Spark Notes No Fear Shakespeare Othello (SparkNotes No Fear Shakespeare) Paperback – July 3, 2003

Amazing

In The Allure of Nymphets I shared the following sonnet from William Shakespeare, which is about a disappointing love affair with a young girl. The sonnet extols the wonders of youth:Crabbed age and youth cannot live together:Youth is full of pleasure, age is full of care;Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare.Youth like full of sport, age’s breath is short;Youth is nimble, age is lame;Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold;Youth is wild, and age is tame.Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I adore thee...In addition, Shakespeare extols the wonders of youth in Othello via an age-discrepant marriage between Othello, a North African general of the armies of Venice, and Desdemona, the "exquisitely beautiful" young daughter of Brabantio, a Venetian senator.Shakespeare doesn't give the exact ages of Othello and Desdemona, but Othello is described by Iago, the villain of the play, as an "...old black ram..." while Desdemona is described as a "... little white lamb...[with] beautiful skin, whiter than snow and smooth as the finest marble."Othello and Desdemona feared that, due to Othello's race and age, they wouldn't get the blessing of her father; thus, they eloped. Roderigo, a young jealous admirer of Desdemona informed her father, "...but in the wee hours of the morning your daughter left your house...to go into the rough embrace of a lustful Moor." (I wrote in The Allure of Nymphets that young men and older women are understandably the most opposed to ephebophiles and teleiophiles.)Thus it was assumed that Othello seduced Desdemona. It was unconscionable that she wanted to get married. Desdemona's father even suggested that Othello used magic, trickery and/or drugs to seduce Desdemona. He said, "Are there magic spells that can lead young virgins astray? It's obvious to everyone that you you've tricked her, drugged her, or kidnapped her."Othello is reminder that looks are not nearly as unimportant to nymphets as they are to ephebophiles. Even Brabantio made that mistake. He asked, "And you want me to believe that despite her young age and proper upbringing she fell in love with a man she'd be afraid to look at?" Iago opined, "To keep things hot, she'll need someone with a handsome face, someone close to her in age, someone who looks and acts like her." But Brabantio and Iago failed to understand that it was Othello's high self-confidence, self-esteem, and power (i.e., self-control) that attracted Desdemona.After Desdemona convinced her father that it was her idea to marry Othello, he was forced to give their marriage his blessing; however, that didn't prevent Iago and Roderigo from doing everything within their power to end the age-discrepant marriage.Note: I used the No Fear Shakespeare translation of Othello.

No issues with book or seller. Teen needed for school

This is a pretty good book series of Shakespeare’s speech translated into modern English. I first found out about it when I borrowed the play of Hamlet from someone who gave me it to me from the “No fear Shakespeare” series so I know from reading that that these books are good. I was a little disappointed at first about getting that book instead you know a regular book of the full play of Hamlet with no modern translation or anything (at the time I probably thought the translation might be bad or not so accurate) but it managed to be just as enjoyable with the modern English text by the side. I didn’t even have to look at it that much when I read it because I’ve already been exposed to Hamlet at a younger age. All this series fine.

This makes reading Othello so easy and accessible to all! Othello is one of my favorite plays to read. Shakespeare's development of Iago is intriguing and while most readers despise Iago, his scheming keeps it entertaining. SPOILER ALERT: This is a short summary of the play if you have not read it before.: We see that Desdemona betrays her father by marrying Othello. Iago, Othello's supposed right hand man, wants to personally sabotage Othello due to Othello earning a higher position than him, and by manipulating essentially everyone in the play, he succeeds. The play is a tragedy, ending with the majority of the characters dying. There are some apparent adult themes in this book and with that being said, be sure that whoever reads this can handle themes of racism, sex and more. With all of this said, I think it is appropriate for students in 11th and 12th grade to read (if you plan on teaching this book). However, I do advise to make sure to explain everything in the play and to have regular conversations with students about the play to avoid misunderstandings and confusion about the plot. The themes of racism and sex are pretty strong, so be sure that your students can handle that.I forgot to mark the page, but be prepared that on one of the pages, there are a few lines that are missing a character's name. It should be Emilia reading those lines (when you find it, you will know what I am talking about).

I bought this for my child in high school to help her better understand the actually book. This one equates the old English phrases and passages with English. She is very pleased with it and it is certainly helping her better understand the book.

I think Shakespeare is almost unreadable even to literate speakers of modern English. You can read the words and assign a current definition of that word, but put them together and to me they don't make any sense. Thank goodness this series puts the "translation" on the other side of the page. It's actually fun to read the old English and after awhile you will start to pick up the lingo. (I never studied Shakespeare in college--it might have helped!) I recommend the book for anyone wanting to venture into Shakespeare without the benefit of a teacher.

Good! Just what we need!