Initial Impressions...

After reading Othello, the Moor of Venice I can see that the lines are of prose, not poetry which shows that the characters and setting of the scene is of a high status. The play is set in the streets of Venice, moving through the town to where Desdemona is killed, on her bed.  Looking deeply at the characters featured in our five minute scene I notice that Othello was perceived as an outsider to the city in this play (because he was originally a slave) and throughout, he is viewed as merely a puppet to the cruel and manipulative Iago. He is very jealous and protective of his wife, whilst he cannot bear to think that she may have been unfaithful to him. Othello’s wife Desdemona is illustrated to be a weak and confused character. She spends much of the play fighting to show her husband her maturity and independence yet then she is desperate to show him that she loves him, needs him and is really very feeble.  She does however; appear to foresee her own death and understands that it is her husband’s growing insanity that will eventually kill her. My character Emilia, Desdemona’s lady waiting lady is married to Iago however this marriage appears to be extremely troubled. Despite Emilia’s obvious attempts to save her marriage, Iago is cruel and uncaring for her and ultimately kills her. Emilia is far more cynical than Desdemona and lacks belief in herself that she can do better than Iago for a husband. She is desperate to please Iago but once Desdemona is dead, the audience see a new, stronger and braver Emilia, adamant that she will stand up to her husband. It is clear that there is a deep bond between the two women. Emilia admires her lady’s strength for going to her death and lying to protect Othello and she too summons the courage to expose her husband’s deceit, for which Iago kills her.  I can relate to the character of Emilia whose love for her friend pushed her to be courageous. It just shows how love can affect people in different ways. I am also nervous about playing an older and more emotional woman as I have never been cast in a role like that before. I am confused by the character of Desdemona as she is seemingly resigned in the fact that she will die and that is that. She is emotionally and mentally very immature and her intentions in this play can be seen as somewhat conflicting. Hannah will have to work hard to find a balance between confusion and seduction in our scene. Obvious themes of the play include love, heroism and isolation, and symbols of light and dark. I am interested to see if we are able to use the symbols of light and dark in our five minute scene because many of Othello’s lines speak of a light being put out; symbolic of Desdemona’s death.  I know that our scene is especially important because of the crucial turning point in the plot, for many of the Characters. Desdemona’s death sparks a change of heart and new found bravery in Emilia (who deep down knows she was instrumental in her lady’s death and feels extremely guilty for letting Iago manipulate her.) It also marks the beginning of Othello’s regret and understanding that he had no need to kill his wife, and all faith he had in Iago disappears.