Benchmark Journals for Othello

Jasmine Nieves

Journal #1:

Iago

Good my lord, pardon me,

Though I am bound to every act of duty,

I am not bound to that all slaves are free to.

(Shows and give an example of why slaves need to be free say too)

Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false?

(says they are not vile and false)

As where’s that palace where into precious and expensive things.? 

(says precious and expensive things)

Sometimes intrude not? Who has that breast so

pure?

Where in uncleanly apprehensions?

(says scary thoughts of what will or going to happen)

Keep leets and law-days and in sessions sit. 

(says arose)

With mediations lawful?

          For Iago to think more positively, he should show an example of why the slaves need to be free and he was saying as one of his lines from the book. He can also explain to the Duke why he wanted to be free. If he could have done this, the Duke would have probably made him and other people free. People are not vile and false.  Sometimes people are the mean and nasty person they should never be, but it depends on the person. Even though people have their own opinions, he shouldn’t think negatively about things. Foul things is no way to speak of things. Iago wants to describe the things in a palace and say they are foul in front of the Duke, but the Duke might make him move out of the country for good. He should say they are precious and expensive things because thats what they are meant to be. Not all things are foul around us, we live with them and they are around all us.  When Iago is saying something creepy is about to happen. he should have just reworded it saying “...scary thoughts of what will or is going to happen”. What I’m trying to say here is that, he shouldn’t say uncleanly apprehensions. When you work on something you, are also earning something at the same time. Iago’s opinion could have been a little bit different and could have said, “My work continues which will keep rising and rising until the Duke’s time for me to work, is over. This is nothing he said though, it is just a thought of how he could have reworded it differently. ”The rest of what Iago was saying was fine. Another thing he should do is not have run on sentences. He should have questions and not commas and a bunch more of it. He should make the thoughts go on but with the right punctuation, and what he says has to flow as if he were reading or writing a poem. Thoughts go on but there are still good words to use and good punctuation. The thought of the rest of it all, sounds good. He just needs to work on it more.

          The way this is said could change and show the audience is that Iago should be positive all the time. If he wants to be a leader of the city, or master one day, he would have to show it. He, Iago, should show his maturance Othello. Othello is the one who had gotten to be chosen in front of him. Iago just has to think positively to get what he wants, which is getting his ideas about being a soon to be master and his thoughts on Desdemona, Othello, Cassio and the Moor. Another way Iago could be more positive is by saying right things about the right things to the one they are speaking to. He has a right to speak his mind so why can't he use it with the other right he has which is freedom of speech. He is smart so he also should show it. If he wants to be approved by the Duke or Othello later on like to take the place of Othello, he has to start working on that now and start using it the right way like he's been doing except more so. He should think of what he's going to say, like he said to when it was suppose to say too.

Act 1
Rodrigo: (SCENE 1)

          For the beginning of this scene, both Iago and Rodrigo, his friend, were wondering why they couldn't be a ruler just like Othello was. Roderigo said instead of what he was working as in the book, he would have been a hangman that does things for their masters whenever they say to do it. Roderigo really wanted to be the high position that Othello was, one day. Then all of the sudden, Rodrigo tells Brabantio in the middle of the Act, that he has found out or has already known, that Othello had an affair with his daughter. He is telling him in his own words but Iago is with him. After Brabantio finds out, he thinks he has lost his daughter for good. He disagrees the marriage between Othello and Desdemona should never be and should never happen. First, Brabantio says that the act that has been done, was evil and now he has said that he feels his daughter has been abused. Rodrigo made it worse when he said that he thinks that they were married. Brabantio wanted Desdemona to have a nice life with a nice man but not like Othello. They both then set a plan to see if it is true. Rodrigo was supposed to be sneaky and see if its true then tell Desdemona's father if it was the truth or not.

Act 2
Rodrigo: (SCENE 1)

          Rodrigo was then talking to Iago and their sightings of Cassio and Desdemona and they wanted to talk it over with Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. This time they were talking about the fact that Iago has already seen Desdemona and Cassio, in love, together. Rodrigo couldn't believe what Iago was saying. Since now that he knows, he wants or needs to go back to Venice. Iago then told him he was going to tell her father. Rodrigo couldn't believe the story Iago was telling even though Iago thought it was true. It's like both Roderigo and Iago, know that she was cheating on Othello. First Desdemona wants to be with the Moor, then Cassio, and then Othello. So, Rodrigo also feels that she has developed a love for her as well as the other men that want to get with her. A little before Scene 1 was over, Rodrigo then tells Iago, that he too, saw Cassio with Desdemona just out of nowhere. The next time Cassio speaks with Rodrigo, Iago's advice to Rodrigo is to lie to him and provoke him so that Desdemona's father would take him off the list of good guys Desdemona should marry and love. Since this little act was done by Cassio and Desdemona, they want to throw away all the things that are necessary to him so he can realize what he has done to Desdemona now that her father is upset with her. They both agreed to the plan that same day.

Act 4
Rodrigo: (SCENE 2)

          Rodrigo is already happy after Iago and Roderigo that they both know who was with Desdemona. Rodrigo was also happy Iago had already told Brabantio what he and Rodrigo has seen about her and Cassio. He thinks he is unkind with his words because he has thought that he was going to hear another story about Cassio and Desdemona. Rodrigo after Iago speaks, says that he was still waiting on the jewels from Desdemona. This was totally a lie because it hasn't said anything that Desdemona had the jewels. Since Iago didn't see Desdemona but saw her father, Rodrigo, was going to see her in action but in a sneaky way or face to face and tell her what is on his mind or what she does. Towards the end of the Act, they talk about have a party for Cassio to be removed or banned from the country by Othello. Rodrigo didn't know all the information about it, but Iago let him know as soon as he got more info. What I know now already about Rodrigo is an unpatient man since being the Moor and getting Desdemona is all that he thinks about and an unfair man because he didn’t allow Othello to be the more, under his terms, meaning what he wanted just the time that people were deciding who to be the Moore. There are still plenty of other days that he could try to get a chance at being the Moore again and again.

          Rodrigo and Iago thinks that letting the Moor (Othello) is shameful. They thought they finally had their time to shine to be the Moors they wanted to be.  For this reason at first, they wanted to kill Othello but then, the plan failed them.They had also noticed that Desdemona is becoming a cheater to Othello with Cassio since Othello was already the Moor and with Desdemona. Rodrigo and Iago really wanted to be with Desdemona and be the Moor but again, that failed them. They should have wished, dreamt and thought a little more harder and their dream could have come true. What I can also know about Rodrigo now is that he doesn’t care about Othello, he just wants to win Desdemona over all the men that are starting or have already started to be with her and starting to like her. 

          What Rodrigo observes second hand was about Desdemona's love to Cassio. He heard enough talk that he didn't want Iago to keep talking about it. All they planned to do was try to kill Cassio which happened a few days later. They were both getting a little antsy but at the end, everybody was happy, sort of, and they agreed on the plan together. Rodrigo was seeking for revenge.

Iago before the play:

He was a truthful man. All he wanted at the beginning of the story is that if he can’t be the Moore be his lieutenant, but that didn’t happen because Othello already picked and officer (Michael Cassio). He was the unfair man still about being with Desdemona. He was like a protector because in one part of the story he wanted to to Desdemona’s father what has been happening before he found out himself and Desdemona’s heart would be broken. He has been a hater throughout the whole book because he doesn’t like Othello from getting everything, he Iago, wanted. Even though he has had these descriptions about him, he is still a nice person until the end of the story when he kills his wife Emilia. From the beginning of the book to the end, I could tell he is friendly and gives good advice. What him Iago, feel like the person who should be with Desdemona because he thinks they are meant to be together forever and she shouldn’t hook up with Othello. He is also honest because he also speaks his mind because what is in his mind, in the ultimate truth.

          The actions I will bring to the play are I will read my lines and with enthusiasm as if was us in the book. The story will be brought to life because of the way we would act. We would try to have such great force in our voices as the people in the story would. We would use lots of feeling and try to make it flow rather than stop and mess up. It is okay to mess up, but just keep going with the acting and what you were doing. The movements I will bring to the play is that I'm going to pretend to actually kill somebody in my scene. Its going to be like a soap opera. It’s like something you would want to see over and over and over again. I will do whatever the paper tells me so I could get it right. The tone of voice I will bring is with passion as Romeo and Juilet. We are going to try to make it flow as possible but if we can't, its okay because all of us in class, are all acting our scenes from the book.

          The prop I will bring is a paper sword so it would look like I'm killing someone. What's going to make our groups presentation stand out is say it like it was on the paper and we would have to read it as we were Shakespeare. Even though all eyes are going to be on us, we have to pretend they are not even there, focus on your lines and who is in the group. We also can think, this is a classroom in which we performed before and we just also have to think we are in a different room different from the one's we are usually in. There are lots of things to think about when pretending to be on stage in front of your classmates. But we can also think of them as if they were not even there or in their underwear, as some people say. We agreed I was going to bring in a paper sword, not dressing all fancy as they would. 

          Iago said “I did”, to Emilia in the play about calling Desdemona a villainous whore.. When Emilia was talking to him about Othello, she thought and was talking about telling Othello that his wife was false. Desdemona is not a complete villainous whore. She just didn’t pay no mind to what she was doing and did what ever she wanted to do. By that means, Iago was talking with Othello when Desdemona was alive. Probably he didn’t necessarily mean it, but it was he was actually feeling to have a need to have a say in. He wasn’t thinking of what he was saying either. This is important to the play because it showed that he was a lier about Desdemona and a lier about Emilia taking the handkerchief and gave it to Iago, which he didn’t have. Emilia thought she had given it to him but he didn’t. This was showing the importance of the performance because he tried to kill Emilia he first didn’t because she was talking then she died because he stabbed her. He wanted and felt the need that he needed to kill his wife.

          The performance sort of went as was planned and expected. I was supposed to have a sword, but instead I used a pencil since I couldn’t find a fake sword use. I was planning to use one of my friend’s, but before our part, somebody had it. When they were done with it, they gave it to another person in the play. Some of us stopped and laughed a little when we were performing our part of the play. There was a few stutters but the play and our part, sounded good as it should have been. I am proud of that I was confident and so with my group members because they were also confident in the play. Everything flowed and I’ve seen some parts of the play as the way it was written and read while hearing the audio. It was like the audio we heard but it was acted out. This was a nice role play we all did together. What I would have done differently in the performance was just bring a printed version of the sword or used a brush at the end of it not where the bristles are and pretended to stab somebody 

          The way I understand it now after seeing the play come to life, is that everybody felt emotional  Emilia wasn’t a witness of the killing after Othello killed Desdemona. The play is suppose to be a little more serious than funny and it was supposed to have a great amount of energy and eagerness as the book did.  Emilia, during the end of the story, had just entered after Iago, Cassio, and Rodrigo were trying to kill each other. They wanted to tell Othello and Desdemona what had happened at the very last part of the story. Othello didn’t like the news very much because who they were fighting for so he ended up killing Desdemona and Iago to Emilia because he didn’t like the way she explained it either. Emilia believes she was telling the truth. But in the end, it became that she was untruth to the people she was around. She wasn’t a villainous whore but just a sore liar.