Staff Reports
Shakespeare is still the sharpest mirror we have for human foolishness and power. A new big‑budget film of Othello has everyone’s attention, and if you care about culture — or want to beat the crowd at cocktail parties — read these three plays now. They will teach you more about jealousy, power, and conscience than a semester of modern punditry.
Othello: Why the new film matters (and why you should read the play)
Here’s the news hook everyone will pretend is new: Eon Productions is turning Othello into a big screen drama to shoot in Doha, with David Oyelowo, Rachel Brosnahan, and Cynthia Erivo attached. That casting and that location will trigger every debate about race, casting, and “faithful” adaptation you can imagine. Good. Arguments over culture only matter if people have read the work.
Othello is short and brutal. It is a study in how jealousy and rumor can destroy a life. You get the green‑eyed monster in one tight plot: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green‑eyed monster…” Conservatives like Andrew Klavan have used the play to talk about how societies invent their Iagos. Read the play before the promo copy turns it into a lecture on identity politics.
Hamlet and Macbeth: The other two plays you must read
Hamlet teaches how a smart man can drown in thought. It asks the oldest questions in plain language: “To be, or not to be.” Directors keep redoing Hamlet because it explains modern doubt and political rot. If you want to understand how a nation debates itself, start with Hamlet.
Macbeth is a fast, dark shock about ambition and guilt. “Out, damned spot!” is shorthand for how power stains. Recent stagings by the Royal Shakespeare Company and major theaters have set Macbeth in corporate boardrooms and gangland rooms to show the play’s politics still sting. Read it and you’ll see why every would‑be ruler looks the same on the page.
How to read Shakespeare without a PhD
Pick a user‑friendly edition. The Folger Shakespeare Library has readable texts and notes that help you follow the action. Arden and Oxford are great if you want deeper footnotes. Read slowly. Look up a quick summary first, then read the scenes. Don’t be intimidated by the language — the plots are clear, and the lines are short and memorable.
These three plays — Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth — cover the main traps of human life: betrayal, doubt, and ambition. With a major Othello film in the works, now is not the time to learn about the play from a trailer or a think‑piece. Read the plays yourself. They are compact, sharp, and, frankly, more honest than most modern cultural conversation. If you want to understand our debates, start with Shakespeare — and bring a copy to the movie theater so you can laugh at what Hollywood thinks it invented.
