The film, “Revolutionary road”, similarly presents a conflicting marriage, though there is no real conflict with society in their marriage as there was in Othello’s. The greater conflict is ideological. This conflict is revealed when April speaking to Frank and says, “It’s unrealistic for a man with a fine mind to go on working year after year at e job he can’t stand, coming home to a place he can’t stand, to a wife who is equally unable to stand the same things.” This conflict is summed up by Frank’s reply to John’s question asking Frank and April, the protagonist (Frank’s wife), why they were leaving America and what they were running away from, Frank replies, “maybe we are running, running away from the hopeless emptiness of the whole life here.” When April and Frank tell Millie and her husband, Shep, about their plan of leaving America for Paris for a different way of life (from the American dream), Shep responds to this privately with his wife and says, “I think this whole plan sounds a little immature.” Millie unconvincingly agrees with her husband before she breaks into tears, when he asks her, “Why are you crying?” she doesn’t reply and keeps crying. We wonder and ask ourselves - Why was she crying? Is it because she feels the same way as April and Frank, with their own lives in America?
The mental and emotional struggle within Othello, sparked by Iago, leads to his isolation from Desdemona and self destruction. Iago cultivates his conceit by saying powerfully with the use of metaphor, “Oh, beware my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on”, this becomes a lethal poison infecting Othello’s mind. This is because he is implying the idea of Desdemona cheating him. Othello reacts by saying, “Oh, misery!” This reassures Iago that his poisonous words were understood by Othello and will take affect. As time passes, a doubt fills Othello, but he tries to reassure himself that Desdemona is honest for he loves her very much, “I don’t think but Desdemona’s honest.” Iago then mentions Cassio’s name with Desdemona’s, as he explains to Othello to watch how Desdemona insists on bringing Cassio back, “Note if your lady strain his entertainment with any strong or vehement importunity. Much will be seen in that.” Othello then becomes further dislocated when he views his own race negatively, giving in to Iago’s racism, as he thinks of reasons for her supposed infidelity, “Haply, for I am black….or for I am declined into the vale of years”. This shows that Othello has become self-conscious of his difference from other Venetians and is succumbing to jealousy. Shakespeare’s use of rhetorical question when Othello asks himself, “Ha! Ha! False to me?” shows internal conflict, as it is very strong in signifying that he is insane, or at least that he is very confused. Othello’s dislocation of his identity becomes apparent as he combines his roles as a soldier and a loving husband and we see that the qualities that served him well as a soldier contribute to his demise. His decisiveness leads him to ask Iago “prove my love a whore….Give me the ocular proof”. Iago then presents Othello with what he, himself saw, his own ocular proof, “a handkerchief….did I today see Cassio wipe his beard with…..It speaks against her with the other proofs.” This handkerchief is symbolic of Othello’s love and so because it is in the hands of Cassio; it shows that she loves Cassio, which makes him completely jealous of Cassio. Othello trusts Iago and is fooled to believe this as the visual proof and makes evident his militant characteristics with his quick decision to pursue a bloody course, “Within these three days let me hear…that Cassio’s not alive.” He also goes on to say with the use of metaphorical imagery, “I’m going inside to think up some way to kill that beautiful devil”, referring to Desdemona as a devil that he will exterminate.
“Revolutionary Road” also presents internal conflict within the main character, as did “Othello” and similarly has a tragic ending for the suffering character. April showed strong emotional conflict within herself. The first conflict within her was that she was forced to live a life of being a housewife because it was suppose to be ideal and was the way you had to live in America, which she hated and found to be boring and unbearable. When Frank told her that they wouldn’t be leaving America, she found it hard to accept and became very upset and symptomatic of insanity. We are first introduced to the idea of April being insane when John, the mental patient agrees with everything April and Frank say about life in America, which gets Frank later on, asking a rhetorical question to himself and April, “Maybe we are just as crazy as he is?” April replies and then asks, “If being crazy is….then I don’t care if we’re completely insane. Do you?” After these questions we realise that she might actually be insane, but never know and so we ask ourselves - Is she insane? We realise she maybe insane because of her actions, for example, every time she was distressed or upset she will say, "Could you just you’re your talking…? Could you just leave me alone?” and then she runs away and seeks solace from her cigarettes. Another example is, when Frank tells her that he has been with a girl a few times. She responds bizarrely, “Why did you tell me? ....Is it suppose to make me jealous or something or….make me fall in love with you….? What would you like me to say?” Frank then says her to say what she feels and she replies, “I don’t feel anything.” She then says, “…I suppose I would if I loved you, but I don’t think I do anymore…” Frank again, brings up the idea of her being insane by stating the definition of insanity, “It’s the inability to relate to another human being. It’s the inability to love.” They then argue and some noticeable signs of insanity in the fight with Frank is when she starts laughing when she spears out at Frank, “I hate you….I loathe the sight of you….if you come any closer or touch me or anything, I will scream” and then screams. She ends up suiciding as Frank says, “She did to herself!”
From Act 3 Scene 4 and onwards Othello’s conflict with Desdemona becomes more apparent and wildly unstable. This is all because she has supposedly given Othello’s symbolic handkerchief to Cassio. In Act 3 Scene 4 Desdemona realises that she has lost Othello’s handkerchief and also realises its possible consequences if Othello was jealous, as she says “my noble Moor is true of mind and made of no such baseness as jealous creatures are, it were enough to put him to ill thinking”, though she does not realise that he is already suspicious and jealous. Othello asks Desdemona of the handkerchief when she replies, “I don’t have it with me.” This angers him and so he explains with warning to her that it is symbolic of his love for her and her marital fidelity, “while she kept it Twould make her amiable and subdue my father entirely to her love, but if she lost it or made gift of it, my father’s eye should her loathed…..” Othello becomes irate in the argument with Desdemona as she asks, “Why do you speak so startingly and rash?” and then says, “God help me!” This argument for Othello with Desdemona was very painful for him as it reassured him that she did not have the handkerchief because she was very stubborn and defensive when she was asked for it, which meant that she had given it to Cassio. Distraught and heartbroken Othello committed himself to the murder of his wife, Desdemona.
Sam Mendes, the composer of “Revolutionary Road”, very intelligently introduces conflict between the marriage of April and Frank in the opening scenes, as compared to Shakespeare who shows no conflict between the amicable marriage of Othello and Desdemona until the end. The opening scene displays the creation of a pointless argument. After the argument is over they get back into the car. The composer employs low key lighting in this scene after the conflict, creating a chiaroscuro effect and a dull atmosphere. Sam Mendes then uses the close-up at eyelevel which is in sharp focus on both April and Frank separately, showing the expressive tension on their faces, conveying Frank’s frustration and with April, her emotionless distress. The composer then switches to a long shot at eyelevel from outside the front of the car, with natural lighting of the night sky. The shot shows the two sitting and looking away from each other, showing disagreement and conflict.
In summation, “Revolutionary Road” and “Othello” both exhibit conflicting marriages. These two diverse marriages show signs of conflict with ideology or society, conflict within the relationship and inner conflict, which lead to tragedy. This represents conflict is inevitable and if is unresolved or uncontrolled there can be serious consequences.