Why Such a Formalist Othello?

"The Formalists noticed that narrative literature consisted of two major components: the plot, by which they meant the story as narrated within the pages of the book, and the story, by which they meant the sequence of events in the order and the actual duration in which they ostensibly occurred" (4).

Iago: "The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts// Shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida.  She// must change for youth: when she is sated with his body,// she will find the errors of her choice.  Therefore, put money// in thy purse" (25).

Question:  How much should one focus on the plot and or story?   How about compared to the literary devices?  Is one more important to the other?


When reading Othello, one has to first get through the Shakespearian words and difficulties to fully understand and explore this play.  I have actually had the pleasure of reading this once before, so now I get to try to explore the play more than before.  But to do so, I must ask a few questions, especially the questions listed above.  If I go into the reading, already knowing the plot and storyline, with an eye that will take this play piece by piece for interpretation, will I lose some of the importance of the plot?  How much should I interpret?  What if its completely wrong?  These along with many other questions are what people find themselves asking.  Many have the opinion that interpreting any form of art, be it a book, play, or even a painting, may in fact ruin it.  So we have to ask "how much is too much?".

Othello is meant to be a comedic tragedy (at least from my point of view).  There are many places in this play that mean for us to laugh and mean for us to feel.  When connecting to the storyline, us as readers tend to connect to the feeling of the book.  But what if we said "the plot nor the storyline matters!  Just what we interpret it as!"  That, to m,e would completely destroy the play.  The connection is what makes a story work (partly anyway).  But if we didn't divulge into interpretation, would that mean we would lose something then as well?

 None of these questions will I be able to answer.  I'd have to experiment with a piece that I absolutely love to see if I hate it even more after interpretation.  I also wouldn't be able to answer these questions because interpretation is apart of what I do on a day to day basis.  For me, it doesn't appear as if I lose anything by interpreting, but I also don't interpret to the point of hating a piece, only until my mind has been fully feed with new information.