Othello, Day 1

January 1

Read two scenes and had to stop because I had to be in Court at 8:45 and it was really really late. Grabbed Nuttall and read something that I've been kicking around all day: Othello is not a jealous man, Othello is insecure because he is an outsider, a moor (which I understand it is being used as a synonym of African). Had Othello been a venetian patrician, Iago would have been unable to capitalize on this weak spot. I know EXACTLY the type of insecurity Othello feels as an outsider. It is painful, paralyzing, a million times worse than jealousy. This type of insecurity makes you dread that you will lose everything, that you cannot control your destiny, that you are dammed. My preconception has always been that this is a play about sexual jealousy, but it may be something even deeper...

On the other hand, I am having a hard time picturing Iago looking anything but like Kenneth Brannagh. Has he played Iago? (I'm sure he has, but have I seen it on that part?) Or is it that I have a hard time extricating Brannagh from Shakespeare? Brannagh's Hamlet is the best one I have seen, so is Brannagh's Henry V, but this is too much!