The costumes at the opera played a very important role. They helped the viewer have a better feel for different plot twists that were about to take place and more basic things like who was good and who was evil. The people in the background were wearing different shades of dark colors so as not to call too much attention to themselves and take away from the main action going on in the opera. This also called attention to a greater contrast between the main actors and the background people. Their darker colors made Desdemona’s white wedding dress stand out more and Othello’s sash stick out more. Although Iago was also wearing black, which showed and foreshadowed to him being the villain, he was wearing a longer trench coat which was different than the other characters who were wearing dark colors to make him stick out more.

A big costume change was Desdemona’s dress from the first act to the second. In the first act her dress was white, clean and modest to show her innocence and purity. In the second act she is wearing a red, more revealing dress that seems to really make a statement about what Othello thinks she has done, making her in his mind impure. Othello also refers to Desdemona as the devil which seems to fit with the theme of her red dress. When Desdemona is back in her bedroom singing the willow song she changed back into her white clothes which may have been to show that even in her death she was innocent and Othello would soon find that out; that in fact she did nothing wrong, had been faithful to him and was therefore still pure and innocent.

Costumes play a big role in most if not all performances. They help set the stage and give the reader a sense of what is about to happen. Paying attention to each character’s costume, even the background characters, really played a very important role in my viewing and understanding of the opera and it was very interesting to note everything that may have otherwise slipped my mind.