Brief Synopsis:

The play starts with an argument between Roderigo and Iago in a street in Venice. The argument is brought up because Roderigo has been paying Iago to keep his suit to Desdemona, a senator’s daughter who has recently wed Othello, a black moor. Iago hates Othello for promoting Cassio, an inexperienced soldier to a lieutenant instead of Iago which then leads him to take revenge on Othello. He later manipulates Othello by telling him that Desdemona has been having an affair with Cassio thus, leading to Cassio’s, Desdemona’s and Othello’s demise.

 

Genre and stye of the play:

The genre of the play and style of the play is tragedy. The style of the play is like many of Shakespeare’s other plays where characters all die a horrible death and one of the characters is wicked beyond belief but, ‘Othello’ is different in some way. The way that the play is written and the plot is unlike any other, like other plays – Shakespeare is always complicated but, Othello takes it to another level.

The Character:

Desdemona is the daughter of a senator in Italy named Brabanzio. She lives in Venice with her father but, her mother died when she was young. She marries Othello, a black ‘moor’ in the military much to her father’s dismay. Despite her youth as an eighteen year old, and Othello as a much older man, around 40 – she loves him very much. She is described by Brabanzio as “a maid so tendr, fair and happy”  She is spirited, independent and modest. Desdemona is admirable, loyal, clever and generous and Cassio, a friend also describes her as an “exquisite lady”

What appeals to me about the play:

What appeals to be about the play is the characters. The characters have such a likeability about them especially Iago, the bad guy of the play. Each character has that special thing about them which makes the play more interesting. Also, the play itself is just spectacular. The plot line and the way that it is written is just appealing in itself. There is just something different about Othello which stands out from other Shakespeare plays, and since it is not widely done by everyone, the play is just exceedingly good.

 

What appeals to me about the character:

What appeals to me about the character is Desdemona’s innocence. There’s something about Desdemona that is unique and mysterious that counteracts the innocence in he. Shakespeare has created a character that is different like any other.

 

The differences between the character and I:

The differences between Desdemona and I, are the living conditions and the way that she generally is. I’m definitely not a senator’s daughter in Venice. The obvious differences are the ones where she’s Italian and married to a man twice her age in the army. Also, she is a very calm character even when Othello hits her and verbally abuses her, I don’t think that I could react in that way.

The similarities between the character and I:

The similarities between Desdemona and I, I feel is the personal traits that she has. She is described as generous and clever; I feel that I can be that when I want to be. Another similarity between Desdemona and I is the fact that she is drawn to adventure and excitement as described in the play which is why she married Othello because he wooed her with stories of his adventure.

The difficulties playing this role:

The difficulties playing this role will be the fact that I have to get into the mind set of an 18 year old Venetian beauty in the 16^th century. Desdemona is quite a complicated character to perceive at times, and the monologue is a very emotional and intense one. I know from experience that I have trouble portraying an emotional monologue, so playing Desdemona will be a challenge.

What I need to work on vocally:

What I feel I need to work on vocally is to connect with my voice since the monologue is quite emotional and intense, also I would need to work on my accent and to make sure that the words don’t have a London slur on the end. Also, I would need to make sure that my voice is projected as Desdemona is upset in this monologue and is in despair about her husband so my voice would have to be natural and believable.

What I need to work on Physically:

Things I would need to work on physically to play the role of a senator’s daughter during the monologue is my posture. I have the habit to slouch sometimes during my performance which alters my voice and generally makes the performance lack energy and since this monologue is a powerful one the last thing I want is my performance to lack energy.

What I need to work on emotionally:

What I would need to work on emotionally would be to get into the mind set of Desdemona around the time that Othello had accused her of having an affair. Evidentially that is a quite distressing thing and would be quite emotional so I would have to get connected with sadness and anger and maybe a touch of frustration.