Essay Othello Versus O

Othello vs. O
(The main differences between the play and Movie)
Although the movie “O” is a production based on Shakespeare’s “Othello”, several differences exist between the two such as women’s social status, Iago’s personality change, and the type of language employed by the characters. Desi plays a strong woman who won't let any man put her down. She stands up to Odin several times during the movie, showing that twentieth century women have higher status in society than they did in Shakespeare's time. In the movie, Desi assertively says, “If you want to be with me don’t ever talk like that to me again, ever!” Desdemona seems much more compliant to her husband's demands, even when she knows that she is going to die. Rather than run, she goes to her bedchamber and gets ready for bed, perhaps suspecting that it will be her last night alive. At the beginning of the play she declares just how loyal she is to Othello by saying “to you [father], I am bound for life and education; I am hitherto your daughter: but here's my husband, and so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess Due to the Moor my Lord”(Hall,). Desdemona knows her place in society and that is that she should be loyal to her husband or else she has been an unworthy wife. Iago’s character changes drastically in the movie compared to Shakespeare’s play. He would be considered the perfect villain in the play. He never seems to get fazed when he destroys Othello and Desdemona's relationship, when he makes Othello go crazy or when he kills Rodrigo: “ My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught”(Hall, 124). There are two major motives that drive Iago to destroy Othello’s life. The first being his hatred for Othello for not promoting him. His second motive is his desire for importance in society and Othello is a human being that is blocking his pathway to glory. His character in “O”, Hugo, is a little bit different. He is trying to...