Jan 29
*reading act 2 scene 3* cassio STOP! this isn’t you, babygirl! look at me!
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*reading act 2 scene 3* cassio STOP! this isn’t you, babygirl! look at me!
iago: how will I get cassio to follow these exact courses of action? I must manipulate him carefully
meanwhile cassio (already drunk): HEY RODERIGO GET BACK HERE SO I CAN STAB YOU
I absolutely adore Shakespeare but saying in Othello that the entire other army died in a storm and therefore there’s no war anymore was the most hilarious cop out that I have ever read and I bloody love it
Iago: “I lay with Cassio lately”- *Proceeds to describe a totally fake but DETAILED fantasy of Cassio. dry-humping and making out with him
Othello: *never questions any of this* “This is clear proof they have done the deed! Cassio must die!”
Audience: “Hold on, Iago, do you desperately want to screw Cassio? Seems like you put a lot of time and detail into that little erotic fantasy. Can we talk about that before we get into the wife-beating?
Thinking about how one of the first things we learn about Cassio is that he's from Florence.
Obviously, Othello, at its core, is a play about racism. Othello sticks out because he is a Moor and one in a high position in society at that. Cassio would definitely be given more leniency because of the racism. This is just an add-on to that and the theme of "otherness" in the play. (Also, Iago is already racist and sexist. Xenophobia would not be out of the question. There is no "too low" for this man)
I'm just saying you have this other "outsider" in the sense of Italy not being a unified country and just being composed of city-states/republics/kingdoms/etc. Everyone spoke their respective dialects, and it would take a long time for them to become one nation. The idea of one of the layers of Iago's hatred being that these "others" moved up in society before him AND on top of that he has to take orders from them is very on brand for him. Cassio didn't have to be written as a Florentine, but the fact that he is just adds to Iago's hatred and jealousy because he has to obey people that he sees as "lesser than."
Also, Cassio's mannerisms and courtesy get twisted by Iago into acts of flirtation. Iago repeatedly uses stereotypes to convince people what he wants them to believe. He takes advantage of courtesy and kindness and vilifies people in order to get his way. A big part of why Othello falls victim to the manipulation is that Iago utilizes the insecurity of being a black man in Venice when convincing him Desdemona is unfaithful. Cassio, being a man of high manners and courtly to women, makes that worse because Iago uses this to "prove his point" in a sense, playing off these biases to get what he wants.
Footnote: Florence was also an intellectual capital at the time, which ties into Cassio being an arithmetician (and the other reason Iago hates him so much)
Doodle dump :]
when i can't explain that the funniest thing i've seen today is cassio saying "this is my right hand, this is my left" whilst drunk so instead i scream into the void
started reading othello in ap lit
we are all assigned characters to read their part and then do like a little graphic organizer thingy on the character
i got michael cassio
dont know much abt him yet but the first thing i thought when i read abt him was "who is this twink and why is he lowkey me"
anyways looking forward to the absolute insanity its going to be with a 12 grade ap lit class reading out othello in class (in 10th grade julius ceasar was horrid)