Read In the Shadow of Shakespeare for Free Online Page B

disinterestedly tossed
books onto his desk.
    “Roberto,
you exaggerate.  The book that we have so fervently skipped through to get
to the juicy morsels of literature,”  The class stared at her.  “Oh
c’mon people, the school issued textbook!” 
    They
promptly took out the book with Lord Alfred Tennyson on the cover.  There
were a number of loud thumps as they let the book fall onto their desks.
    Alice
rolled her eyes.  “Let’s hope you exhibit a little more finesse while
reading the bard.” 
    They
snickered.
    Alice
gathered her skirts around her, they rustled as she walked. She sat down at her
desk. 
     “How
do you pee in that thing?”  Renita said.  The class laughed.
     “Carefully. 
Alright, everyone, please turn to page eighty five.  We will be reading Othello .”
     “The
play about a black man?”  Dion said.  “A black man in a
turban.”  He gazed at the picture in the book.
     “Well,
in Shakespeare’s time they would have called him a Moor, thus the title, Othello,
the Moor of Venice .  Shakespeare probably thought that he was from
northern Africa.   Skin color is really irrelevant.  It’s just a
human concept, a way of judging each other.  Don’t you think?”
    They
looked up from their books, puzzled.
     “Nah,
it ain’t no concept Ms. Petrovka, it everything. ”  Dion said.
     “Everything? 
How is it everything Dion?  We’re all human.  Isn’t that everything?
     “Shoot,
you know how it is.  People judge you by your color.  You know that.”
     “I
am not so inclined to notice if people judge me by my color because I’m
white.  I notice that people judge me by my sex though, being a
woman.” 
    The
girls in the class nodded.
     “Some
of us have it doubly bad, being black and a woman. ”  It was Kim
Reynolds who spoke.  She had a wide, shiny, black face, and wore her hair
in dreadlocks. 
     “There
are many issues in this play.  There is the issue of what it means to be
black, in Shakespeare’s time.  And also, what it means to be married to a
black man, and how one woman is treated because of it.”
     “Who’s
that?”  Renita said.
     “Desdemona,
who is married to Othello.”
    Renita
shot her hand straight up.
     “Yes
Renita?”
     “I’m
playing Desdemona.”
    The
class whistled and cat called.
     “Then
you know I’m Othello.”  Dion said.  There were louder whistles
and cat calls from the class.
     “What
makes you think that I’m assigning roles for this play?”  Alice smiled in
spite of herself.  She was pleased they were getting into it. 
     “Ms.
Petrovka, don’t be playing…naïve on us.  You know that you were going to
get us to act this thing.”  Dion leaned forward in his seat. 
     “Alright. 
You got me.  I was.” 
     “Renita,
what are you ‘doin?”   Roberto glared over at her.
     “You
know what I’m ‘ doin. ”  Renita glared back.
    Roberto
stood up, knocking his desk over.  “I ain’t playin this shit.”  He
sulked towards the door and the class hissed and booed.
    Alice
felt the tension press against the walls, poised to bounce back and explode.
    “Roberto
wait!”  He turned at the door.
     “I
want you to play the most important character in the play.”
     “What
are you talking ‘bout Ms Petrovka?” 
     “Please
Roberto, you know if you leave you’ll be suspended again.  And there’s
nothing I can do about that.”  Her eyes pleaded with him.
    Roberto
glared at her and hit the door jam with his fist.  “Then what?  What
do you want me to do about that puta taken my woman?  The class
jeered and Dion rose from his chair, anger straining his face.
     “Okay,
okay!  Sit down Dion!  Roberto, I want you to play Iago, he breaks
Othello and Desdemona up and gets them to kill themselves in the end.” 
She spit it out quickly, stumbling over the words as they raced out of her
mouth.
    Dion
and Renita looked over at one another, shook their heads.  Roberto glared
at