English, baby!

O (Othello)

Date: Sep 26 2001

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

O* is a movie based upon the play O_thello*_, written by William Shakespeare. Listen and find out how the movie made Miguel feel.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Tanis

Miguel

Tanis: Remember when we talked about Hamlet with Ethan Hawke[/def] in it?

Miguel: Yeah, vaguely why?

Tanis: Well there’s a new, um, movie out, like a modern day version of a Shakespeare play that I loved Othello[/def].

Miguel: Oh, you mean O*?

Tanis: Yeah! Yeah, have you seen it?

Miguel: I just saw it a couple of days ago, I think.

Tanis: No way!

Miguel: Yeah, it’s really good. Really powerful, but also a little bit depressing.

Tanis: Yeah, well, I mean, I guess Hamlet’s a tragedy, but to me Othello is, is maybe one of the most tragic, probably the most tragic of all the Shakespeare plays.

Miguel: Well for me it was a lot different than a Shakespeare play because it’s contemporary and so the characters are a lot easier to connect with and that made it even more powerful than, you know, Shakespeare for me.

Tanis: So are their names like in the play, it’s Othello, Desdemona and Iago. So what are their names in the movie?

Miguel: Right, so they change a lot of those details like it’s, his name is O_thello is O_din uh you know Iago is Ugo* or something, you know, I mean it’s just small changes that they…

Tanis: Right.

Miguel: But still conceptually they’re the same people. It’s not like a total change.

Tanis: Well, I always think it’s interesting when they try and, you know, take the same type of characters and then just modernize it in certain ways. Would you recommend seeing it?

Miguel: It depends on what mood you’re in. For me, I was kind of, it was kind of a down day. I was kind of mellow and not sad necessarily but the past week has been, you know, kind of crazy and so then to see a tragedy isn’t necessarily the best way to lift yourself up, but just from like an objective standpoint, it’s a good movie. It’s well made, well acted, etc., you know.

Tanis: I guess I’m a glutton for punishment ’cause I love those, uh, tragic shows. I, I loved that play. I was completely, um, struck by it when I, when I studied it in college and I can’t wait to see this but, especially now with your recommendation.

Miguel: Well it’s, it’s a tear jerker for sure and that’s what the, the… when we were going to it the girl was like ‘are you sure you’re ready for a tear jerker?’ and we were like ‘well, we don’t know, but you know, we’ll give it a shot.’

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Discussion

O*_thello is one of the saddest plays written by Shakespeare. Sounds like Miguel didn’t realize what a tragedy it was before he went to the theatre. Shakespeare’s plays are divided into two different types: Tragedies and Comedies. O_thello is a typical tragedy with characters like Iago who is very jealous and wants revenge. The characters in O_thello are very sad and serious and there is a unhappy ending.
O_ne of the Shakespeare’s most popular comedies is *_A Midsummer’s Night Dream which is a very creative play about two couples interacting with forest creatures such as fairies and nymphs. The tone of the play is light-hearted, funny, and it has a happy ending.
Which type of Shakespeare play do you enjoy? Do you like the tragedies or the comedies? Please tell me about it in the “Movie Madness” message board. I’d love to hear from you.
Don’t forget to take the quiz! Have a great week!
Nedra