Exceit And Emotional Warfare In William Shakespeare's Othello

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Othello is a tragic Shakespearean play about a Moor named Othello who is driven mad by jealousy via his flag bearer, Iago, based on Othello’s insecurities about his relationship with his wife, Desdemona. Othello has many adaptations through both theatrical performance and movies. One of the performances were the 1990 version with Laurence Fishburne. It was one of the first portrayals of Othello with an actual black man playing Othello rather than a white man with black face (a white actor who paints their face and other visible body parts black to portray a black character). Throughout this play, the common themes of deceit and emotional warfare exists, portrayed by both the actors and director.
One way these themes are shown is through directors’ …show more content…

During the beginning scenes when Othello and Desdemona get married, they share what could be considered as a cringy kiss. When they go in for the kiss, Othello and Desdemona keep their eyes open from the moment they move closer until after their lips touch. After staring into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds, Desdemona is the first one to break, quickly squeezing her eyes shut. Through this actors’ choice, you can see a bit of foreshadowing of the basic plotline. With the soft approach to the beginning of the kiss, you can see the beginning of the story with their love shining. As they get closer, you can see the tension growing in the kiss, symbolizing the rising action of the play with Othello’s growing unease. With the eyes open, you see the two of them regarding each other, Othello with suspicion and Desdemona with confusion, trying to work out what is wrong with Othello. By the end of the kiss, Desdemona desperately squeezes her eyes shut, trying to appease to Othello on last time and stop him from harming her, but from Othello’s wide, unwavering eyes, you can see his decision of killing Desdemona has been made and he will not back down from it. Another actor’s choice is when Desdemona strokes Othello’s face as she is dying from him smothering her. Through this action, it is shown that despite his wanting to kill her, she still loves him. This shows her emotions are at war because she is not sure if

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