Shakespeare Uncovered

ANNOUNCER

Coming up on "Shakespeare Uncovered"... I hate the Moor. "Othello: the Moor of Venice" and actor David Harewood. He couldn't cope with the inevitable uncertainty of human relationships. Jealousy, revenge, and tragedy.

HAREWOOD

Desdemona is the world to him. I don't think he's ever experienced anything like it before.

SIMON RUSSELL BEALE

There's something genetic in Iago that just wants to mess Othello up.

STEPHEN GREENBLATT

I don't think there's any more powerful instance in all of Shakespeare of a moment in which you feel a compulsion to get up out of your seat and try to stop what's going on onstage.

ANNOUNCER

"Othello" with David Harewood on "Shakespeare Uncovered." I'm gonna ask you a very difficult question. Could you kill the person that you love? 400 years ago, a playwright made his audience confront this question when he created one of the most famous heroes of all times, the military warrior Othello. Othello kills his wife. Why he did it makes Othello a character that could be walking the streets today. Love him or hate him, we have to understand Othello. If you don't understand Othello, I don't think you understand yourself.

MAN

Want to know why I'm mad? Want to know why I'm mad? I'm gonna tell you why I'm mad Check it 3 of the hottest hip hop producers in town Talking my album should drop next And that I should throw down Now I know what I should be I know what I'm worth But Othello just ignores me and says "Cassio first" Battle after battle after battle with his crew I murdered mad MCs but what's Othello do? I've always considered myself, like, a physical actor somebody who, uh, likes to feel quite dynamic on--onstage. Months or weeks before I start to rehearse, I get myself in the gym, get myself physically fit, physically prepared. Cassio's blaze, this kid is just an actor

HAREWOOD

In 1997, I got myself in shape to play the role of Othello. Particularly with Othello, I-I-I just felt it was important that you could see that he was a man that was a warrior, somebody that was capable of--of--of horrendous acts of violence, and for me, that kind of means being physically imposing. So, it's, uh, get the guns out and get on with it.

MAN

Othello's rich, but he keeps me poor HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

I wanted to scare the audience. I wanted to show a man that was, uh, both honorable and noble, uh, and then just slowly ha--pinpoint how that man changes into a--a beastly, angry, jealous killer. The Moor! Trumpet! 'Tis truly so. Meet and receive him.

HAREWOOD

Othello starts as a wonderful love story between two very different people. O, my fair warrior. My dear Othello. He's a respected military general, employed by the Venetian state. She's a young Venetian noblewoman. They've eloped. Desdemona's life is now at Othello's side, ready to greet him when he returns from battle. Oh! She is the world to him because he's never experienced anything like it. She makes his heart leap, makes his heart skip a beat. I mean, we all love that feeling, we all remember that feeling, the first love, and for Othello it's, uh, it's such a powerful, all-consuming emotion. I don't think he's ever experienced anything like it before. I cannot speak enough of this content. As for Desdemona, she's utterly enchanted. He's utterly glamorous to her. Uh, you know, he's, uh, he's an exotic, glamorous man who speaks this--with the most wonderful eloquence and who is besotted by her. Ha ha ha!

PATRICK STEWART

This was a man whose life had been, at one time, full of chaos, which might have included all kinds of savagery, and that what Desdemona was in part doing was, um, helping to remove the chaos out of his life.

STUBBS

There's--there's no problem between them about age, about color, about anything about, uh, status. They are completely as one. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

It's an attraction of opposites. Othello is a Moor, a foreigner. Moors came from Islamic North Africa, and Othello has arrived in Venice with tales of adventure. He's wooed Desdemona with stories of cannibals and monsters, of being sold into slavery, exotic tales, but no one knows who this glamorous warrior really is. Everything in "Othello" depends on Othello. Who is Othello? And you don't know. You never get a solid account of who Othello is. Where is his community? He gives 3 accounts of his background that are mutually contradictory. He probably doesn't know himself where he was born or who his parents were. HAREWOOD, The one thing Othello does know is that he's an outsider. I want to know how a 17th-century audience would respond to this exotic man. What would the Elizabethans have made of the Moors? I mean, were there black people around on the streets of England? There are different groups, uh, of black people who are in Elizabethan England, and we need to be careful about how we describe them because some are servants, uh, some are militarily powerful figures. There is an awareness of different cultures. Were--were people traveling throughout the Islamic world? Yeah, there's massive cultural exchange between Morocco and Elizabethan England, and really interestingly, uh, in 1600, I think just at the point at which the play is being conceived by Shakespeare, he meets this guy. Wow! Now, exactly! This guy is called Mohammed al "Ah-nou-ri." He is the ambassador from Barbary. He comes with a big retinue. He goes, and he sees the Queen. He grooves down Whitehall with all his team. People say "Oh yeah, we saw Ah-nou-ri, the ambassador, running around." This, I think, is what we should be thinking about Othello. This is a smart, powerful, you know, guy. He's serious. He's important.

HAREWOOD

Apparently however, after some weeks, the public became uneasy and wondered how long this foreigner was staying.

BROTTON

As people start to talk about Ah-nou-ri, uh, wander--wandering around London, there are some people who say, you know, "We're not happy with this character, we're unsure about this character." But also, you're interested, you're drawn to him, and that's precisely-- that's what Shakespeare's interested in. He's not trying to do one or the other with Othello. He's saying you're scared of this character, but you also want to know more.

HAREWOOD

For Desdemona, Othello opened up a whole new world. Othello's difference is not a problem for Desdemona. In fact, she's attracted to it, but that difference is the one thing that's gonna be used by the one character that drives the plot-- honest, honest Iago. Iago! Want to know why I'm mad? Want to know why I'm mad? I'm gonna tell you why I'm mad Check it Iago is Othello's friend and military assistant. They've worked together and fought together, yet Iago has a secret. I hate the Moor! I hate the Moor!

Q BROTHERS

And this is why I hate the Moor

HAREWOOD

Iago is one of Shakespeare's most famous villains. He's going to wreck Othello's world, destroy his relationship with Desdemona, and goad Othello into murder, but what motivates Iago? The disturbing truth is that no one really knows. And this is why I hate the Moor

GREER

What is Iago? You know, Iago is the... in the litter box. Iago is empty, needy, destructive. His contempt for other people is profound. Every man has a fault He's not a person, he's a force.

GREENBLATT

He doesn't like Othello's self-confidence. He's a miserable specimen of humanity, Iago is, uh, but we don't know. Othello's rich, but he keeps me poor

HAREWOOD

Iago gives us a whole list of reasons, but are any of them genuine? "Will you believe this? "Will you believe it's because he slept-- "I think he slept with my wife? "Is it--maybe you'll believe that--that I, too, "love Desdemona or that I was passed over for the promotion." I mean, they're all put forward, but I think the real truth is that this is the reality. The reality is that he hates him.

Whistling

HAREWOOD

IAN McKELLEN,

VOICE-OVER

There are a myriad of reasons why he should behave badly and a myriad of moments when it's possible for him to do whatever he wants to do because everyone trusts him because he's so--such a nice chap. So honest! Everyone keeps saying how honest this man is. The irony is that we know, in the audience, that he's not. HAREWOOD, Iago's aim is malicious, but simple-- convince Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with another soldier, but how on earth is he going to do that? He will exploit his trust. The Moor is of a free and open nature that thinks men honest but seem to be so. And will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are. Othello is vulnerable because Iago knows his weaknesses. Have to understand, Othello trusts Iago. These men know each other, they've fought together, been in the trenches together, spent time together, hours together. Iago will now start a psychological war against Othello. The Globe actors are rehearsing the scene where Iago begins to sow his seed of doubt. By the end of this, he wants you to believe that your wife is cheating on you with one of your best friends. Mm-hmm. And he equally knows Othello, and he equally knows that I think that-- Yeah, he knows his weak spots. His weak spots.

HAREWOOD

While feigning a reluctance to talk, Iago is going to try and implicate Othello's friend Michael Cassio. Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, know of your love? He did, from first to last. Why dost thou ask? But for a satisfaction of my thought. No further harm. What of thy thought, Iago? I did not think he had been acquainted with her. Aye, indeed. Discern'st aught in that? Is he not honest? Honest, my lord? My lord, for aught I know. What dost thou think? Think, my lord?

GREENBLATT

Iago is like a virus. He has to use the being which he invades, and he knows where to burrow, uh, in Othello's consciousness. Yet there's more in this. I prithee, speak to me of thy thinkings. As thou dost ruminate and give thy worst of thoughts, the worst of words! Good my lord, pardon me. Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false? This only works because Iago knows Othello so well, because he knows what will drive him mad. By heaven, I'll know thy thoughts. You cannot. If my heart were in your hands. Nor shall not while it is in my custody.

HAREWOOD

And then Iago goes in for the kill. Oh, beware my lord of jealousy. It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on. Just hearing that someone is potentially having an affair with your wife or husband is enough to send anyone crazy. It's just the idea, and that's all really Iago needs, the idea, Because once he plants it, it grows. In many ways, the play is a double act between these two characters-- Othello the general and Iago, his assistant. So it will only work if they create a convincing dynamic. My partner in crime? Simon Russell Beale. I've not seen these for a while, but I have some photographs of our production that I want us to look at. When we were children! It was 17 years ago. 17 years ago! Look at that! Look at him! Ha ha ha! Actually, that costume was a complete mistake, but anyway, that-- that's a-- that was an early preview, and they changed the trousers. Mine, too. That. And that--and that again, that was quite violent of-- Well, that's when I walked out of rehearsal because you had a gun in my throat, and I'd had enough. And you're a big man. I'm sorry. And the gun hurt. Can say that after 17 years. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I wanted to hear Simon's opinion. What--what do you think Othello and Iago's relationship is? Iago does the simplest trick in the book, which is to say to another man, "I think your wife's having an affair," and I defy anybody not have--be-- be disturbed by somebody saying that. Yeah. And then all he has to do is to make sure nobody talks to each other, which is fairly clever, but it's not brain surgery. Everyone always says he's this Machiavellian genius. I don't think he is because he has no idea where it's going to end. No. No. Because the other thing one's got to remember about Iago is that he puts in this seed out of spite, out of malice, whatever, uh, out of frustrated ambition, but he's not-- he's not anticipating it ending where it's gonna end. There's something genetic in Iago that just wants to mess Othello up because Othello represents something good. I think it's a--a--a very broad genetic loathing of the good. HAREWOOD, Once Iago's got Othello thinking, he builds on it. He reminds him that he-- Iago--knows Venetian women better than he does. I know our country disposition well. In Venice, they do let God see the pranks they dare not show their husbands. Look to your wife. Observe her well with Cassio. What Iago succeeds in doing is playing upon the fact that he-- Iago--is the insider. He's the Venetian. He's lived there. He knows the culture. "You, Othello, are new to this world." HAREWOOD, Iago keeps prodding until Othello retorts with a list of reasons why he--Othello-- could never be jealous, but it doesn't quite ring true. Think'st thou I would make a life of jealousy, to follow still the changes of the moon with fresh suspicions? He spends too long in that speech saying "Jealous, me? Jealous? "What--what, do you think I would be jealous? I'm not gonna be jealous. Why would I be jealous?" He spends too long talking about it, which says to me the lady doth protest too much. He--he--there's something there. He's thought about it.

STEWART

It seemed to me there was an existing area of vulnerability in him, not just something that was brought about by his contact with Iago. Desdemona comes. If she be false, o, then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe it!

HAREWOOD

In no time at all, Othello has taken Iago's bait. He doesn't believe his wife has betrayed him, and yet that seed of doubt has been planted. He knows himself in certain situations. He knows the battlefield, he knows how to be a leader of men, he understands that. Most men understand, uh, you know, their role in society, but when it comes to emotions and love, we start to get on shaky ground and, uh, that's when we become unsure, uh, in matters of the heart. Uh, we don't like being vulnerable, men, and, um, Othello is extremely vulnerable.

Q BROTHERS

Want to know why I'm mad? Want to know why I'm mad? I'm gonna tell you why I'm mad Check it 3 of the hottest hip hop producers in town HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Othello's vulnerabilities are at the center of the play, and so we need to understand what they are and what they're not. "Cassio's first" HAREWOOD, The truth is that in a play with a black character, every age brings its own racial prejudices. For centuries, Othello was seen as a half-civilized black African, easily pushed into violence and brutality. That's not what Shakespeare wrote, but racial prejudices even meant that for centuries it was virtually impossible for this half-civilized black African to be played by a black actor, and even in the 20th it's been pretty hard.

Q BROTHERS

I heard his latest song And he belong in a boy band HARWOOD It seems quite crazy now, when you think about it, I was the first black actor to play Othello at the National Theatre. The fact that I was the first black actor to play it, I tried to just ignore it. I tried to keep it out of my mind, uh, until I got in the wings for my first entrance, and then it hit my like a ton of bricks that I was gonna be the first black actor to walk on the National stage playing Othello, and momentarily, I have to be honest with you, momentarily, I did forget my--com-- completely forgot my lines and stood in the wings, thinking, "I better get my act together." So I kind of paused for a second and got my breath back and-- and walked on and started. I was applauded, but not all black actors were. Ira Aldridge was a 19th century African-American actor, who left his homeland behind and became the first black Othello ever on the London stage. Good to see you. Aren't you famous? Uh, I know you from the telly! From telly! Good to see you man. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

After playing Shakespeare's Othello, Adrian Lester starred in a play about Ira Aldridge and the audience's reaction to Ira's first historic performance.

HAREWOOD

What do you think it would have been like for him to kind of come here and play and be the first Shakespearean black actor to play Othello? He--he really took that--that part and said, "This is my chance," and he went at it! The ferocity, the danger. It's reported that the audience in the theater went crazy. They--they loved it, uh, standing up, stamping, applauding, you know, whooping and hollering, but the reviewers, uh, took exception to the fact that Ira was really black. It seems that in those days, as now, reviews could close a show. He does the one show, uh, opening as Othello. The reviews come out, he plays as Othello again, and he's not invited back. The theater goes dark for the first time in its history rather than have him perform, and when they did reopen their doors, Ira Aldridge was not there playing Othello or any other character that he could play as part of Shakespeare's canon. He was not invited back. Apparently, the reviews are pretty blunt.

LESTER

"We could not perceive any fitness which Mr. Aldridge "possessed for the assumption "of one of the finest parts "that was ever imagined by Shakespeare, except indeed that he could play it in his own native hue." "It is impossible that Mr. Aldridge "should fully comprehend the meaning and force of even the words he utters." If they'd have written that about your Othello, how would you-- how would you feel? Ha ha ha!

HAREWOOD

Some reviews descended to the most appalling overt racism. "Owing to the shape of his lips, "it is utterly impossible for him to pronounce English "in such a manner as to satisfy even the unfastidious ears of the gallery." "They have brought out what Mr. Doubikins calls a genuine nigger to act." Say that again. It's not even-- it's not even-- Not even a fake nigger. Not even just a nigger, it's just a genuine-- A genuine. A real one. That's just-- that's just-- You've got to laugh. You've got to laugh. Outside Britain, Aldridge would receive some wonderful reviews, but in the English-speaking world, no black actor takes the role until Paul Robeson's mid-20th century performance. I think of all the plays of Shakespeare, "Othello" is the one that is most implicated in ongoing historical narrative. The fact that Paul Robeson could not play on a stage with a white Desdemona in the United States until World War II is part of the history of the play. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Racial prejudice has allowed white actors to play Othello well into the 20th century. Anthony Hopkins tried to minimize the problem by wearing a relatively subtle shade of makeup. Think'st thou I'd make a life of jealousy, to follow still the changes of the moon with fresh suspicions? No. HAREWOOD, But for me, the real showstopper was in 1964. The Othello was very deliberately blacked up. Why? Why is this? Think'st thou I'd lead a life of jealousy, to follow still the changes of the moon with fresh suspicions? No. To be once in doubt is once to be resolved. Wah! Ahem. The great Sir Larry Olivier. Um, listen, you know, by all accounts, uh, onstage it was an extraordinary performance. No, Iago, I'll see before I doubt.

HAREWOOD

Some of the things he's doing technically, in terms of voice control, projection, diction, and--and how he's using the language are extraordinary. Having said that, uh, it looks utterly ridiculous. Apparently it took, uh, Olivier something like 3 hours to get ready. You know, he'd--he would buff himself, he would put a layer of the black on and then buff himself and shine himself and slowly walk around the dressing room, becoming more and more black, more and more like the animal Othello and talking like this, and talking...

Imitating Olivier

HAREWOOD

"No Iago, I'll see before I doubt." I don't know any black people who speak like that, but in still--but still an incredible performance. The gods, the gods of theater will strike me down. Returning to the play, Iago's plot develops. He has contrived a new plan to convince Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. Iago made Cassio drunk, had Othello demote him, and then advised Cassio to get Desdemona to intercede for him. Desdemona innocently agrees to help her old friend Cassio. Eventually, the name Cassio conjures up such doubts in Othello that he can no longer bear it. The next scene is a turning point in the play. Othello will demand proof, and Iago will invent a dream. Giveth me a living reason why she is disloyal. I do not like the office. I lay with Cassio lately. In sleep I heard him say, "Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our loves" then lay his leg over my thigh, and sigh and kiss, and then cry "Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!" Monstrous! Nay, this was but his dream. But this denoted a foregone conclusion. Well it is a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream. And this may help to thicken other proofs that do demonstrate thinly. Yeah, he--he's got a dirty mind. He knows what it's like to be jealous, so he knows the right poison to deliver. I'll tear her all to pieces. Oh, patience I say; your mind perhaps may change. Never, Iago. The moment that Iago undermines the attachment to Desdemona, Othello flips to being very attached to Iago. By yond marble heaven.

ADSHEAD

Iago is the only one who understands him, the only one who has the truth, who's completely-- Iago's completely honest, and Desdemona's completely dishonest.

HAREWOOD

Othello now does something extraordinary. He commits to murder. Within these 3 days, let me hear thee say that Cassio is not alive. My friend is dead. It is done at your request. But let her live. Damn her, lewd minx! Oh, damn her! The first mention of any kind of murder or killing is mentioned by Othello. It's not Iago who said, "I will kill him." It's--it's Othello who's come up with this. It's his idea, and then Iago says, "Let her live," and he says, "Damn her!" Now art thou my lieutenant. I am your own for ever. In a matter of minutes, one outrageous lie has utterly changed Othello. Was one of the most brilliant scenes that Shakespeare ever wrote. Is it realistic? We know that people can flip. Uh, I tend, in this case, to trust Shakespeare, to think that it's not simply symbolic compression of a long process into a single theatrical scene but that actually it is possible, uh, under certain extraordinary circumstances, to change someone's view of the universe almost instantaneously. The speed of Othello's decision has even caught Iago by surprise.

BEALE

Suddenly, you have a release of tension for Iago in a way because Othello has responded absolutely-- well more than he could have ever expected. Do you think he's shocked that he wants to kill Desdemona? I think it's a--it's a surprise. I don't think he expect-- I don't think he expects that reaction quite so soon or quite so heavily. As I say, you know, we don't, we must never assume that Iago knows where this is gonna go, and I don't think he expects him to want to kill her. Hmm.

HAREWOOD

Othello has vowed to kill his wife, but it was in a rage, and now he wants tangible proof of her betrayal. Ever ready, Iago has come up with a ruse. Everything will hang on a handkerchief. Iago says he has seen a precious handkerchief, a gift Othello gave to Desdemona, in the hands of Cassio. Now this is nonsense of course, but Iago has told his wife Emilia to steal that handkerchief, and she has. Desdemona knows it's missing, but she has no idea just how much hangs on her finding it. Othello is about to put his wife to the test. He'll ask her for it. I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me, lend me thy handkerchief. Here, my lord. That which I gave you. I have it not about me. Not? No, indeed, my lord. That is a fault. That handkerchief did an Egyptian to my mother give. To lose it or give it away were such perdition as nothing else could match. Then would to God that I had never seen't. Wherefore? Why do you speak so startlingly and rash?

STUBBS

When it comes to the handkerchief, it doesn't seem like a very big deal, but she does know it was important to him, so I think she thinks she will find it. Is it lost? Is it gone? Speak. Speak! Is it out of the way? Heaven, bless us! Say you? It is not lost, but what and if it were?

HAREWOOD

Desdemona has told a fatal fib. She cannot fetch it, and Othello will draw the wrong conclusion.

STUBBS

It seems a lot of fuss to be made about a handkerchief. It's a handkerchief. This man has, you know, defeated nati--you know, he leads an army, he-- a handkerchief can't be that important. What are you doing? It's after hours. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

The visceral fear of betrayal carries into every generation and has inspired this modern language version of the story. Hey, D, how come you never wear that scarf I gave you? Uh...

HAREWOOD

Here the handkerchief has become a scarf. I keep it right here. What, you lost it? No, it's here somewhere. You know, my mama gave me that scarf when she got real sick. Said to make sure I give it...

JULIA STILES

She is entirely devoted to this man, and yet, any sort of reaction to that question just makes her look more guilty in his eyes. I think that you should go. Where is my scarf? I don't know! You lost it! No, I'll find it later, and if you want to be with me, don't ever talk to me like that again ever!

GREENBLATT

That scene is one that famously arouses anxiety in--in the spectators, who want to stop it, who want to, uh, change the direction of the play and can't stop it. This is a great, great play about the fact the theater doesn't allow you to intervene and change the end. I don't think there's anymore powerful instance in all of Shakespeare of a moment in which you feel, uh, a virtual compulsion to get up out of your seat and try to stop what's going on onstage. There is a bit of you thinks just-- just go and ask her. Yes. "Hey, Desdemona, darling, are..." "Are you having"-- "Are you having an affair with Cassio?" And she'll go "You complete twit! No, of course I'm not." But I--but then again, I don't think anybody would have the balls to go up to their partner and say, "Are you having an affair?" It--it--it--it takes a long time... It takes a huge amount of courage, doesn't it? To get to that point. But is he--is he innocent about love? Completely! He's never been in love before, never-- and again, I say, as I say, he doesn't understand--it makes him incredibly vulnerable. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Othello, the outsider, has no one trustworthy to talk to.

GREER

Who are his friends? Where are the people who endorse him and give him validity? Where are the people who can vouch for him? He has to vouch for himself all the time. He is profoundly alone. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

But what if he did have someone reliable to advise him? A book on Shakespeare and relationships has been written by Laurie Maguire. In that situation, what would a really good friend have said to Othello? How would he have talked him down from the ledge? A good friend would caution and say, "Hold your horses," and say, "this is moving too fast." So they'd put the brakes on. They'd slow the whole pace down, they'd slow the speed down so that there is time to think. Because the minute he stops to think, he--he would realize it's--there's no time for this so-called affair to have taken place. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that Othello is predisposed to jealousy? Do you think he's predisposed to believing these things? Or is it just natural for somebody to--to--to follow that path once somebody's brought that, uh, idea into-- put that idea in their heads? I think Othello's predisposed to vulnerability, and jealousy is basically one manifestation of vulnerability. Uh, if you talk to any modern counselor and ask them "What is jealousy? Give us a definition of jealousy," they might say something like it's anticipation of loss. It's fear of loss. And, in a way, you see things that aren't there because it relieves you of the unbearable pain of anticipating what might happen, that you might lose your wife. And do you think the fact that Othello is a military man and sees himself as a military man-- do you think that's also part of the problem here? It must be, mustn't it? Because that's part of the difference. Yeah. It's a completely different worldview, mindset, and you don't deal with uncertainty, and welcome to the world of relationships. Yes. It's uncertain day by day. Yeah. Yeah.

HAREWOOD

After the handkerchief scene, Othello is still wrestling with doubt. Halfway through the play, he had committed to murdering his wife, and yet he still hasn't done it. Othello seems to swing between a man who has already made up his mind and a man who keeps casting around for more evidence to back up the decisions that he's already made. Othello is clearly jealous and suspicious, but maybe he'll pull back from killing his wife. The minute that seems possible, and bang, in comes Iago. He now tells Othello that Cassio has as good as confessed. Has he said anything? He hath, my lord. Faith that he did. What? What? Lie. Lie with her? With her, on her, what you will. Othello is overwhelmed by emotion and falls into a fit. Confessed. It's a major victory for Iago. I suppose Iago's so fascinating because he is so successful. We cannot believe he's pulled it off or that people should be so stupid. Iago is a wonderful manipulator, but Othello is just not challenging him. I'm going to put this to Nicholas Hytner, the director of the latest National Theatre production of the play, where Adrian Lester played Othello. How do you keep the tension up? How do you--what do you think is the most important thing that keeps the believability of--of the situation? The challenge for the actor playing Othello is to pull the audience towards a sense of identity with him. As soon as the audience starts thinking, uh, "You're stupid, you're so stupid "that I no longer believe that that is what any rational human being would do," then you've kind of lost the play. Yeah. But if the actor playing Othello puts himself in a position where you understand his vulnerabilities... And sympathize. understand why Iago is pushing all the right buttons, then you have a play. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Every Othello has to think themselves into this man's mind, to see that he can't reason anymore. He's overtaken by the terror of betrayal.

LESTER

The actor is forced to dig into themself and find the deep insecurity that comes from someone who is so afraid of being hurt. He would rather kill and dispose of the threat than feel th-that loss and the power of that insecurity. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Othello is desperate to be free of his pain. Iago is ready and offers him a way out. Strangle her in her bed. Even the bed she hath contaminated. Good! HAREWOOD, This time, the decision seems secure, and yet he falters. Othello confronts Desdemona. Swear it! Damn thyself. But they can't communicate. You long for her to say, "No, stop! Enough! "This is ridiculous. "This is what really happened, "and you're being absurd, you're being madly jealous for no reason," but she never says it. Thy young and rose-lipped cherubim. Aye, here, look grim as hell! I hope my noble lord esteems me honest. Oh, aye. She genuinely believes that sh--whatever-- however he behaves, for better or worse, she has committed herself to a man who is going through some terrible thing, and she just has to, uh, support him and let him behave like that and--and endlessly reaffirm her love and her truthfulness and her innocence, but that takes an enormous naivety. I took you for that cunning whore of Venice that married with Othello.

HAREWOOD

Just when you think we won't hear the voice of a woman, Shakespeare creates an extraordinary scene between Desdemona and her maid Emilia. It's nighttime. Othello has told Desdemona to dismiss Emilia and go to bed. Before she does, there is an intimate scene between the two women. What--what do you think about where Shakespeare... I'm about to see the Globe actors rehearse. It's a very honest, open, intelligent conversation about the nature of men and women. Yeah. It feels very dangerous. Something feels quite uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. That we know something's gonna happen, that Othello has said to Desdemona "Omiss"-- uh, "Dismiss your attendant." So we know that's not right or normal. So there's something in there air of something being very equal between us, of knowing of this foreboding. Mm-hmm. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

It starts with the bewildered Desdemona marveling at the very idea that women could be unfaithful. These men! Dost thou in conscience think, tell me, Emilia, that there be women do abuse their husbands in such gross kind? There be some such, no question. Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world? Why, would not you? No, by this heavenly light! Nor I neither by this heavenly light. I might do it as well in the dark. In troth, I think thou wouldst not.

HAREWOOD

The more worldly Emilia points out how everyone is capable of infidelity. Women are as human as men, they are equal. I do think it is their husbands' faults if wives do fall. Let husbands know their wives have sense like them. They see and smell and have their palates both for sweet and sour, as husbands have. Then let them use us well, else let them know the ills we do, their ills instruct us so. Wow! Well done. Lovely. Wow! It's--it's such, it--it kind of-- kind of slightly choked me up when you started doing your bit because it remind--reminds you of--it reminds you of the play, and it reminds you of just how innocent, how-- Yeah, what's happened. Absolutely. She just doesn't understand it. The utterly innocent Desdemona is amazed, but it's been a moment of tender honesty between them. It's the last conversation they have. The next moments of the play are incredibly hard to watch. What Iago has set in motion seems unstoppable, yet Othello could still change his mind. It's a completely unpredictable situation. When Othello enters the bedroom, everything slows down. There's a horrible kind of calm. Put out the light and then put out the light.

PASTER

He comes upon her in utmost vulnerability. She's asleep, and since most women could be overpowered by the men to-- by their lovers, we know our own vulnerability at that moment. We know that we could be Desdemona. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Othello finally tells Desdemona that he believes Cassio is her lover. What's the matter? That handkerchief that I so loved and gave thee, thou gavest to Cassio....my face? HAREWOOD, She denies it, but he won't believe her. Ohh! There's this battle going on inside of him. "She deserves to die, "but--but she's, but I love her. I'm gonna kill her, but I-I want her to live." What he wants to do is pick her up, make love to her, and kiss her and love her and--forever. 'Tis too late! Oh, lord! Lord!

HAREWOOD

But he's full of rage.

Gasps

HAREWOOD

No!

STEWART

He is in agony. To obliterate the reason for that agony is to relieve himself of the pain that he is feeling.

HAREWOOD

At this point, it's very hard to empathize with Othello.

LESTER

There's a weird kind of twisted love in there, and he's doing her a favor. He's saving her from damnation, but when you follow logic to that degree, you can see that it's not-- it's not sane, but it has to remain logical, it has to make sense.

Knock on door

HAREWOOD

Desdemona is lying lifeless on the bed when a knock on the door makes him realize what he has done.

Rapid knocking

HAREWOOD

And we see a moment of despair. What's the best? If she come in, she'll sure speak to my wife. My wife! My wife! What wife? I have no wife. And it is very poignant, the realization "I have no wife," uh, and that is certainly something that the people that I have worked with, who've killed, have talked about, is this sudden realization that they--they can't say, "My wife, my mother, my father," anymore. But Shakespeare has written an astonishing twist. Desdemona comes round for a few brief moments, where she has the chance to tell Emilia who has attacked her. I... She doesn't take it. Who? Who has done this deed? Farewell. It seems that Desdemona has accepted Othello exactly as he was, a man who couldn't cope with the passions that must come with love.

GREER

It's Desdemona who realizes that it was too much for him, that she really shouldn't have given in to her fascination with him, not because she couldn't deal with it-- she could, and she shows you that she's gonna deal with it because of the way she accepts her death. She, as it were, assumes agency and says-- in that death and says, "I did this," because she's understood that he couldn't deal with it. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

Finally, the truth emerges. Othello confronts Iago, but Iago gives absolutely nothing. What you know... you know. From this time forth, I never will speak word. All Shakespeare's characters love talking. It's their world. So if one of them says, "I shall never say another word," uh, it is an extraordinary statement because it means "I'm going to not to exist anymore."

HAREWOOD

Now Othello, realizing his terrible mistake, takes his own life. In dying, he joins Desdemona. We are left trying to make sense of what we've seen. Do we even know who we sympathize with?

GREENBLATT

Is there something in Othello that makes the disaster possible? Of course! But is there something in all of us that makes disasters possible? Of course! Do we actually think that a proper Othello would not have had the capacity for jealousy or would not have had the capacity for becoming misguided or lost? Of course not. That's what it is to be human. HAREWOOD,

VOICE-OVER

As we watch, we inevitably sympathize. After all, are we that different? In the end, he couldn't cope with the inevitable uncertainty of human relationships. This weakness was utterly exploited. Othello is left in a meaningless wasteland, and he destroys everything. Othello robbed Desdemona of her life, and in doing so, he threw away his own.

To uncover more about Shakespeare ANNOUNCER

Next time on "Sh and watch full episodes online, visit pbs.org/shakespeareuncovered. "Shakespeare Uncovered" is available for $34.99 plus shipping. To order, call, 1-800-336-1917 or write to the address on your screen.