For this reason Johnson wrote that the tragedies of Shakespeare were neither tragedies nor comedies. The clown plays a major role in ‘ King Lear’ and there is the porter scene in ‘ Macbeth’. It is that his tragedies also have occasional comic scenes in it. There is another peculiarity in his plays, which was especially pointed out by Dr. For this, he was criticized by some of his contemporaries, including Ben Jonson. Before proceeding any further, let’s take a quick look at the overall characteristics of a Shakespearean tragedy.įor example, in these plays, Shakespeare observed the unity of action, but not the other two unities of time and place. But the present essay endeavours to show the play as Shakespeare’s careful scrutinization of the two most common phenomenons- faith and honour. Interestingly, ‘Othello’ is perceived from a number of prospects, including noble versus Moorish, military versus civilian, Christian versus Heathen (Debra Dee James), good versus evil, appearance versus reality, loyalty versus treachery and civilized versus barbarian. The play is one of the five major tragedies of Shakespeare, apart from ‘ Hamlet ’, ‘ Macbeth ’, ‘ Antony And Cleopatra ’ and ‘ King Lear ’, and is also one of the most popular. First published in 1622, and then in the First Folio (edited by Heminges and Condell) in 1623, with differences in the application of words persisting in the two consecutive editions (See Amanda Mabillard, 2008). William Shakespeare’s classic ‘ Othello ’ is often seen as a concoction and identification of various themes, cultures and personalities. Richer than all his tribe…” (Act V, Scene II) Perplexed in the extreme of one whose hand,
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought, They talk about the 'sooty bosom.' The language is the language of racism, but the attitude toward him is not, because Othello is of value to the state and it uses him.Of one that lov’d not wisely, but too well Brabantio and the other Venetians talk about him in the language of racism. "I don't want to emphasize the racism because it's just an unfocused response to this play," he says. Dowling says, of Othello's status as an outsider, and all that mingles with even larger timeless themes - jealousy and malice. The issue is not so much one of race but of difference, Mr. Othello was a Moor, a North African, which would have made him somewhat darker skinned than a Venetian but not much more so. Dowling claims that that is a well-intentioned present-day inaccuracy. Laurence Olivier, for example, used to play Othello in blackface, as though he were a sub-Saharan African, but Mr. There is a touch of revisionism in this view, since Othello has generally been played, at least in recent decades, as Shakespeare's treatment of race and racism. And so, "once they hear from Desdemona herself that she chose him, expediency wins out, and Brabantio is left to die, as he does in the play." Dowling says, the Venetian elite want to believe Othello because, imbued with a practical, mercantile sense, they know that only he can defend them against the Turks. But the Moor is an outsider and therefore he is to be suspected in that scene." At the same time, Mr. "And I think that's one of the dangerous things about it in terms of contemporary ideas. It is a question of tone and nuance, but the tones and nuances in this scene are central to Mr. Dowling urges them to appear to be reluctant to believe his story until it is confirmed by Desdemona moments later. The lords of Venice are almost convinced by Othello's eloquent argument to the contrary, but Mr. Now, rehearsing "Othello" for Central Park, the director's method - unobtrusive, conversational, collegial - is being brought to bear in the service of a kind of scene-by-scene understanding.Īt rehearsal the other day, for example, there was the moment when Othello defends himself against Brabantio's charge that he has stolen his daughter. Dowling for his "deep vision" - another way of saying clarity. In New York, he has presented two works by the Irish playwright Brian Friel, "Translations" and the world premiere of "Aristocrats." His production of Sean O'Casey's "Juno" on Broadway three years ago was proclaimed to be "spectacular" by the New York Times critic Frank Rich, who praised Mr. He has directed in Edinburgh, in Montreal, in Jerusalem. He is the founder of Ireland's only independent drama school, the Gaiety School of Acting. After seven years as an actor, he became, at 29, the youngest ever artistic director of the Abbey Theater, Ireland's national theater. Dowling, now 42 years old, has become a highly respected classical theater director, an international figure with an impressive past.