Othello
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- £2.49
Publisher Description
Élevé général des armées vénitiennes, Othello a épousé Desdémone : beauté noble, blanche, et dévouée. Un triomphe pour ce Maure affranchi, au beau verbe, admirable, mais loin d'être admiré de tous... Lago, officier perfide, le hait. Distillant le mensonge à la façon d'un venin, celui-ci tissera un stratagème machiavélique pour faire chuter son maître. Le destin sera vicié, les cœurs purs périront. Quant à Othello, manipulé, aveuglé par la jalousie – ce " monstre aux yeux verts " –, il commettra l'irréparable.
Histoire de peau, conte violent de l'amour trahi et tragédie du soupçon : immense classique, ce drame aussi noir que poignant exalte tout le génie de Shakespeare, dont le théâtre scrute avec une fascinante acuité le vertige des passions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
More than a retelling, this aptly termed "reconceptualization" provocatively modernizes Shakespeare's play. As in the original, the middle-aged general Othello the ``moor'' and young European noblewoman Desdemona fall in love and marry secretly. But Lester (To Be a Slave; John Henry) transplants the action from Venice and Cyprus to Elizabethan England and turns Iago and Emily into Africans like Othello, so that the three of them share a distinctly non-European point of view. Iago's envy of Othello and ability to whip him into a jealous rage at Desdemona are thus cast in a new light, though the tragic outcome remains the same. While the ending feels abrupt, Lester's novel succeeds in holding up a mirror to contemporary society. Phrases and passages directly based on Shakespeare's language are printed in a different typeface, a device that may distract the reader but eases comparisons with the original work. Ages 8-12.
