The speech begins with two important words “Soft you;” these show Othello’s desire for a kind eye from both the audience and his fellow men, Cassio, Lodovico. The punctuation of a semi-colon which was not in the original script allows the actor to wait for the men to be in his attention and so he can begin his confession and his quest for forgiveness. There is a sense of tragic fate throughout the play from the interrogation of Othello over his love for Desdemona in front of the governors in Act I. This love was described as “pure love” but as it is seen this love is tainted and impure at first glance. But on a more spiritual level Othello killing Desdemona can be seen as sparing her a life of pain and fear. The killing is the lesser of two evils. An action utilitarianism philosophers such as John Stuart Mill would condone as the right thing to do in this situation.
The first interpretation was Welles as Othello. This was a black and white film and the director was clearly to be seen as attempting to show Othello’s speech as a confession which was a very unique attempt as most of the other directors went for a more explanation of Othello’s actions and his feelings rather than a planned constructed confession. The confession was identified as all the other actors opened a trap door in the roof and as Welles looked up a spotlight focused on his face looking up as if addressing higher powers. T. S. Eliot produced an article in 1927 titled “Shakespeare and the Stoicism of Seneca”, in this piece a key section “what Othello seems to be doing is cheering himself up” this can be seen in the Welles piece as he is speaking in a way to lift some of the burden of his ensuing actions. It also says he “has ceased to think about Desdemona and is thinking only about himself”. This is a viewed echoed by Germaine Greer of an egotistical Othello a view written in 1987.
Olivier plays Othello with close remembrance of the social and political status Othello stills holds. When he is sentenced he launches into his speech the men sent to arrest him stop and listen a response not typical of soldiers in that era who were trained to listen to commanding officers and no-one else. Olivier also wears a white smock which is very different to his previous clothes which were very ceremonial and black. This film is a recording of a stage play and this is the same format of Fishburne. Fishburne is wearing a black smock whereas the majority of other actors are wearing white and this symbolises the racism within the play as black is a tool of evil and white is worn by “heavenly bodies” as John Donne writes in Elegy 19, “On his mistress going to bed”.
In the Olivier and Branagh films the bed is very important. The bed has previously been an area of love and confirmation, now it is the area of death and pain. In Olivier’s performance he is kneeling on the bed cradling Desdemona against his skin and embracing her intimately. The Fishburne performance has the bed behind Othello as he gives his speech and after he stabs himself he crawls up the bed to his love and Emilia who lie there lifeless. He dies next to Desdemona with his hand gently on her skin.. in the Welles film there is a bed nearby but Othello is cradling Desdemona however this is overshadowed by the cinematographic technique of blacking the surroundings out to expose only Othello’s face. This is even more poignant as the film is in black and white.
As this speech is the final soliloquy of the play it is very important as it addresses the play and acts as a conclusion. A memorable Shakespearian conclusion is in Romeo and Juliet as a narrator concludes the play. Here the main character provides the conclusion as in Macbeth. All actors delivered the speech with much emotion and all directors kept all the lines in. Welles was monotone and his voice was commanding and little emotion was in his face as he delivered the lines. Fishburne paused a lot and had tears running down his face to show his emotion. Olivier was very different as he turned to the men when he said words such as, “the circumcised dog”. However soft words and phrases such as “no more of that” were spoken calmly to Desdemona, these phrases were more of excuses than of asking for forgiveness.
“ Like the base Indian” is a very important quotation as it is contextually linked to the exploration of Elizabeth I and the colonies in India. However this line has come under some scrutiny as it is thought it was originally printed as “base Judean” which is much more racist and this is ironic as Othello is now racist in the play. Later in the speech Othello talks of “turbaned Turks” but the Moor’s in the court of Elizabeth I such as The Moorish ambassador of 1600 also wore a turban. This distinction can be based on the viewing public not knowing of all these strange lands and Shakespeare knowing little himself and this irony is very stark.
If I was directing this play at the New Globe in London I would use some techniques form the films as well as others. I feel showing the disintegration of Othello as Iago works his poison would be a very important thing to show. Only Olivier touched on this. I would have Othello dressed as a traditional Moorish warrior at the start and by the end be down to a smock, much the same as Fishburne. However I would have all the other minor actors such as Lodovico and Gratiano dressed in more 15thC military clothing a mix of black and white clothes and armour to symbolise war and the mix of cultures that are in the play and would’ve been in Venice in this time. I would dress Othello in the way he is shown in the artistic representation of this scene by Colin. I feel this captures the emotion and clothing ideal for this play. Also I would take inspiration from the operatic interpretation “Otello” in this opera Domingo is wearing a white baggy sailor short and black trousers, I would dress the other characters in this.
On the stage I would have a crescent of men surrounding the back of the bed Othello and have the importance of the characters reflect their standing in the circle with Iago at the front with Cassio on the other side. All the actors would be stationary and emotionless in the Othello speech and all have double sided clothes, white on one side, black on another. When Othello is talking they all show the white side and when he raises the blade they all turn to show their black side to symbolise the rejection of Othello. When Othello plunges the knife down there will be a blackout then it will raise with Othello lying over Desdemona and have Lodovico, Gratiano, Cassio and Iago stage front and when Lodovico draws the curtains the lights will fall and the last three lines will be delivered in darkness. My Othello would be one which the critic A.C.Bradley wrote about when he described Othello in 1904, “From some wonderland”, “his own nature is romantic”. This character would play the final speech with much compassion and with a wistful tone of voice.
Overall I feel the Branagh piece is the most effective as it addresses more of the themes running through the play and the final movement of Iago is highly symbolic, resting at the feet of his dead master and his wife, like the “Spartan Dog” he is described as by Lodovico. The techniques used were excellently portrayed and executed by the talented Fishburne.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
CAMBRIDGE SCHOOLS “Othello”
