Othello Introduction & Reading Schedule

Tush--Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light

Welcome to Reading Revisited, a place for friends to enjoy some good old-fashioned book chat while revisiting the truth, beauty, and goodness we’ve found in our favorite books.

Welcome to Shakespeare month, and prepare to love Othello (the play and the man)!

January is typically our Shakespeare month, because Christmas is a busy season, and plays are short! (Othello can be read in an afternoon.) Annnd, what better way to begin the year than with a new year’s resolution to read more Shakespeare!

So enjoy your holidays and pull up the read-along-guides (one for each of the five Acts) when you get a settled moment to read this masterpiece.

Have a blessed Advent, a merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a deep beginning to reading one of the best tragedies of all time.

Quick Note on Othello

This play centers around Othello, a general who has been successful on the battlefield and who is now entering the domestic sphere of marriage.

Some of the themes it explores are:

• discernment (how does a person decide who to trust);

• the consequences of intimate, bad counselors;

• marriage and infidelity;

• and appearances vs. reality.

I hope you enjoy meeting Desdemona, a true heroine. I hope you hate Iago, a true villain. I hope you revel in Shakespeare’s obsession with comparing black and white; and I hope you find within this comparison a complex discussion of race, contradicting appearances, and good & evil.

[A note on watching Othello: as with all plays, it is helpful to watch, but also, as with all plays by deceased playwrights, the new adaptation may or may not fully express the play as you read it. Personally, even the Kenneth Branagh film makes choices which alter some of the depth and meaning I find in the play. So, read first, watch later!]

Othello Resources

(If searching in your podcast app, these The Play’s the Thing episodes are from August 2019. I have not listened to these yet, but they never disappoint!)

The Play’s the Thing Podcast: Othello Act I

The Play’s the Thing Podcast: Othello Act II

The Play’s the Thing Podcast: Othello Act III

The Play’s the Thing Podcast: Othello Act IV

The Play’s the Thing Podcast: Othello Act V

The Play’s the Thing Podcast: Othello Q&A

Othello Schedule

Friday, December 13: Introduction & Schedule
Monday, December 16: Reading Revisited ep.30: Introduction to Shakespeare with Fr. Tom Pressley
Wednesday, December 18: Why Read Shakespeare
Friday, December 20: Act I Read Along Guide
Friday, December 27: Act II Read Along Guide
Wednesday, Jan 1: Act III Read Along Guide
Wednesday, Jan 8: Act IV Read Along Guide
Wednesday, Jan 15: Act V Read Along Guide & Discussion Questions
Thursday, January 23: Virtual Book Club (contact us for more info/zoom link)
Monday, February 3: Reading Revisited ep.40: Othello Revisited Podcast

Until next time, keep revisiting the good books that enrich your life and nourish your soul.

In Case You Missed It:

• A Christmas Carol Stave 5 Revisited & Discussion Questions

• Reading Revisited ep.29: Bookish Bio of Colleen Adams (aka Jess’ Mom!)

• Leisure: Antidote to the Busy Murder of Christmas

• A Christmas Carol Stave 4 Revisited

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What We’re Reading Now:

January

Othello by William Shakespeare

February

Out of the Silent Planet AND Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

March

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

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