creative writing - extra scene in Shakespeare's Othello by Alessandra Cestaro

ACT I, SCENE I a) (extra scene between Act I Scene I and Scene II)

[Enter OTHELLO and DESDEMONA]

OTHELLO:           Oh good Fortune, alas’ you greet our souls!

                               Fate is consenting to this marriage,

                               To this everlasting sacrament which

                               Makes thee my heart’s only guardian angel.

                               Sweet Desdemon, why is the night so brief?

DESDEMONA: My Lord, I pray for time to stop right now

                               So that our wedding night may delay dawn.

OTHELLO:           And under the witnessing stars I would

                               Sing my travels to thee as if they were

                               Lullabies to charm your ears. I love thee.

                               I love thy ears’ hungry curiosity.

                               I love the divine smile you exhibit

                               When I make my past into tales for thee.

DESDEMONA: I prithee, surprise me with your tales,

                               Until you take all of my breath away…

OTHELLO:           If only I were less primitive and

                               My speech was less rude, I would entertain

                               My truly beloved wife and honour

                               Her presence. For these thick lips cannot play

                               Fair melodies, they shall content thee with

                               A kiss.

[OTHELLO kisses DESDEMONA]

DESDEMONA: Don’t blame yourself so harshly. Rude in speech?

                               ‘Tis not so and even if it were true,

                               It would be since these arms of yours have used

                               Their dearest action in the tented field

                               And made thee the most valiant server to

Venice. You are the Duke’s hope for Cyprus.

OTHELLO:           What your fair lips speak is most true. Venice

                               Trusts in me to bring the infidel Turks

                               Far away from our possessions in Greece.

                               ‘Tis my job to maintain Christianity’s

                               Purity. ‘Tis my job to keep the dark

Turk stain from the perfect order Venice

has installed. The civilization we

                               Have brought about has to be preserved.

[pause]

                               Sweet wife, if the Duke calls me to duty,

                               I must eagerly lend myself. I must

                               Be ready to depart for Cyprus. But,

                               Know my heart is always in thy gentle

                               Candid hands. This wedding binds our lives.

                               And when I’ll be at sea, your love will save

                               Me from whatever tempest. Either from

A tempest at sea or a tempest of

Jealousy. Desdemon, you will keep me

living, you will keep me loving, when I’m

far away.

DESDEMONA: My Lord, you worry for no reason. If

                               The Duke desires you oversea, I

                               Shall come with thee. Nobody will object.

                               The Duke and my father will understand.

                               Othello, you are my husband, and so

                               Much duty as my mother showed to my

                               father, preferring him before her own,

So much I challenge that I may profess

Due to you, my lord. If I’m left behind,

A moth of peace, and you go to war,

The rites for which I love thee are bereft me.

Thus, no jealousy shall arise in thee

For my faults. I’ll love thee reverently.

I know what I want. I know for sure.

My heart is committed to being yours.

OTHELLO:           Seeing these words exit your mouth fills me

                               With great joy. Our love is stronger than this

                               War. Our will to be together will be

                               Certainly comprehended by Venice

                               And its most important men. The Duke and

                               The State owe my service respect. And your

                               Father loves me as he often invites

                               Me and still questions me the story of  

                               My life. They will allow me to carry

                               You beside me.

                               Venice will feast at our return as one.

                               Let’s worry no more, let’s enjoy our night,

                               Light is absent. Vision is impeded.

                               Darkness will hide our love. The night is ours.

DESDEMONA: This night is ours. It has wed me to you.

                               Now, my lord, I’m yours.

[Lights out. Exeunt





Rationale:

Considering the main themes and the drama’s development in Othello, I wrote an extra scene which portrays a conversation between Othello and Desdemona just after their escape and marriage. In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ Act I Scene I denounces Othello and Desdemona’s escape through a conversation between Iago and Roderigo. Othello’s character is indirectly presented, to the audience, as an old, immoral and ‘lascivious Moor’ by Iago. This rough image of Othello’s character is only partly negated in Scene II when Othello physically appears on stage.

                My purpose was to introduce the extra scene between Act I Scene I and II in order to immediately introduce Othello, with his noble qualities, to the play. Moreover, I believe that Othello and Desdemona’s marriage is central to the play as it is the event that will trigger all the action further on.

                In my scene I included the main themes of the play: the importance of fate, religion, love and jealousy, racism, war, the Venetian society’s hierarchy as a sense of order, vision and deception. Moreover I portrayed Othello as a lover: Othello loves Desdemona because she appreciates his stories and his mysterious past in the first place. This attitude explains Othello’s great self confidence. Desdemona, on the other side, commits herself to being obedient to her husband and following him to Cyprus, as in fact will happen.

                Through the use of language I conveyed the dichotomy between Desdemona and Othello. Through this I recalled the themes of racism and religion (dichotomy between heaven and hell).

                To link my scene more closely to the rest of the play and make it plausible and coherent with the rest of the drama I tried to use some of Shakespeare’s techniques. I used dramatic irony at times (lines 49,50, 65,72) , pathetic fallacy and the sea as an important symbol (lines 43 and 44) and foreshadowing: ‘Until you take all of my breath away’. Moreover I directly inserted the most pertinent quotes from the play to increase the hypothetical link between my scene and the actual play.

                Finally I decided that to make my scene fit in as best as possible I had to imitate Shakespeare’s language’s rhythm. Therefore I tried my best to write using blank verse. Each verse consisted of ten syllables (except some most important verses or verses with caesuras which break the monotony of the drama. Shakespeare sometimes interrupts the blank verse to ‘shake’ the pace of the drama) and I tried my best to alternate short and long syllables to create an iambus and thus Shakespeare’s typical unrhymed iambic pentameter. I believe that imitating such an extraordinary playwright’s language and style was quite challenging but I shaped my scene well to make it coherent and quite in context with the rest of the play.