Othello by William Shakespeare // My Favourite Shakespeare Play

Othello, by William Shakespeare
Publication: January 1, 2004, by Simon and Schuster
Genre: Play, Fiction
Pages: 314
Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

In Othello, Shakespeare creates a powerful drama of a marriage that begins with fascination (between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona), with elopement, and with intense mutual devotion and that ends precipitately with jealous rage and violent deaths. He sets this story in the romantic world of the Mediterranean, moving the action from Venice to the island of Cyprus and giving it an even more exotic coloring with stories of Othello's African past. Shakespeare builds so many differences into his hero and heroine—differences of race, of age, of cultural background—that one should not, perhaps, be surprised that the marriage ends disastrously. But most people who see or read the play feel that the love that the play presents between Othello and Desdemona is so strong that it would have overcome all these differences were it not for the words and actions of Othello's standard-bearer, Iago, who hates Othello and sets out to destroy him by destroying his love for Desdemona. As Othello succumbs to Iago's insinuations that Desdemona is unfaithful, fascination—which dominates the early acts of the play—turns to horror, especially for the audience. We are confronted by spectacles of a generous and trusting Othello in the grip of Iago's schemes; of an innocent Desdemona, who has given herself up entirely to her love for Othello only to be subjected to his horrifying verbal and physical assaults, the outcome of Othello's mistaken convictions about her faithlessness.

My Thoughts:

Othello is the third Shakespearean play I have read, and I must say that it was the best out of the three. Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth all stunned me, but this was something special and interesting. Even though Shakespeare lived SO many years ago, his talents of writing about racial prejudices, stereotypes that still live to this day, jealousy and romance shine in this gorgeous play. I read this play for school, and as with every Shakespearean play, we spent a long time examining this work and learning about its purpose and setting. I adored all of the characters in this stunning play and the whole underlying message. PLUS IAGO WAS THE BEST. Even though I despise villains in most books/plays, I kind of wanted Iago's ultimate plan to succeed. Towards the end of the play, my class was required to give this HUGE 15%-worth presentation on the play, and I talked about Iago's reasoning for doing what he did. 

READ THIS PLAY. If you are not able to understand some of the phrases and scenes, which I don't blame you for, you can totally go onto Sparknotes and read it all. It'll help so much. The romance here is deep and meaningful—you can't go wrong with reading Shakespeare and seeing how different and special it is. 

GO READ THIS PLAY RIGHT NOW. It'll change your life in so many ways and you'll want to become a Shakespeare hoarder. I believe many people hoard his plays like obsessed (cool) freaks. :)

What is your favourite Shakespeare play? What are some other issues he covers?

Macbeth by William Shakespeare // Really Good and Dumb, When You Think About It

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
Publication: 1606 (May 1, 2012, by Sterling Signature)
Genre: Play, Historical, Murder
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

One of the great Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth is a dark and bloody drama of ambition, murder, guilt, and revenge. Prompted by the prophecies of three mysterious witches and goaded by his ambitious wife, the Scottish thane Macbeth murders Duncan, King of Scotland, in order to succeed him on the throne. This foul deed soon entangles the conscience-stricken nobleman in a web of treachery, deceit, and more murders, which ultimately spells his doom. Set amid the gloomy castles and lonely heaths of medieval Scotland, Macbeth paints a striking dramatic portrait of a man of honor and integrity destroyed by a fatal character flaw and the tortures of a guilty imagination.

My Thoughts:

Macbeth by the great William Shakespeare is such a stupid book, when you really think about it. I remember being young, asking my parents who Shakespeare is, and later asking if his plays were interesting, in their opinions. My dad liked Hamlet, but no one ever said anything about Macbeth. And then I discovered that I would be reading it for English class in tenth grade, and they both admitted that it's dumb. I didn't believe them, because Shakespeare is one of my favourite writers and I love the way he plays with words. And then I actually read this interesting story about greed and pride, and I discovered that they were completely right. Being a tragedy and all, we readers could immediately understand what to expect with this story: Macbeth is a tragic hero, therefore he dies, and others will die too, because of his great tragic flaw. It couldn't have been more dumber—but I was intrigued by this stupidity and the predictability of this great play. In the end, I must say that it was seriously great. 

Many people have issues enjoying/reading books that are required for them to read because of school. I rarely have had that issue, because I find that my English teachers are doing a good job with choosing books for the curriculum that people my age would actually enjoy/relate to. Macbeth isn't totally relatable, as we don't live in a period of time where Canada/America has a king or queen, but we always do undergo these phases of greed or jealousy. This tragic play by Shakespeare explores supernatural aspects in the midst of a time setting of royalty and power in Scotland. 

"See, see, our honour'd hostess.—The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you how you shall bid God yield us for your pains and thank us for your trouble."

It's a simple yet complex plot. Macbeth is a Thane of Glamis in Scotland, being successful in battle and being known as the courageous man in their land. He has a high reputation, and is admired by King Duncan. After three witches approach Macbeth and his friend Banquo and tell him that he will become Thane of Cawdor, and later King, Macbeth strives to make these prophecies come true. Banquo thinks that the witches were all in their heads, being hallucinations, but Macbeth is naïve enough to know that this is no joke. He murders Duncan, and becomes King, of course, keeping a hidden identity as a murderer/assassin. 

Of course, that's the climax moment. As every Shakespearean tragedy, the protagonist (or antagonist, as Macbeth is) undergoes this downfall or deterioration. That was the most interesting part of the play, in my opinion. Although I hated Macbeth's character so much as well as his utter stupidity compared to his kick-ass wife, Lady Macbeth, he was the highlight of the play and I felt that it was very important to pay close attention to his character. I was correct. Throughout the play, even though Shakespeare's use of language is very complex and nuts, compared to your average authors of modern day, or even other playwrights, I was so interested. Thank goodness my teacher did not give my class a pop quiz on who said what line. I would've died of fear.

"What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's abed. He hath been in unusual pleasure and sent forth great largess to your offices. This diamond he greets your wife withal, by the name of most kind hostess, and shut up in measureless content."

Macbeth is not as good as Romeo and Juliet, as I always look forward for some romance in the novels/plays I read, though I really enjoyed it. I felt a tight connection to the characters, and as soon as I realize how much I liked their character, they die. This kind of had the Game of Thrones vibe, I must say. From the start of the play, I had a feeling that I would rate this five stars, but that deteriorated a little in the middle where I couldn't stand Macbeth and his actions. Yes, that was supposed to occur, but it kind of got on my nerves, as intended. 

William Shakespeare always knows how to derive his stories from a perfect setting, well mostly because he was fortunate to have been living in that particular time period as well. No author could mix up a perfect play like this and mould such a good setting into it as Shakespeare has. With the ghosts, witches, royalty and different themes, I was in love.

Macbeth has always been known as a classic, but I definitely see why. I ended up writing a comparative essay on this lovely story and you will find inspiration through this, too, even though it is quite predictable. All in all, there are no other stories like this in the whole world, and even if one does pop up, we will know what the original is. Get ready to love-and-hate this as well as one of the most popular antagonists in all of literary history, Lord Macbeth. 

What is your favourite Shakespeare play? Have you read/watched Macbeth? What do you think of its premise?

Mini-Review: A Midsummer Night #nofilter by Brent Wright

A Midsummer Night #nofitler, by Brent Wright
Publication: January 5, 2016, by Random House BFYR
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Classics
Pages: 112
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

Imagine: What if the fairies and star-crossed lovers of the forest had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this fun and funny adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays! Four lovers who can’t decide who they have a crush on. One mischievous fairy with a love potion. Total chaos in the fairy world, the human world, and everywhere in between!

My Thoughts:

This is a bundle of joy. I have been meaning to get a glimpse at these emoji-Shakespeare retellings that all les bloggers have been talking about lately, and since I have never really known about A Midsummer Night and what it promised for readers, I was thanking the library gods that my local branch had picked this one up. There are many, many reasons or situations that will enforce you to pick this book up. And of course, as I always do with books that I enjoyed, I will tell you why and when to. 

This is your ultimate Shakespeare go-to.

If you're a HUGE Shakespeare fan (as I am), and if you're just looking for a quick read that will take you (and your vocabulary-emoji skills) a quick amount of time to read, this is perfect. I could seriously say that it was. I wish that I had read the original play beforehand so I could compare, but I seriously bet that Brent Wright did a magnificent job creating a redo of the epic story that everyone has been talking about for centuries, literally. It does not seem like this is fiction. Wright includes IM messages, notes, secret conversations between the characters and group messages that spun me around. It seemed like I was hacking into Shakespearean characters' phones and reading what they were up to. I felt easily connected to the characters and that some were even relatable to. Not the donkey, though. Not the donkey.

The abbreviations and emojis add an extra spin of magic.

So there are fairies. Marriages and engagements that are going wrong. Girls hiding their secrets about who they actually love deep down. But one of the best ways that all of this bizazz was expressed was through the use of emojis. YES. It was such a modern, hip but still original use of the story that we all have heard of and had on our TBR lists for years. You need this 112 paged novel if you're one of those people who cannot read the original playwright, because I totally understand. 

I made ships.

Ships do not always work when we're reading a legit classic that was set in the sixteenth century or whatever. But I honestly found people (HERMIA, DEMETRIUS, LYSANDER!) who should be together and everything was so wonderfully placed together that I adored it.

I sincerely recommend picking this, or any of the other emoji Shakespeare books up, no matter what kind of reader you are. It's a quick, fast-paced half hour read that will leave you giggling and going to buy all of William's books online, Amazon Prime shipping to your house with drones. It's that chaotic and gorgeous.

Have you read anything by Shakespeare, the master of all? Would you read this edition?

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Review

Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
Publication: 1597, by Washington Square Press
Genre: Fiction, Plays, Romance, Classic
Pages: 130
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

A paperback copy of Shakespeare's popular romance play, Romeo and Juliet, which provides the original text side-by-side with a more modernized version of the material, which can aid readers in understanding the content.

My Thoughts: 

For years and years, I guess I can say that I haven’t been the brightest person when it comes to be reading classics. I just read the basics that was essential for school and my classes, or what everyone else has been reading. Just kidding—I adore classics. But until reading and coming across Romeo and Juliet for my English class,  I feel like I was the sore loser of reading. I’ve tried Jane Austen, and it wasn’t as good as THIS WAS. Shakespeare is my love, my friends.

Before reading this, I’ve barely read a play before. I’ve always thought that it’s a lame way of actually reading a book since there are different roles and things like that. But now, I feel that it’s a whole different experience and way of reading since there’s fifty times of more emotion. Isn’t that what matters—the feels? This play, yes, was a tragedy and all, but there was so much more to the story than what the eye meets at. No, for me it wasn’t a story about stupid teenagers who are willing to kill themselves over the loss of not being able to be with each other, but it instead was a story with many themes and events that created and shaped literature. 

“Towards him I made, but he was ware of me, and stole into the covert of the wood; I, measuring his affections by my own, which then most sought where most might not be found,” (I. i. 120-124)

I think that if one hasn’t ever read a Shakespeare play before, they haven’t ever experienced classic literature. It doesn’t matter if you’ve read Brontë before, this IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. You may have been caught in the stereotype of Shakespeare being difficult to read, but it actually isn’t. If you have a few translations by your side and if you’re willing to spend some time analyzing it all, then I believe that you’ll be perfectly fine. It’s the meaning that counts, no?

I guess I really don’t have to recall and reenact the whole play and describe it scene by scene since you most likely already know what it’s about. Even if you haven’t read it before, everyone knows the story. *asks 9 year old* 9 year olds even know what the story holds! But yeah, this goes through the story of two feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, and they meet at a Capulet party hosted by Juliet’s father. Juliet’s supposed to marry this other guy named Paris, who is actually kinda in love with her. But she hates it, and she falls in love with Romeo instantly when they meet and he the same with her. BAM. I’m not going to spoil anything more, but I bet that you can already guess what happens next. 

Though it took me about a month to read this since we had to read it (and actually perform it) at school, it was a quick read looking at the majority of it. The whole play is separated into five acts, with about 3-6 scenes in each. It’s about 120 pages in total, especially by looking at my borrowed edition. Each scene was basically separated with importance, and some kind of big important event was written in each. *thinks of the gorgeous balcony scene*

It’s so interesting to find that with this play, Shakespeare was the first writer/poet to actually bring romance with tragedy and make it work. I read that he was the one who took the risk in literature during the Renaissance period in England, and this is truly magnificent. I wonder what the world of literature and books would be if his genre of poetry hadn’t existed. *cries* I’m so thankful to have discovered this play at the perfect time where I can actually understand it to the fullest extent. Hey, I’m also 14 as our protagonists are! But don’t worry, I don’t want to think about falling in love at first sight, so it’s all okay. Haha.

This is a classic love story, and I’m sure that some people don’t realize that. It has so many spiritual connections that have to do with God and their marriage. When we actually think about it (without really knowing the answers to all of the questions), Shakespeare knew what he was doing here. People think that it’s stupid that this is full of teenagers who don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s the story that revolves around the characters that makes this possible. What if this was a 40 year old man and woman falling in love? They obviously wouldn’t be together since this has to do with their feuding families! We should all think about the story that lies behind it all, just saying. 

THE ROMANCE WAS SO REAL AND MADE ME GIGGLE CONSTANTLY. Okay, there was some unrealistic elements revolving Romeo’s side of the story, since he just had been heartbroken over Rosaline, his ex, but it’s a story. Why do people assume that everything has to reflect reality and contemporary stories? I know some people who actually disagree with the fact that their love was real and everything, but I just feel like smacking them in the face. *face palms self* 

“Then have my lips the sin that they have took.Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urg’d! Give me my sin again.”  (I. v. 107-109)

Romeo and Juliet were both spectacular characters. When a scene came around and it only reflected one of them, I felt that us readers were able to gain a better connection and relationship with them that would eventually lead to our feelings of the end of the book, and that’s another reason for my perfect rating in this case, by the way. I preferred Juliet, but Romeo sure was a cutie, though I rather not think about Romeo since I think about the guy who played him in my class. *shivers* Gross. THOUGH THE CHARACTER WAS MY TRUE LOVE. 

Looking at the themes and messages Shakespeare shot at us readers, it is like a modern story. Hey, we’ve all seen the remake of the film with Leonardo DiCaprio, and that was done in the 90s, trying to forget about the ballroom dresses that we all imagine when we picture the setting of the novel. There’s feuding families, issues between parents (like Capulet cheating on Lady Capulet and the thing with Tybalt) and it reflects the lives of many. All readers can definitely think about the story as REAL somehow. I ADORED IT SO MUCH.

Some people say that they wouldn’t read Romeo and Juliet because of the predictability of the ending. YES, everyone knows the ending of the play. But that ending isn’t what forms the novel into something wonderful and memorable, it’s the things in between that makes schools want everyone to read this. Hopefully, my school wasn’t thinking of getting us to read this to prove us a lesson of not falling in love too early or whatever. That’d be a whole other story, but I’ll save that story for another time. *winks* Yeah, now I’m going to go online and order a gorgeous copy of all of Shakespeare’s plays, and devour them just like I did with this gorgeous beauty. GO AND FALL IN LOVE, EVERYONE.

Have you read Shakespeare before? LOVED IT?