4.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 16/11/2007

Othello is one of Shakespears better texts. It deals with the idea of ones emotions being manipulated all out of revenge. Jealousy is a prevelent trait hidden under a blanket of passion and love at wish Shakespear looks at the downfall of a man who everyone can relate to due to his extremely human qualities. The book is often difficult to interpret due to the language of Shakespear but once one looks deeper and beyond the surface Othello is a true master piece of Shakespears writting

3.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 03/06/2007

Its good. Perhaps overated, I know blasphemy to some. There are some interesting themes here through the characters of Othello and Iago, but you really do need to dig deep. The language barrier creates this problem, for some anyway, myself included. However if you can get past that it is highly fascinating and Iago is the classic villain, although what are his motives ?

4.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 28/05/2007

One of the best Shakespearean tragedies, however the protagonist can be frustrating. The original 'green eyed monster' rears his ugly head in the form of Othello's jealously over the Desdomona's fictional affairs. A good insight into how things can quickly get out of hand, but things are taken too far. A very good play regardless - the deceiving Iago is hated by all.

5.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 14/04/2007

Othello, possibly Shakespeare's darkest and most sinister play. Othello deals with the racial inequalities and jealous tensions that arise from this. In many ways, Othello is dwarfed in comparison to the play's antagonist, Iago, one of the most complex and intriguing villians in Shakespeare's plays. Studying this text for English Literature in year 12, it was probably the most enjoyable text and it is perhaps Shakespeare at his best. By exploring the complexities of the human psyche and the pure, intrinsic evil it is capable of, Shakespeare establishes himself as possibly the greatest playwright ever to grace this planet (if he was not already). Overall, Othello is a highly entertaining and complex play, where every scene is important and the characters are truly intense.

5.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 02/03/2007

Following in typical Shakespearean style, this is a dreadful and facinating story full of extremely complex characters who cannot be described as strictly "good" or "bad". This story leaves you wanting more and with a mixture of horror and facination. Shakespeare never fails to captivate, and this play is no exception to that rule, however frustratingly tragic the overall story may be!

5.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 25/01/2007

Iago is the archetype of every villain since the first performance of Othello.

Now that that is out of the way,
- Othello is not the conventional hero. He is weak of the mind, proud, incredibly and foolishly nonchalant, and bears a rather feeble concept of how the world works and his physical strength.
- Desdemona is not the conventional heroine (which she really isn't in the play, but she's just an all-around weak character).
- Cassio isn't conventional in any way but in the ostentatiously oxymoronic writings of Dickens and his contemporaries (for example, Nancy in Oliver Twist, the hooker with the heart of gold--in this case, the noble drunkard--it's almost vexatiously caustic, rather than jocundly so).

Overall, however, it is Shakespeare, and it does have the story part down. Everything is tightly-wrapped into what I call the most sensible of Shakespeare's plays. But from my reading, I've surmised that it might have been the parallel of today's "airplane novels" (Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy), and shows, for the second time, Shakespeare's more indulgent side. This is first evinced by As You Like It, and again seen in Othello.

5.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 13/01/2007

I sat down in study hall. The heat outside was never caressed by any wind, so it layed in the air like a fog. I was bored to say the least, but it was ok. This class would end eventually too. i had that hope to go on. While my eyes wondered with no other choice i saw on the shelves a book entitled "Othello." I knew this was a shakespeare book, and though all my contemporary youths loathed Shakespeare, I had always been fascinated by his Human interpretations. Also Othello had always fascinated me, but i never knew why. So without anything else to occupy my time i took it, and began to read it. What happened was amazing. It no longer was "taking up my time;" I now wanted to read it when i was busy, when i had to go to bed, whenever i had free time. It is a universal book, it is sad, it is a tragedy, it is Shakespeare. I love it as my favorite Shakespeare book. Go read it and see what you think... if you dare.

4.0 out of 5 based on 8 reviews. – Customer review on 12/07/2006

Im a big fan of Shakespeare, but often they are very confusing with many characters and storylines happening all together (not to mentionj that the names are often very unfamiliar and make it even harder to understand who is who and what is happening at all!). But Othello was very easy to follow in comparison and was very interesting (I studied it for 7th form english and thought it was very good).