Of course Shakespeare makes less sense when you don't SEE/HEAR it.
Well, it's a play -- of course it's got to be seen/heard to appreciate it. That's why I make my class read the play, and then we watch the Fishburne/Brannagh adaptation. I don't know if any of the kids in my Ren class have seen it performed (or seen the film version), but honestly, that scene depends on how the actor playing Othello chooses to PLAY it. There're no stage directions in Shakespeare (or very little), so oftentimes it's up to the actors/director.
But I think it's helpful to read the play FIRST, so you have a basic idea of what's going on. Also, since many plays/films cut out certain parts of the text, reading the play gives you a full idea of what the play SHOULD include. I also find that it helps to read the play first so that students less experienced with Elizabethan English can get a feel for it, otherwise the language in the movie goes clear over their heads. (Remember, this is a lower-level class I'm teaching.)
As far as I see it, there are three possibilities:
1. Shakespeare made a mistake that his betas didn't catch ;) 2. Othello is trying to scare Des into submission (this is the theory I buy) 3. Later on, Othello is downplaying any association he may have with the dark arts (since, in Act I, he tells Des's dad that he won Des without any charms or conjurations).
Emailed my prof about this, and he was absolutely thrilled that I'd sent him the passages. He brought up the possibility of the two bits of dialogue being an accidental inconsistency, but he prefers not to buy into that theory, since it's not as much fun as the other two. Hee!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: How do they not get this?
Date: 2005-04-11 03:13 pm (UTC)Well, it's a play -- of course it's got to be seen/heard to appreciate it. That's why I make my class read the play, and then we watch the Fishburne/Brannagh adaptation. I don't know if any of the kids in my Ren class have seen it performed (or seen the film version), but honestly, that scene depends on how the actor playing Othello chooses to PLAY it. There're no stage directions in Shakespeare (or very little), so oftentimes it's up to the actors/director.
But I think it's helpful to read the play FIRST, so you have a basic idea of what's going on. Also, since many plays/films cut out certain parts of the text, reading the play gives you a full idea of what the play SHOULD include. I also find that it helps to read the play first so that students less experienced with Elizabethan English can get a feel for it, otherwise the language in the movie goes clear over their heads. (Remember, this is a lower-level class I'm teaching.)
As far as I see it, there are three possibilities:
1. Shakespeare made a mistake that his betas didn't catch ;)
2. Othello is trying to scare Des into submission (this is the theory I buy)
3. Later on, Othello is downplaying any association he may have with the dark arts (since, in Act I, he tells Des's dad that he won Des without any charms or conjurations).
Emailed my prof about this, and he was absolutely thrilled that I'd sent him the passages. He brought up the possibility of the two bits of dialogue being an accidental inconsistency, but he prefers not to buy into that theory, since it's not as much fun as the other two. Hee!