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Othello (Folger Shakespeare Library) | 
 enlarge | Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
Buy Used: $0.11
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Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 176915
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0743477553
Dewey Decimal Number: 822.33
EAN: 9780743477550
ASIN: 0743477553
Publication Date: January 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, some spine creases, wear on binding and pages, we guarantee all purchases and ship all items via USPS mail.
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Product Description
Folger Shakespeare LibraryThe world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Each edition includes: • Freshly edited text based on the best earlyprinted version of the play • Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play • Scene-by-scene plot summaries • A key to famous lines and phrases • An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language • An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play • Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books Essay by Susan Snyder The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
Excellent copy of Othello July 17, 2008
I've been using the Folger library series for years now, and although the Norton Critical edition has its place, the Folger edition cannot be beat for clarity and accessibility. Pay the extra couple of bucks for the 5.5 x 8
paperback rather than the smaller mass market paperback. The paper quality and illustrations are far superior in the larger version.
 Villainy as art March 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The most beautiful aspect of the play is Iago's ingenious deception of Othello. In every phrase, Iago knows just what to say to swing his Moor closer to the belief in Desdemona's infidelity. The subtle strategist to his general (and the puppeteer to Roderigo and Cassio), Iago is in full glory practicing his art of insinuation.
Iago is the master of duplicity: "Divinity of hell! When devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows". Here he echoes Banquo in Macbeth: "To win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray's in deepest consequence". However, while in Macbeth the devious instruments of darkness were netherworldly creatures, here Iago himself takes on devil's work. Treachery plays here the most insidious part: it lays the ground for murder.
Treachery itself takes its roots in hatred. While Richard III and Macbeth are murderers for their own advancement, Iago's guiding star in his hunt is hatred. His "I hate the Moor" at the end of the 1st act, breaking the flow of the soliloquy in which he derides Roderigo (and not unlike Richard III's "Ha!") is the essence of Iago in a line.
The reasons for his hatred are not as clear cut. Iago knows that his being cuckolded by Othello is a mere suspicion (but willfully decides that he does not want to know for sure and will act as if it were true). This is his private (false) excuse for hating Othello. His public one, or at least the one he presents to Roderigo, is having been passed over in the pecking order of military ranking. But he only gives this argument to Roderigo and never repeats it in any soliloquies. And we know how much Iago can be trusted when he speaks to someone else...
His take on Cassio is not much more lucid. Cassio is surely not married, and yet according to Iago, he is "a fellow almost damned in a fair wife" (whether this is one of Shakespearean slips where he forgot to give Cassio a wife or a mutation of "life" into "wife", the phrase is just too beautiful to disregard, even if it does not fit with the text). "He hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly" complains Iago of Cassio. He also worries of having been cuckolded by the lieutenant. The former may signify Iago's fear of looking bad in the face of Cassio's promotion (although "daily" and especially "beauty" do not really fit, so the phrase could signify other things and overall seems obscure). The latter suspicion is just preposterous.
So it appears that Iago, whom in this play Shakespeare gave most artful language, is sometimes inconsequential and opaque. While it may not have been Shakespeare's intent, one could conclude from this that hatred may exist for Iago without any real reasons at all. Some people fall in love for no reason, Iago may have fallen in hatred for no reason. Maybe Iago's excuses for his actions are just his awkward attempts at justifying his inexplicable hatred?
In any case, with all his hatred and scheming, Iago is another spectacular Shakespearean villain endowed with inspired language. His art of intrigue ensures him a place among Shakespeare's leading characters (villains for the most part) and will entertain our enduring fascination with human nature's dark side...
Great Read February 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The New Folger edition give a much better insight than other publishers of this Shakespearian Play.
Shakespeare's tragic play between Othello and Desdemona January 19, 2008
Definitely Shakespeare stays true to his form and creates another literary masterpiece. Just like that of Romeo and Juliet, this is another tragic play. It is set around the early 1600s in England and tells the story of the marriage of Othello, a black man of high standings, and Desdemona, a white lady.
Iago acts as the catalyst for the conflict, trying to disassemble the marriage and Othello and Desdemona. In Shakespeare's dialogue, he uses rather explicit imagery in describing the pair to others to arouse racial prejudice against their marriage. He does all this to get back at Othello for not promoting Iago to a higher position and giving the rank to another soldier. At the climax of the story, the "honest Iago" (yes, I remember this quote quite clearly, as it is mentioned multiple times and is an oxymoron because while everyone believes him to be honest, on the inside he is a clever schemer) successfully convinces Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him.
The story gains its momentum by revolving around the handkerchief which Othello gives to Desdemona.. Iago successfully steals it from her and gives it to Cassio, who thinks another lady has given it to him. When Othello sees the handkerchief in Cassio's hands all the thins Iago says comes back into his head, and he smother Desdemonda killing her.
Shakespeare's play is of a man different from the rest of the people, he is the grey pebble on the sandy shore. This plays into his psyche, making him more susceptible to believe that Desdemona has betrayed him. He also incorporates the settings to his advantage from the more civilized and governed Venice to the island of Cyprus, a place where there is no law. When in Venice, there are no tragedies, all conflicts are resolved through talks and negotiations. However, when they move to Cyprus, the disputes are settled with fighting. The use of nature to determine their motives is another reason why Shakespeare is one of the best writers of his time.
Shakespeare uses the underlying theme of revenge as the basis for his story. It all starts when Othello promotes Cassio to lieutenant rather than Iago, even between Cassio and his own lover, and even extending to Iago and his accomplice, a forlorn man who once wanted Desdemona's hand in marriage. This finally climaxes to Othello and Desdemona. It seems as if the only one who does not take a role in this cycle of revenge is Desdemona. She seems to accept her fate and prays before her death. In the play, she is the most pure of them all.
With Shakespeare's clever banter in Othello and his use of figurative language, he makes this play to be an enjoying one. The story moves quickly and keeps one entranced with Shakespeare's language.
Two words: Read it
Awesome plot with a rise and fall. January 16, 2008
Definitely another one of Shakespeare's masterpieces. The plot is just enticing and climatic, with many moments of uniqueness and suspense. Besides the awesome plot, it is the reader's engagement in each character's actions that draw this tragedy closer to every reader.
In these 250 pages, Shakespeare accounts one of humanity's darkest secrets--namely vindication. Othello, the main protagonist, married to a beautiful Desdemona, is a revered Christian Moor and an ingenious general of the armies of Venice. Despite this high status, he is portrayed as an easy prey for Iago, the main antagonist. Having hired the less experienced Cassio as lieutenant, Othello has actually marked the beginning of his downfall. Working with Rodrigo who tries to win Desdemona's favor, Iago undertakes the task of destroying both Othello and Cassio. The remaining plot consists of Iago's numerous attempts, failures and successes. Iago, however, does not immediately resolve to using violence to satisfy his revenge, a decision that might surprise the reader at first. On the contrary, he succeeds to win Othello's trust through his malice, manipulative word choices and ironic statements. With Othello trust as his goal, Iago states, "Men should be what they seem, / Or those that be not, would they might seem none!" Hearing this, Othello would build more trust in Iago, who now seemingly shares the same moral principles of Othello. Using this recently gained trust for his advantage and Othello's ignorance, Iago seeds in Othello the thought of Desdemona's affair with Cassio, an action that is purely part of his machinations. The result is obvious: Othello immediately fires Cassio and hires Iago as the lieutenant for his recompense. However, this does not satisfy the antagonist, as he still has not destroyed Othello. Giving him further "proofs"--for these were merely part of his plan and thus not veritable--Iago establishes feelings of hatred and envy in Othello, who now confesses, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest." Othello's change in attitude is manifested as he calls his wife "the whore of Venice" and then "slaps" her, an act that downgrades her and demonstrates his fury. The plot from here is for you to find out. Although the plot is full of deception and destruction, Shakespeare succeeds in having a happy conclusion for this classic book.
Knowledge of both the location and the era in which this book took place is definitely necessary to understand such terms as "the Moor," "Cyrus...Venice," and the abundant contrasts between "black" and "white." The book is set in the end of the sixteenth century, a period when Turkey tried to invade Venice. Most of the plot takes place in Cyrus, one of the Venetian cities attacked and later conquered by the Turks in 1570. Because of his war backdrop, Othello is referred to as "the general of Venice" throughout the book, amplifying his position as a revered leader in society. Othello's true race, on the other hand, has long been debated by critics. "Moor," nowadays, refers to the Islamic Arabic inhabitants of North Africa. In Shakespeare's time, the term might have either referred to Africans from other regions or tanned Europeans. Shakespeare often mentions "the black Moor," ensuring the addition of skin color in order to differentiate Othello from other Venetians. This difference of skin color, however, is ambiguous and should not be interpreted as a racial discrimination as the modern reader might believe.
Overall, a book that describes an individual's vendetta and ultimate downfall, "Othello" is not only as entertaining as another classical masterpiece of Shakespeare's but also a source where readers can truly fathom what we call today Karma.
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