Desdemona A Play About A Handkerchief Pdf Free
Desdemona A Play About A Handkerchief Pdf Free
Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief is a dark comedy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, based on William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. The play reimagines the lives and fates of the three female characters in Othello: Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. It explores the themes of female identity, sexuality, class, and power in a patriarchal society.
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The play was first performed in 1979 at the Circle Repertory Company in New York City, directed by Gloria Muzio and starring Cherry Jones as Desdemona, Mary McDonnell as Emilia, and Mia Dillon as Bianca. It has since been staged in various theatres around the world, including London's Donmar Warehouse in 1998, directed by Laurence Boswell and starring Zoë Wanamaker as Desdemona, Imelda Staunton as Emilia, and Anna Friel as Bianca.
The play consists of 13 scenes that take place in Desdemona's bedchamber in Cyprus, where she is killed by her husband Othello for infidelity. However, in Vogel's version, Desdemona is not the innocent and virtuous wife that Shakespeare portrayed, but a rebellious and promiscuous woman who has slept with Othello's entire encampment. She confides her bawdy tales of conquest to her maid Emilia, who is not the loyal and honest friend that Shakespeare depicted, but a prudish and resentful servant who secretly betrays Desdemona to Iago. Bianca, the courtesan who loves Cassio, is not the marginal and despised character that Shakespeare presented, but a savvy and independent businesswoman who has more freedom and agency than Desdemona and Emilia.
Vogel challenges the stereotypes of women in Shakespeare's play by giving them more complex and contradictory personalities, motivations, and desires. She also exposes the limitations and pressures that define their lives in a male-dominated world, where they are constantly objectified, exploited, and oppressed. She uses humor, irony, and satire to subvert the expectations of the audience and to critique the social and cultural norms of both the Renaissance and her own time.
The play is available in PDF format for free from various online sources . It is also published as a book by Dramatists Play Service, which can be purchased from online or offline bookstores. The play is suitable for mature audiences only, as it contains explicit language, sexual content, and violence.
References:
[Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief - Paula Vogel - Google Books]
[PAULA VOGELS DESDEMONA (A PLAY ABOUT A HANDKERCHIEF): A FEMINIST ...]
[Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief - studylib.net]
[Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief - Dramatists Play Service]