Customer Reviews

Othello

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Othello was one of the first plays I was exposed to when I was younger. It has murder, suicide, intrigue and things that would get a teenager into Shakespeare.

I've had mixed success with some of the free Kindle versions of Shakespeare. Some have been good, some have been awful. This is an exceptional version. It's formatted nicely and is easy to read. The only "lack" is that it is without line numbers, so if you were to use this for academic reasons, you might have an issue or two.

Thus far, Othello's my favorite free Shakespeare play. I missed how much of a jerk Iago was, and all the deception that lead to Othello killing Desdemona.

If you've got a Kindle and want to read Shakespeare, then download this version.

Really, if you enjoy Shakespeare's plays, then you'll enjoy Othello. The actual read-ability of this digital version is excellent, so I'd recommend it above other digital versions.

This is another one of Shakespeare's great tragedies read true to text. Not much more to say, this is a great, very sad story.

This version is well formatted, does not include line numbers or footnotes, which I am cool with as a casual reader.
Iago is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's characters. He's the villain that uses his deep understanding of human nature to engineer the downfall of his enemies, "leading them tenderly by the nose"[paraphrased]. Without lifting a finger himself, he brings about the deaths of a bunch of people, and is a complicated person because you admire him for his cleverness but you pity him for his unhappiness. I ended up feeling contemptuous of the other characters who are virtuous but too easily manipulated. From the beginning of the play you sense that everyone is doomed, and watching this car wreck happen in slow motion is a good read.

I bought this at Barns and i saw it as a recomended review so im doing one. I bought this for high school just to get a grade. After reading it with the class it was such a good Book i actually read it!!! So in conclusion get the book i promise you its worth and will send your mind places and get you thinking. I'm not going to give details about the book cause i don't want to ruin the surprise

Shakespeare is known for so many different stories that I feel like Othello is often overlooked--which I think is tragic because Othello, in my opinion, is his best story. Iago is one of the villainous characters of all time and the way his plot unfolds makes Othello one of the most suspenseful reads that I've ever encountered.

I wish more attention would go to this book that I feel like is treated as a second class citizen to much of Shakespeare's other works.

The book is very well written and applies to present day conflicts. (Sort of, not fully)

Shakespeare is a great writer as many already know. Othello is a short read compared to some of his other works.

You'll love Othello the protagonist and really feel his sorrows and all that he goes through. Of course you'll know everything that'll happen before he does and you'll really sympathize him.

Read it! You won't be disappointed.

"Othello" is sort of a companion piece to "Macbeth" -- both are about noble, upstanding men who are destroyed by their own weaknesses. But where Macbeth was ruined by ambition, Othello's destruction comes from his jealousy and gullibility. And the play is really ruled by the nastiest, cruelest, most devious villain Shakespeare ever wrote.

That villain is Iago, a high-ranking soldier who has a grudge against the noble Moorish soldier Othello, who has just eloped with the beautiful Desdemona. Using a nobleman as his pawn, Iago first turns Desdemona's father against Othello, but the new soldier defends himself agains claims of witchcraft.

But Iago's true plan is far more devious, as he disgraces Othello's lieutenant Cassion and plants Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's room. Othello finds himself confronted by a chess game of lies, deceit and suspected infidelity, and his jealousy reaches a fever pitch that can only end in death.

Yeah, the real star of this play is undoubtedly Iago. This is the most repellent mixture of absolute malicious evil and crazy-smart intellect that anyone could write -- he is the person you love to hate, even as you admire how devilishly perfect he is at playing the chessmaster who whispers poison into your ear while playing your "friend." He doesn't quite think of EVERYTHING, but he comes close enough that you would NEVER want to deal with someone like this.

But this tragedy is also underscored by the depiction of Othello, a truly noble and loyal soldier who is turned into a deranged homicidal mess. It's somehow even more disturbing to see him deteriorate than it was to see Macbeth, because this guy was on top of the world in every way -- he was smart, eloquent, a brilliant soldier and a newlywed. And look what happens to him.

And Shakespeare deftly builds up this tragedy with a subtle, interconnecting web of lies and misdirections, with the tension building slowly until something has to blow. His writing is typically powerful, generating some quotable phrases ("It is the green-ey'd monster") and lots of cynical, dark dialogue ("Who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch?").

"Othello" is a strangely fascinating tragedy, with Shakespeare absorbing us again in the tale of a good man corrupted. Definitely a good, if harrowing play.

Shakespeare was one of the greatest geniuses the world has ever known. We're lucky to still know him. It speaks well of the human race. In apprehension, how like a god...