Michael Nicolella Othello Journals
Iago
(aside) He takes her by the palm. Ay, well said, whisper! With as little
a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do,
I will gyve thee in thine own courtship. You say true, 'Tis so, indeed.
Iago is talking to
himself. He is talking about how Cassio should keep talking to the girls so
that he can get Cassio and his plan can come together. Knowing this is a good
indicator for the characters body language and his movements. It can be like he
is talking in his head or time froze and it is just him talking to himself or
the audience. He could also be talking to the audience because he is
plotting to frame Cassio and Shakespeare could have added this scene to clarify
what Iago is planning to do. His movement could be pacing back and forth,
showing his impatience to make the plan all com together. Or he could just be
frozen; showing that he is just thinking in his head for that split second. If
he is talking to the audience, he can grab a chair and talk to them saying what
his ambitions are and just state what he wants to do.
2.
Clown
Act 3, Scene 1 Lines 4 – 31 Act 3, Scene 4
Lines 1 - 22
- What does this character observer first
hand? (What do they see personally?)
The clown observes
the various messages and conversations in the short scenes that he is in. In
the Clown's first scene, he experiences Cassio giving him a gold coin to go get
Emilia so that he can talk to her. But Iago ended up doing the Clowns job. In the
Clown's second and last appearance, the Clown is kind of joking around with
Desdemona, saying puns about lying. After the puns, he goes and gets Cassio for
Desdemona. I think that he doesn't think or know of what is going on because he
is joking and things like that and it also seemed like Desdemona really needed
Cassio, and the Clown didn't really take notice.
- What does this character observe second
hand? (What are they told by other characters?)
The Clown, in all of
his scenes is just told to do little errands for the main characters. In his
first scene, he is told to go get Emilia for Cassio, even though Iago ends up
doing that errand instead. In his second scene, he is being asked by Desdemona
where Cassio is, and the Clown jokes around a little and after that he goes and
gets him (exits). That is the last time the Clown shows up in the book.
- How can we understand this character's
motivations better when we concentrate only on their scenes?
I think that his
motivations are just for money. I don't think that the Clown would just do
little errands for people unless he was getting paid. What else would be the
purpose? I think that this character is one of the easiest because he is in
such few parts/lines of the book. If the book were in just the Clown's point of
view, we would know nothing that is going on.
3.
Othello
Othello started off a normal life when he was a kid. When he was
about 10, he was taken and forced into slavery. He fought in the Venetian army
for the last 15 years and slowly rose in rank, showing his skill in fighting
and military tactics. That is what led him to become what we now know as The Moor.
He has since gained his freedom and, as we know is still fighting for the same
people that enslaved him. I think that even though these experiences are
broader, it puts in perspective how someone in his position would think. To me,
it seems like he has learned to be calm or passive to people (at least in the
beginning of the book). I think that this helped him in our scene because he could
have flipped out or even just have not talked to Brabantio about it. He
actually got Desdemona to confirm it and I think that this helped him win over
Desdemona even though Brabatio doesn’t approve.
4.
1. I
am going to try to speak in the accent that Othello had in the audio. It adds a
foreign feel to him because everyone else speaks similar except Othello. For my
movement on the stage, I am going to have a different posture. I want to make
him look powerful because he is the moor and he has killed many people. Since
Desdemona and Othello are in love, I am going to show that by holding hands and
stuff.
2. I
am going to use a sword. Its actually not going to look like a sword that much
since it is an umbrella. I think that it shows Othello’s power. It kind of
shows that he is a good person because he has the power to kill Brabantio and
just take Desdemona but he doesn’t. Another prop that I was thinking about
using was a crown but I don’t have one or know where to get one. Also it really
wouldn't make sense because he is not a king or anything.
3. I
think that Jenny's role as Brabantio is really good. So far in our practice, she
has done a good job showing Brabantio's anger and sadness. She gets in my face
and I think that it adds to it standing out. We worked a lot of work on our
movements, accents, and what we will be doing on the stage while we are talking
(or not talking). We also have to assume what people are doing when they are not
talking. For example in the script, it says Iago enters but he doesn’t talk so
we assumed that he was sneaking.
5.
1. “If
you do find me foul in her report, the trust, the office I do hold of you, not
only take away, but let your sentence even fall upon my life.”
This
quote shows that Othello has nothing to fear about Brabantio. Desdemona actually
likes Othello. This line let me know just what I said. Because of this relaxed
environment, I don’t need to have my sword drawn and I can have a relaxed posture.
The way I said this line was in a serious tone, but with a little relaxation
because he doesn’t need to worry about anyone in the scene trying to kill him.
2. I think that the performance did go as I expected because we practiced the play like 10 times so we knew what to do. One thing that was not expected was one of our group members not at school but that didn’t really throw us off because that person’s part was small. I am proud of Jenny’s part. In my opinion, she was the best actor out of all of us. Arshelle’s part was also good because of how she read it and also her movements (pacing back and forth, etc).
3. Acting out the play obviously made me understand what was going on in the part of the play we had. Also seeing how the characters might act like and also what they might look or stand like. One thing that I learned from this is a deeper understanding of how Shakespeare writes. I think that if I were to read another book or play by him I would be able to understand it better because of these classes.