Othello

It has been a lifelong dream of mine to appear on the show, Jeopardy. I loved watching it with my parents growing up, and, to this day, enjoy hearing Emma scream "This....is....Jeopardy!" almost every night at 7:30 p.m. However, I realized early on that if my dream is to ever become reality, I need to be well versed in the American presidents and Shakespeare.

Like most, I am already proficiently familiar with and Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet (thanks to my high school Literature classes), so when perusing the Shakespeare section of Barnes and Noble, I chose Othello.

As I concluded reading Othello this afternoon, Chris asked me what I thought and I answered him, "It was wicked." From its opening lines, Othello is filled with jealously, deception, and tragedy as the play's namesake, Othello, is subtly and slowly lured to his demise by his ensign, Iago.

Iago's hatred toward Othello stems from nothing more than a suspicion that Othello may have had an affair with Iago's wife (which has no merit and is later proven untrue). As if to achieve what he believes to be poetic justice, Iago weaves his horrific plan to bring Othello down by planting in his head that Othello's new bride, Desdemona, is having an affair with his closest friend, Cassio. The results, as you may expect, are disastrous.

On the whole, Othello is a greatly entertaining and thought-provoking play. It is amazing to see how slight and small deceptions by Iago mature and take hold in Othello's heart, driving him into a truly blind rage and jealously against those who care for him the most. It is another great literary example of how our sin can (and will if unchecked by the Spirit) rule our lives.

Likewise, Othello is saturated with sexual references and overtones. The crux of Iago's (and later Othello's) hatred is based on his belief that his wife had an adulterous affair. As I read, I was struck with how translatable the plot was to modern day society. Though many have tried to paint adultery in a softer, gentler light, the reality is that it destroys as many lives and families today as it did in 1623 (the date when Othello was published). You needn't but turn on the evening news to find some truly Shakespearean tragedies personified.

Read Othello - you will shudder, but you will remember that even the "smallest" sins have the greatest consequences. I recommend the Barnes and Noble Shakespeare edition (it has amazing and comprehensive notes for even the newest Shakespearean reader) or the FREE Kindle edition.

Yes, Shakespeare can be intimidating, but if you are ever going to win Jeopardy (and I intend to), you'll need to brush up!

TOTAL PAGES READ IN 2011: 2,470