Part 26

                                    

                                          
Part 26
                          
(Contains spoilers for the play 'Othello').
                          
"Have you even read Othello?" I asked Harry, folding my arms.
                          
"Yeah."
                          
"Who's in it?"
                          
"Well, there's this guy name named Othello, he's in charge of some important shit. Then there's Desdemona. She's Othello's wife, but some people didn't like he thought of them together, most likely because of the colour of Othello's skin. Then Iago's also there. He's kinda the smartest person and is kinda like Othello's best friend, Emilia is Iago's outspoken wife, Cassio is one of Othello's workers. Oh yeah, and there's Roderigo. The stupidest guy on earth who happens to be super rich and in love with Desdemona. And more people who I don't really give a shit about."
                          
"Impressive," I admitted. "Now, what's it about?"
                          
Harry leaned back into his chair. "Othello was a high and mighty general type person and he gave a promotion to Cassio. Iago gets jealous, feeling like he should've been the one to get it. So, just because of a stupid promotion that he didn't get, he make up a whole fucking stupid plan to ruin Othello. Roderigo helps him, thinking that Iago's helping him get Desdemona. Little did he know, Iago was stealing all of his money.
                          
"Later on, Iago tricks Othello into thinking that Desdemona's cheating on him with Cassio, whilst getting Cassio to trust him. Cassio is stupid. Othello becomes stupid and is determined to kill Desdemona and Iago promises to handle Cassio. Iago tells Roderigo that Desdemona is in love with Cassio, hoping that Roderigo would kill Cassio for him.
                          
"This is where shit actually goes down though. Cassio kills Roderigo, instead of it being the other way around. Othello kills Desdemona. Shit goes down and Iago's wife, Emilia, exposes him. He then stabs and kills her, which was stupid because he made himself seem even more like a douche. Othello becomes even more stupid and instead of getting arrested, he kills himself. Iago then gets arrested. The end. Happy?"
                          
I looked at Harry in awe. He was so into it, even though he was trying to act like he didn't care. "You said stupid a lot."
                          
"Because that's what that play was. It was stupid."
                          
"No it wasn't! It was tragic, sad, romantic-"
                          
"Romantic?" Harry scoffed. "There was no way in hell that that was romantic."
                          
"And why is that?" I questioned.
                          
"He killed his fucking wife! That's not romantic!" Harry said. 
                          
"Yeah, but he kept debating over would he do it or not. He loved her. He even did it quickly and painlessly so that she wouldn't feel anything!" I reasoned.
                          
"Wow, okay. When you're saying that, you're forgetting all the times he called her a 'whore' and hit her," Harry argued.
                          
"Maybe, but just because he called her that, it doesn't mean that he didn't love her."
                          
Harry laughed. "Yeah, okay. Are you still forgetting that he killed his wife? The person that everyone tried so hard to keep him away from? He worked hard to get her, and when he 'found out' that she was fucking another guy, he lost interest in her."
                          
"Are you kidding me? That's not true. Othello thought that Desdemona cheated on him."
                          
"Okay, and when you start making assumptions, you can just start killing people; right?"
                          
"Are you forgetting what time period that was even in? Women were not treated so well in this era and it reflects in the work. Look, Iago kept filling his head with lies. He didn't know what to do."
                          
Harry sat up straighter, pointing his finger at me. "There's another thing. Iago. If he loved Desdemona, why didn't he have her explain? He only listened to one side of the story."
                          
"Okay. Put yourself in Othello's shoes. Imagine you had a woman that you've been married to for a couple days. Okay? Now imagine your 'trusted' friend who you've known and worked with for years. If that friend told you that your girlfriend was cheating on you, what would you do?" I question.
                          
"Okay, fine. But if you really loved the woman, wouldn't you want to hear her side of the story?" Harry pointed out.
                          
"Yeah, but who would admit that they're cheating? Especially if their husband is a big and strong general?"
                          
"It still didn't give him the right to fucking kill her," Harry mumbled.
                          
"He killed her to save her and himself."
                          
Harry looked at me carefully. "Explain?"
                          
"He knew that Cassio didn't really love her, right? Maybe he also killed her because he didn't want to see her get hurt from guys who only wanted to use her. She was too pure for such a dark world. She was weak. She couldn't stand up for herself."
                          
"So it costed her her life?" Harry asked.
                          
"Unfortunately. But she wouldn't have made it that long anyways. He didn't want to see any person as heartbroken as he was when he found out about the 'affair'. He wasn't only doing this for him and her. He did that for everybody."
                          
"So now it's just okay to kill everybody?" Harry asked gently. 
                          
"No, but wouldn't you rather see them die peacefully in your arms than painfully in someone else's or nature's?"
                          
"Yeah."