The undistinguishable outlines of the images immerse the whole picture in an obscure and blurry atmosphere, giving the viewers a sense of bewilderment, which has relevance to the unconsciousness and unawareness of Desdemona’s mind when Iago’s manipulation stalks her and Othello’s jealousy destroys her.

The only concrete object portrayed in the painting is a withered rose losing its sheen and splendour. The once thriven and glorious rose is the most appropriate reflection of Desdemona’s pleasant mentality before she marries Othello. By contrast, the present twisted state of the rose indicates the grief and torture she now suffers from Othello’s change in attitudes and her own perplexity of the cause of this change. Two conspicuously different colours – red and black are used to shock the viewers at the first glimpse and highlight the ambivalent feelings of Desdemona for Othello: on one hand she deeply relies on and adores him, on the other hand, scares of and misunderstands him. The juxtaposition of colours also infers the conflicting elements of Desdemona’s charact

Perhaps many of these modern interpretations of “Othello” have been deviated from the primitive motif of Shakespeare since each culture or historical period that affects the reading and understanding of a play is different. But they all have one common feature, that is, to emphasize the responder as much as the composer. One can reject any critical views or question the advantages that innovative designs offer in modern theatres as well as potential dangers, but the whole process of seeing a particular version of this play means much more. Even only by picking out one single stage technique, a director can sharpen a playgoer’s awareness of important aspects that contribute to a successful performance; in turn, a playgoer can also make discoveries of the significance of a specific interpretation by receiving the ‘subtext’ of the director. In other words, the various interpretations of “Othello” is just a means by which thoughtful responders inquire into other alterations to understand the extended meaning of the play.

In a word, the settings, the colours and scenery of the picture are designed to suggest the change in Desdemona’s mind, showing how jealousy can cause irretrievable chaos in human emotions when Shakespeare created and portrayed women characters with richness and humanity.

As it is said, “There are many views of a text as there are responders”, there are also a range of interpretations of Shakespeare’s “Othello” as there are audiences. Theatregoers may find out that not a single version will precisely take the script from the original text published in the 16th century and no similarities could be traced from two different productions in their set designs, character interpretations or stage business such as music, costumes and lightening. Indeed, every interpretation of this tragedy varies according to its own historical and cultural contexts, the contemporary prevalent views formed by critics, more importantly, depending on what effects the director wants to have on his responders. But all these possible varieties are based on the play’s own complexity and ambigui

Some topics in this essay:
Desdemona Othello, Othello Moor, Swan Theatre, Venice Cyprus, According Cambridge, , England” Shakespeare, Ania Loomba, published 16th century, 16th century, historical cultural contexts, published 16th, interpretations “othello”, tragic hero, innovative designs, original text, desdemona’s mind, cultural contexts, historical cultural,