De Gli Hecamothi

De Gli Hecatommithi by Giraldi Cinthio, was Shakespeare’s basis for Othello. Many people criticize Shakespeare for this, and claim that none of his works were his own and that Shakespeare was not even a playwright at all. What I think Shakespeare did was take an ordinary tale and make it into an extraordinary play. “In Othello he expands a brief story into a play so tightly knit that not one line is extraneous to …

…into Othello, the hero, a courageous and honorable man who was driven to engage in dishonorable acts. Shakespeare takes both of the female roles, Desdemona and the Ensign’s wife, and builds them into the leading and very important characters of Desdemona and Emilia. I would agree in saying that Shakespeare is, very much so, more original then the original. Cinthio’s De Gli Hecatommithi is merely a basis for the great Shakespearean tragedy Othello.