28.
Author: William Shakespeare
Title: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
Publication: Anthology Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing
Pages: 100 pages
Genre: Drama
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: April 8, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Othello is one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare. Like many of his plays, the foundation itself is not original (Shakespeare is inspired by an Italian novella published decades before his 1604 play), and the mastery itself comes down to the language and portrayal of the characters. Shakespeare's characters are stock characters - the faithful wife, the jealous husband, the villain - and yet instead of being flat and emotionally vacant they are both endearing and repulsive (usually both at once). One characteristic of the play that I find compelling is how Iago - our stock villain - forces the audience to become conspirators in his plot. The audience is the only other "character" who knows exactly what is going on - Iago's motivations and actions - and yet the audience is completely powerless to prevent the tragedy from unfolding.

I also enjoy the veiled threat that is the conclusion: everyone with the power to fully implicate Iago dies ... except for the audience.