Othello, Julius Lester

Othello opens tonight at the Folger, and to celebrate, I thought I'd revisit this novel, which I read awhile ago, but could come up with nothing to say at the time. Maybe now that we've finished our study guide for the play, I'll have more to say...

First of all, can I just point out the cover art? Damn, Othello. You will break that poor teenage Desdemona like a twig.

So much of the play is based in light and dark imagery - especially when it comes to Othello's blackness. Interesting, then, that Lester chooses to  make both Iago and Emilia black as well, and gives the trio of Africans a shared past together, before they were brought to England (oh yes, England - not Italy). There are a lot of internal musings over how each of these people feels about the others, but it really made Iago's treachery more troubling. He hated Othello for turning his back on his history, and so decided to destroy his future.

The women are still incredibly tragic roles. Desdemona is so young, and so innocent, and so enamoured of Othello. Emilia is so submissive in this novel, too, because she also adores Othello and wants to keep Iago happy. I usually don't feel too badly for Desdemona - not because she deserved what she got, she didn't - but because after she stands up to her father she just seems so... meh. Hi, I'm here, I'm a plot device. But Emilia - Emilia's last scene when she finally displays her cojones is the scene I perform solo in my living room after I've had too much wine. It's a GREAT scene. Maybe it's because this whole novel is only 150 small pages, but it just seemed so... brief.

Lester does do a decent job of weaving text in with his own re-telling, though I'm not sure that was necessary. It's not that it doesn't fit, but that it can be a little jarring to go back and forth with your own story (which is, admittedly, different) and Shakespeare's. The language is nice, but it's not making your point.

If it were all about race, this novel would be a perfect summation. However, I'm realizing that more than race, this is a play about passions, and being swept up in them. Even racism is it's own passion, just like jealousy and love and revenge. This novel was all about only one of these passions, which sort of lessened the overall impact of the story - but it is a good jumping-off point for a discussion about the history of racism, and its effect on people still.

Othello

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590419668
• ISBN-13: 978-0590419666