Othello

The second volume of the complete works of William Shakespeare, translated by Martin Hilsky, is the tragedy Othello. In the Translator's Note, Martin Hilský writes: "The plot of Othello can be retold with greater or lesser brevity as the story of the Moor who, out of jealousy, strangles his white wife Desdemona. The plot of any Shakespeare play can of course be retold, but any such plot paraphrase obscures the simple but significant fact that every Shakespeare play contains at least two plots: a plot in the traditional sense and a plot of speech. Othello wins the love of Desdemona by the power of his words. Iago turns Othello's love into jealousy again by the power of his words. (...) Iago's victory over Othello lies, among other things, in the fact that Iago is able to impose his rhetoric, his language, on Othello. In the second half of the play, Othello is not only infected by jealousy, but also by Iago's language. Othello speaks of the disintegration of personality, which is manifested in the disintegration of language."

Czech edition