Page 162 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

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THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER

Othello, the Moor of Venice

It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets
He has done my office.
—lago, on Othello

ith Hamlet, Shakespeare proved it possible to diminish the
Wforce of fate while heightening the importance of character,
still achieving full tragic impact. The next experiment led him fur-
ther in that direction. Hamlet's final decision—to kill or not to kill—
was up to him; still, a ghostly figure had served as catalyst. Would it
be possible to invent a new, more realistic kind of play in which the
hero's impetus had nothing to do with metaphysical forces, growing
entirely out of what Freud would have called his psyche? Will found
his source in Hecatommithi (1565), an Italian novella by Giraldi
Cinthio. The sketchy story had some basis in truth; a "Disdamona"
did marry an officer in the Venetian military, only to be killed by
him when a rejected suitor, seeking vengeance, made the husband
incorrectly believe his lady had been unfaithful.
This fable was based on a 1508 incident involving Christopher
Moro, who was not black. During the imprecise process of transla-
tion, Moro somehow transformed into Moor, historically incorrect
but fraught with dramatic potential. Shakespeare provided the name
Othello while heightening narrative power, creating complex char-
acters, and interpolating his own ideas about life and love. Appear-
ance versus reality, the duties of a prince, madness, romance, and
rebellion were among the themes he further explored here; the play
also deals with such modern issues as racial hostility, spousal abuse,

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