Othello

After seeing two clips of Othello, the one in class and the one from youtube, I was able to see how different one play is able to be performed. As we talked about in class, producers may interpret the play in very different ways when compared to other producers. I think this is interesting and I like that they are all able to be similar but very different at the same time. It makes it enjoyable to watch the same play multiple times . I do not think I will get bored of watching this movie and other versions because of the differences in interpretation. It is fun to look out for and see the diffrenences in characters and costume.

I liked the newer version we watched in class on Tuesday more than the clip that was on youtube. Othello showed much more emotion and Desdemona did not see so staged. To me it seemed a little more real.

I found it very interesting that so many people were wearing white and many of them had blood on their shirts. This is something we talked about in class because it was an important detail and both clips utilized this symbolism. One thing I noticed from the film in class on Tuesday was that even though everyone on the bed was dead Iago was the only one who visibly showed blood. This may be represent that Desdemona, although accused of being with Iago, had not. There was not blood on the sheets but only on Iago for what he did. Desdemona was killed in a way that did not draw blood, which is another thing I noticed from watching the film. She was innocent which is demonstrated by no blood from her being on the sheets.

Iago

I thought it was very interesting when we were talking about Iago in class on Tuesday. His view about reputation, which we see when he is talking to Cassio(2.3.243), directly correlates with who he is as a character: what we see is not what we get. From the perspective of the other characters this is definitely true. Othello may believe that Iago is trying to help and watch out for him when in reality he is deceiving him. The way he appears on the outside does not match what he is thinking on the inside. We, the audience, are able to see his motives and his motives stem from trickery. Because we know his intentions and see the corresponding way he treats others without them knowing makes me suspicious of him. He does not seem like a good man at all. He stealthily plants thoughts and images into Othello’s head about Desdemona not being faithful. I know from experience that once something is in your head it can really skew your judgment. Little things will catch your attention and mislead you into making false assumptions. This is what Iago is purposefully doing without trying to look like a bad guy. He also uses Cassio to make Othello even more suspicious of Desdemona. But then he tells Othello that Cassio is a worthy friend (3.3.240). Iago as a character is hypocritical and is not to be trusted. It is frustrating to watch Iago trick others without them noticing when we know what he intends to do.

Girl, Interrupted

When we watched Girl, Interrupted on Monday evening it was the first time I had seen it. I enjoyed the movie but as I was driving home I just thought about how sad and depressing it was. Something I found to be interesting about the movie is that Suzanna obviously believes she belongs at Claymoore. She went there without much force and when her boyfriend came she did not want to leave with him. Something was keeping her there. She said she had friends there, but no one would want to stay there to be with these people. She knew she needed help with what she was going through. As much as I want to believe that she was not crazy I have to think that she was. When she left she appeared better and happy and not crazy, but maybe she still was? Maybe we could not see it on the outside but maybe just like Daisy she seemed better but in reality was not. I think by seeing her situation through her perspective were are limited in what we know. We can only know what she wants us to know and see others as she does. This movie was very interesting-especially watching it at this point in the semester. I think it fit in well.

The Yellow Wallpaper

The introduction to this short story mentions how it has been read on several levels. I read through each of the levels and, because of the topics we have been talking about in class, one grabbed my attention. The story has been read "as a metaphoric protest against the restriction women felt in a society that denied them full expression." I found it interesting that the rest cure was mainly prescribed to women. After reading the short story and the articles that were posted, I believe this bed rest was a way to restrict women. They were not allowed to work, or write, or see family members; they were isolated from society. The fact that they were forbidden to write and had to do it in secrecy, if at all, demonstrates the intellectual inequality that women of the time had to face. Being confined to bed all day, everyday drove these women into a worse state than before the "treatment". They had nothing to stimulate them, which is why the yellow wallpaper was so amusing in the story. It was all she could do, the only thing to entertain and stimulate her mind. At the beginning of the story she mentions how she does not like the yellow wallpaper and by the end she stays awake at night to watch the woman behind the pattern and at the conclusion of the story she believes she has escaped from behind the wallpaper. I think this progression is symbolic of her desecent into insanity.
After reading the article about why Gilman wrote this and that it was to help others I drew a paralell between the stripping of the wallpaper and trying to free other women and Gilman's attempt to help other women through publishing this short story. I found it interesting that the doctor who was famous for perscribing this treatment changed his ways after he read the story.