Displaced in Shakespeare

In class, we defined “displacement” as being away from your home, or a place where you feel comfortable. I must admit, that reading Shakespeare has caused me to feel quite displaced. I read a little Shakespeare in high school – mainly Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream. These plays were easier for me to read because I was already familiar with the basic story line. Othello, however, is very new to me.

Reading Act I took me nearly a whole afternoon. I read an online summary of the act just to get the main points of the story. I then proceeded to read the actual text, of which I still had a difficult time following. After what seemed like hours of struggling with “thous,” “thees,” and “shalts,” I broke down and read the Spark Notes for the play. There must be an easier way to understand this! Does anyone out there have any suggestions?!?!

What I did take from Monday’s class was this: My group was assigned one of Brabantio’s speeches. We were asked to discuss how the speaker viewed Othello. Brabantio thinks Othello of a lower standing than Desdemona when he says “of spirit so still and quiet that her motion blushed at herself; and she, in spite of nature, of years, of country, credit, everything, to fall in love with that she fear to look on!” (Lines 98-101). He also states that the only way Othello would ever get such a woman like Desdemona to fall in love with her would be because of the use of “some mixtures powerful o’er the blood” (line 106).

Although I do not (yet) fully understand Shakespeare’s writing style, breaking apart speeches accompanied with specific guide questions has allowed me to begin the process of comprehending and appreciating the text.