Othello - 图书城.com

The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series,with Henty V and The Merchant of Venice as its inaugural volumes,presents a newly-edited sequence of Willian Shakespeare's works.The textual editing takes account of recet scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal.
Othello has long been recognised as one of the most powerful of Shakespeare's tragedies. This is an intense drama of love. deception, lealousy and destruction.Desdemona's love torOthello the Moor. transcends racial prejudice: but the envious lago conspires to devastate their lives. In its vivid rendering ot racism,sexism, contested identities, and the savagery lurking within civilisation, Othello is arguably the most topical and accessible tragedy from Shakespeare's major phase as a dramatist. Productions on stage and screen regularly renew its power to engross, impress and trouble the imagination.

Book Description
The Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.

The destructive effects of jealousy underlie this tale. Othello, a man of quality and superior intelligence, is brought down by his suspicions of his wife, Desdemona.

Amazon.co.uk
If anything, Othello has increased its stature as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies ever since it was first written, between 1603 and 1604, due to the victimisation suffered by its tragic hero, Othello, as a result of his skin colour. Othello is a "noble Moor", a North African Muslim who has converted to Christianity and is deemed one of the Venetian state's most reliable soldiers. However, his ensign Iago harbours an obscure hatred against his general, and when Othello secretly marries the beautiful daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio, Iago begins his subtle campaign of vilification, which will inevitably lead to the deaths of more than just Othello and Desdemona.

An extraordinary play, both for its dramatic economy and power as well as its remarkable language, from Othello's bombastic "traveller's history" to Desdemona's elegiac "willow song", the play raises uncomfortable questions about ongoing questions of not only racial identity but also sexuality, as Othello and Desdemona's sexual relationship becomes the voyeuristic site of Iago's attempt to destroy them. Particularly fascinated with the question of what it means to "see", Othello also contains one of the greatest tragic death scenes in all of Shakespeare, with Othello's final identification with "a malignant and a turbaned Turk".
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 --Jerry Brotton

From School Library Journal
Gr 10 Up-Naxos AudioBooks' top-drawer Classic Drama Series blissfully continues with this exquisite rendition of Othello starring Hugh Quarshie, Anton Lesser, Emma Fielding, and a full cast of professional English actors with extensive credits in the Royal National Theatre, BBC Radio Drama Company, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Shakespeare's most domestic tragedy is an exceedingly complex journey through jealousy, self-doubt, inadequacies, and societal acceptance. Passed over for military promotion, Iago, perhaps Shakespeare's most nefarious character, manipulates Othello's downfall, culminating in the murder of his beloved wife, Desdemona, and Othello's subsequent suicide. Under David Timson's stewardship as director, the story is beautifully and simply told, embellished only with intermittent brassy flourishes of classical music and a dramatic echo effect and throbbing heart beat to underscore Othello's chaotic descent and rage. While the entire cast is excellent, the trio of Quarshie (Othello), Lesser (Iago), and Fielding (Desdemona) are outstanding. An outline of each individual cassette, complete synopsis, full notes regarding the text, and cast biographies are included in a compact 24-page supplemental booklet. For all collections.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　-Barry X. Miller, Austin Public Library, TX

From AudioFile
One of Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies, OTHELLO has been brought to stage and screen countless times. This recording, part of Arkangel's usually solid series of the Bard's plays, adds little to this history of performances. Don Warrington in the title role is awkwardly un-Moorish, though David Threlfall is more convincing as the villainous Iago - cold and calculating without any exaggerated fiendishness. Some of the minor characters shine also (particularly the Clown, who appears in just two scenes), but the music, often a highlight of Arkangel recordings, is unfortunately cloying and improbable in this production, adding another minor disappointment. D.B.

About Author
William Shakespeare lived between 1552-1616, but his work endures and is enjoyed the world over.

Book Dimension :
length: (cm)19.8 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 width:(cm)12.6