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Throughout time, stories detailing betrayal of one person by an individual he or she trusts have come to light in both the fictional and nonfictional spheres. Such a timeless event of theme is subject to repetition. In Othello, the person being betrayed is Othello himself, and the betrayer is none other than Iago, a trusted lieutenant under his command. Othello hardly even suspected “honest” Iago of lying until it had been confirmed. In a similar way in the play Julius Caesar, also written by Shakespeare, Caesar never suspects his trusted friend Brutus of plotting his murder, but that is exactly what happens. Even within modern works, this sort of conflict is found in the film Mean Girls, released in 2004, when the central character Cady Heron befriends Regina George only to help other students try to sabotage her. With such a strong and enduring theme at its base, Othello is in itself lasting in worth.
Because Julius Caesar is based off a story that happened in Ancient Rome, long before Shakespeare’s time, it is obvious that treachery and disloyalty are in no way newfound ideas. They have existed as long as humans have been intelligent enough to form relationships with one another. In the story, Brutus is a trusted colleague and friend of Caesar. Both of the men are involved in the Roman republic and have gotten to know each other quite well during their years of service. Much like these two, Othello and Iago served together in the army and forged a relationship due to their work together.
from the film adaptation
Despite the two men’s differences in motives, both betrayers maintain similar attitudes of dishonesty and deception throughout their plays. Brutus conspires with other officials as to how to bring about Caesar’s downfall while Iago works by himself to ensure Othello’s demise. Both men must keep all of their work completely secret from the subject of betrayal, and both succeed. Neither Caesar nor Othello ever suspects his trusted colleague of plotting to sabotage him. At the end of both stories, the betrayer’s plan comes to fruition.
Death of Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini
Brutus and his fellow conspirators succeed in the assassination of Caesar and Iago succeeds in making Othello believe that his wife Desdemona is having an affair. With such similar plots, these plays help to illustrate how stories centering on betrayal remain relevant and interesting to their audiences.
The film Mean Girls presents a story similar to both Julius Caesar and Othello in its theme of trust and disloyalty. The new student at a high school Cady Heron first meets Janis and Damian, social outcasts who have a strong hate for the “plastics”, a group of girls at the top of the social pyramid at the school who believe they are better than other students.
The Plastics
When Regina George, the leader of the plastics, offers Cady a position in the group, Janis and Damian encourage her to befriend Regina in order to sabotage her.
Sabotage Plotting Scene from the Film
As the film progresses, Cady and her two cohorts try in a few different ways to dethrone Regina, but Cady slowly becomes sucked into the social competition and desires Regina’s position for herself. Pretending that she is loyal to both Janis and Damian and to Regina, Cady begins her ascent on the social ladder by the means of deceit and lies. Much like Iago and Brutus betray their good friends, Cady betrays all of her friends for selfish reasons. She not only plays awful tricks on Regina, but also starts lying to and gossiping about Janis and Damian. Cady achieves leader status of the plastics through all of this treachery and betrayal, but like Iago in Othello, her friends soon find out about her mischievous ways. While Janis and Damian only confront her about it...
Confrontation by Janis and Damian
Regina counteracts her plan of sabotage with a plan of her own and in the end, Cady must suffer the consequences of her actions much like Iago. The connections to Othello that exist in such a popular modern work as Mean Girls show that betrayal and deception have become no less relevant today than they were hundreds of years ago.
Both before and after its time, historical and fictional stories have been created with a similar central conflict to Othello. The themes and plot presented, though they have been altered in different ways were as prevalent thousands of years ago and are as prevalent today as they were when the work was written. A story that revolves around such timeless ideas as betrayal and treachery is sure to interest audiences without boundaries of time. Therefore, one can expect Othello to be performed and read both for pleasure and for education for years to come.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Perrine’s Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Laurence Perrine. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2002. 1361-1461
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Michigan: Edwards Brothers Inc., 2009. 813-840
Mean Girls. Dir. Mark Waters. Perf. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, and Tina Fey. Paramount Pictures, 2004. DVD.
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