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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2831  Thursday, 13 December 2001

[1]     From:   Edmund Taft <taft@Marshall.edu>
        Date:   Wednesday, 12 Dec 2001 11:54:19 -0500
        Subj:   Othello and Iago

[2]     From:   Mike Jensen <jensensh@hotmail.com>
        Date:   Wednesday, 12 Dec 2001 17:35:03 -0800
        Subj:   Re: SHK 12.2821 Re: NYT Review of the Public's


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Edmund Taft <taft@Marshall.edu>
Date:           Wednesday, 12 Dec 2001 11:54:19 -0500
Subject:        Othello and Iago

John Velz, who was privileged to see Robeson and Ferrer do _Othello_ on
Broadway right after WW2, writes:

"[Ferrer as Iago] made the most of his soliloquies which are sure to
ensnare an audience if spoken well."

This classic production has, as John knows, become legendary, and one of
the legends (which, perhaps, John can confirm or no) is that in Iago’s
scene-ending soliloquy in 2.3, Ferrer catapulted himself into a sitting
position on the edge of the stage while chuckling, “And what’s he then
that says I play the villain?” (330), and looked the audience right in
the eye for the whole speech, clearly intending that they so fall in
love with the cleverness of his villainy that they go over to HIS side
and just sit back and enjoy what is about to happen!

What we know, we know: evil can be a lot of fun!

Yours in the ranks of death,
--Ed Taft

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Mike Jensen <jensensh@hotmail.com>
Date:           Wednesday, 12 Dec 2001 17:35:03 -0800
Subject: 12.2821 Re: NYT Review of the Public's OTHELLO
Comment:        Re: SHK 12.2821 Re: NYT Review of the Public's OTHELLO

Looks like I've done it again: written something with annoying
ambiguity.

>Obviously, the tragedy is Othello's, but
>it is easy to dominate a play when you statistically have most of the
>lines, and directly address the audience.  Maybe you are even intended to
>dominate it.

The character with the most lines in the play, and one of the longest
roles in all of Shakespeare, is Iago.  The lines above could be taken to
mean Othello.  I’m a Dummy!

My apologies.  I hope no one was confused.

All the best,
Mike Jensen

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