Othello's journels

Journal 1#

Men should be what they seem,

Or those that be not, would they might seem none!”


If Iago was talking to himself, it may appear that he actually believed this himself. He would be deep in thought and a bit angry, so he wouldn’t say this loudly unless he was very angry. If it was towards someone like Othello, or someone he’s trying to convince of something (gossiping, etc.) he would sound disgusted, trying to sound convincing, and he would have a medium tone. Loud enough to sound like he’s agreeing (even if he’s not) with this saying without getting too worked up (because he wouldn’t necessarily agree with this). If it was towards Desdemona, he would say it in a calm, but in a  persuasive tone. He would talk this way too with Cassio. If he was talking to someone like the Duke, he would say this very calmly and politely; he wouldn’t scream at someone with so much power as the duke, so he wouldn’t say this rudely or loudly.



Journal 2#

Rodrigo


1) Rodrigo sees firsthand that Desdemona loves Othello, and that Iago hates Othello. He also sees that Cassio is Othello’s trusted lieutenant. In the end, he sees that Iago is a liar.  

2) He is told that Desdemona is given the gems, and Cassio is preventing him from getting desdemona. He’s also told that Othello is going crazy.

3) From these scenes, we can see Rodrigo is madly in love with Desdemona because he was willing to give up his fortune for her, kill someone, and frame someone for her. His only goal is to win her affections, and he'd do anything to do this. He is also portrayed as a naive and somewhat stupid character, because he is easily convinced to do bad things by Iago.


Journal 3#-

Rodrigo was always neglected as a child. Although his family was rich, people often avoided him and his family because they often had a bad influence on others. They were known to act on impulse, and they were a violent family. Rodrigo himself wasn’t such much violent as he was needy. He just wanted someone to love, and when he first met desdemona, he instantly fell in love. That’s why he’s so desperate for her affections. He feels that’s she’s the only one who can fill that hole of neglection in his heart. That’s also why he’s willing to kill and lie (basically do anything for her) and why he does what he does in the play. He also easily trusted Iago because he’d never really had someone close and “trustworthy” in his life before. He felt that he could use Iago to get what he wanted, or, desdemona.


Journel 4#-


- I’m bringing a caring tone to Desdemona’s voice, while also placing Othello's handkerchief on his forehead. This is to show the concern in desdemona’s voice and to show that she’s worried for her husband.

- I’m going to have a handkerchief to portray Othello’s handkerchief.

- What’s going to make our group stand out is the feeling we put into our words, the props, our actions, etc. We’ve worked on how to say specific words and lines to make it more understandable and to stand out, while also showing feeling so the audience knows what’s happening. We’ve agreed to put as much feeling in it as possible. We will try to highlight the most important lines..



Journel 5#-

Desdemona- “I am very sorry you are not well!”


This quote shows that, although Othello was rude and blunt with Desdemona, she still showed concern for Othello. This love and Devotion would carry on to the rest of the play, even to her death. It’s important because it not only shows the type of person desdemona is (caring affectionate, devoted, loyal) but also shows that this would be her undoing. If she wasn’t so faithful to Othello, it’d be more likely she could live. I showed it’s importance in the play by saying it louder than anything else, with a worried tone. I delivered it with a worried tone, to show she was genuinely worried for Othello.


The performance did go as we planned,  and it seemed good. I’m proud of the feeling we showed, how we portrayed  it in a way that the audience had some understanding of what was going on. I’m also proud we had props, which also helped show what was going on. Next time, for improvement, I would’ve read slower and wouldn’t have looked at my lines as much. I also would have used a tissue or real handkerchief instead of a sock. That way, it would’ve made the play seem more realistic.


By performing the play, I firmly got a understanding of Desdemona’s loyalty and devotion to Othello, Othello’s anger and jealousy towards Desdemona, Emily’s ignorance and loyalty to her husband, and Iago’s impantientence,  genius, and evilness. I learned about Desdemona’s loyalty and devotion to Othello by the way she was concerned about  his condition and how, even when he rejected her and her handkerchief, she still was worried for him. I learned the level of jealousy and hatred Othello had towards desdemona had at that point by the way he rejected desdemona, and her handkerchief, which symbolized Desdemona’s love for Othello. I learned of Emily’s Loyalty to her husband by the way she stole the handkerchief without thinking twice to give it to Iago. I learned about Iago’s impatience from the way he quickly told Emily to go away so he could examine the handkerchief.



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