun after viewing the film. I find when I read before I see a production that I don't really grasp the emphasis in sentences or words. Everyone speaks very calmly and fluidly in my head. I didn't get as lost in the language now that I had seen how these lines were handled. Two lines stuck out to me.

He that is robbed, not wanting what is stolen,
Let him not know 't, and he's not robbed at all.
Othello, 3. 3

Someone who has something taken, if he doesn't know it's missing, he might as well not be robbed at all, he doens't know so it doesn't hurt him. When it is pointed out that something is taken then he falls into sadness and want, for he has "drunk and seen the spider" you might say.

This makes me so sad with Othello because nothing has really been stolen, but he thinks it has and that is enough to make him fly into a destructive rage. This tragedy is worse to me that Romeo and Juliet for example, because the cause of the two hormonal teenage tragedy is their own stupidity. Othello had a wonderful, almost enviable realationship with his wife. It was just as it should be, but due to the evil of a calculating devil, Othello lost it all. That is so tragic.

This brings me to my second line I like. The title of my post today, it is a punishment described for evil Iago. It sounds terrible, but it's still not enough in my opinion. I really detest this man who is nothing but pure evil inside, who can laugh when he sees other human beings tormented.

Elder Holland, says it best for me, "In the tale of Othello and Desdemona the sorrow and destruction is calculated--it is maliciously driven from the beginning. Of all the villains in Shakespeare's writing, and perhaps in all of literature, there is no one I loathe so much as I loathe Iago. Even his name sounds evil to me, or at least it has become so. And what is his evil...Sowing doubt and devilish innuendo, playing on jealousy and deceit and finally murderous rage, Iago provokes Othello into taking Desdemona's life--virtue turned into pitch, goodness twisted into a fatal net."

So, may his pernicious soul rot half a grain a day!

Assumptions are always awful...sometimes

When I was in middle school, i had quite an....interesting teacher who one day taught us why we do not make assumptions. It had to do with dividing the word "assume" into three parts. In an effort to rise above crude, rude, and base attempts at humor, or to not talk about Shakespearean and Biblical donkeys, I won't tell you what he said, but I will talk about why assumptions are bad.

Wouldn't the world of Shakespeare, and our world for that matter, just be a better, happier place without assumptions. Maybe if we just were honest one with another. Lets take Hamlet for example. Instead of assuming your Uncle is evil, and hence playing crazy to find out, wouldn't it be infinitely more easy just to confront your Uncle about his murderous and incestuous habits, perhaps in an intervention of sorts. Lets look at Othello, assuming Desdemona is unfaithful, and grasping hold of that thought so tightly that even a kiss of pure innoccence almost persuading "Justice to break her sword" won't convince him otherwise and he ends up killing an innocent woman (Darn you Iago, you twisted sick man...). Romeo assumes Juliet really is dead and so dramatically takes poison and kills himself. A Winters Tale, Leontes assumes his wife too is unfaithful. Of course, he doesn't confront anyone, no, that would be too logical. Instead the best thing to do is to try and kill your childhood friend and set in motion events that will haunt you for 16 years. Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio assumes the worst in Beatrice causing many people much heartache and distress.

Good gracious people! Can't we just be open and honest with each other, hold off a little on the emotion and talk civilized before you stab your wife, or yourself? Sure, honesty sometime hurts to hear, but so does weeks of the cold shoulder and then getting stabbed to death, or turning into a statue for 16 years. I would rather have someone be honest than polite, in fact, it's impolite to lie or tell half-truths. Shakespeare teaches us well, that the world would be a better place if the inhabitants would work on their communication skills.

If we must jump to conclusions and assume motives in others, the better route to take would be to give someone the benefit of the doubt and assume that they mean well. Something much easier said than done.