Othello
1903
Othello
1903
Translated by Christoph Martin Wieland
Othello begins as a love story that defies convention: a Moorish general and a Venetian noblewoman, married in secret, their passion burning bright against the prejudice of a society that cannot reconcile their differences. Shakespeare constructs this romance with breathtaking tenderness, then hands the stage to Iago, a figure whose malice operates through such quiet, reasonable logic that we watch in horror as he dismantles everything beautiful. The tragedy unfolds not through grand villainy but through the surgical destruction of trust. Othello, a man who has conquered armies, is undone by words. Desdemona, innocent and devoted, is destroyed not for what she has done but for what she has not done. The play asks us to consider how completely another person can be made to doubt their own reality, how love curdles into violence when corruption enters through the ear. Four centuries later, Iago remains one of literature's most terrifying creations: never quite explaining his motivation, never needing to. His weapon is not the dagger but the whisper.
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“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mockThe meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss,Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger:But O, what damnèd minutes tells he o'erWho dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!””
— William Shakespeare
“For she had eyes and chose me.””
— William Shakespeare
“Men in rage strike those that wish them best.””
— William Shakespeare
“The robb'd that smiles, steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.””
— William Shakespeare
“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you repute yourself such a loser.””
— William Shakespeare
“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,Is the immediate jewel of their souls:Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;’twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;But he that filches from me my good nameRobs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.””
— William Shakespeare
“But I will wear my heart upon my sleeveFor daws to peck at: I am not what I am.””
— William Shakespeare
“I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains.””
— William Shakespeare
“She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have used.””
— William Shakespeare
