Othello (play)

Othello, also called The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, is a play written by William Shakespeare around 1603 set in both Venice and Cyprus about a General subjected to the manipulations of his jealous subordinate.

Real World Background

In addition to Shakepeare's primary source of Cinthio's Hecatommithi from 1565, there are several inspirations for the play, including the War of Cyprus in 1570, and the Moroccan Ambassador Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun's visit to Queen Elizabeth's court in 1600. It was likely first performed for James VI/I.

Production Background

Unlike Gargoyles characters that are direct adaptations from other Shakespeare plays (most notably from Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream), Othello's characters have been reinterpreted in the character analogues of Coldstone, Coldfire, and Coldsteel. When Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir wrote the first draft outline of "Legion", the Coldtrio's backstory reminded Greg Weisman of the dynamic between Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona, and Iago, and he later suggested the names be used as designations to better keep track of their pre-massacre personas inside Coldstone's mind. [1] The backstory's sequence featured Goliath fulfilling the role of Cassio. [2] The Othello-themed designations were also used in "High Noon".

Weisman was never sure if Isenberg and Skir intentionally wrote the characters' backstory with such obvious parallels, but figures they did, given what a big fan of the Bard Weisman is. [3][4][5]

During the show's development, early names for Goliath included Othello as a possibility. [6]

Greg Weisman has mused that Vinnie Grigori would make a great Rodrigo. [7]

See Also

• Othello (play) at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia