Dear Mr. William Shakespeare,
This is a letter regarding my recent reading of your tragedy, Othello. I'm just going to start off with some comments about things I liked or disliked. Before even reading the play, I looked at a brief background of the characters. Doing so got me thinking about who I would and wouldn't like. I had a feeling I would be more drawn to the female characters for the reason that women are just more kind-natured than men. I'm not saying that the male characters didn't have their own features that stood out against the rest of the characters, but I'm just not one to like the characters who are being manipulative. Women can be that way, as well, but I just had a feeling these ones wouldn't be. The book started off strong with the men being deceptive, and it continued throughout the book, which really kept the plot going.
I loved the way all the themes were tied into this play so well because it shows that even in your time people were still full of hatred. The person I saw most of the hatred in was Iago, that man made me want to go into the book and tell every one what was going on! The way he worked his filthy little tricks into getting Othello to believe that Desdamona was cheating on him made me hate him more and more every time he came up with something new. The way that Othello just trusted such a disgusting man made me so mad at Othello. He was so kind and gentle at the beginning, but slowly he showed that he couldn't control his anger, and I wish he would have because things would have been SOOOO much different! His changes also led to Desdamona's questions about what was going on in his head. She asked Iago, who lied right to her face, and the only person who would tell her the truth was Emilia. It really ticked me off that no one could figure out how much of a pig Iago was being. I was glad that Emilia was smarter than I had originally thought because when she started putting the puzzle together slowly, I was hopeful for about point 5. Sadly, it didn't save anyone in the end!
Now, I just have a few questions to ask you... Why didn't Emilia put 2 and 2 together just a little sooner? It could have saved some of the people's lives. Also, why was Iago so disgusting and untruthful? Was there something behind his character that we didn't know as readers/viewers? His character made the play more interesting, but I just hate watching people be worked like Othello was in this play. Lastly, why didn't Othello just ask some questions? It could have solved so many problems, and maybe Iago would have been the one dying at the end of the book!
Overall, I thought you did a fantastic job with the love, deceit, racism, jealousy, hatred, and all of the other various themes. All the characters were portrayed so well throughout the book and they all grew with the story, which I loved! This play was so well done, and I commend you for all your success, not only with this play, but also with your many others! Thank you so much for writing your works for others to see and read in your day and throughout the years.
Sincerely,
Ruby Pauli
Fabulous work.
ReplyDelete