https://doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2025.2508690
This article examines the screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s Othello (1604) in four Arab Egyptian films— al-Shakk al-Qātil (Murderous Doubt, dir. ‘Izz al-Dīn Dhū al-Faqār, 1954), al-Mu’allimah (Boss Lady, dir. Ḥasan Riḍā, 1958), Abū Aḥmad (The Father of Ahmad, dir. Ḥasan Riḍā, 1960), and al-Ghīrah al-Qātilah (Murderous Jealousy, dir. ‘Āṭif al-Ṭayyib, 1982)—showing the Shakespearean influence on Egypt’s early film industry and popular culture. This study enriches the global Shakespeare poetics by analyzing the adaptation/appropriation of Shakespeare’s Othello in Arab films and popular culture. The Nasser-and-post Nasser-era Egyptian filmmakers de-racialized Othello to comment on local issues related to gender equality, land reform, and tathqīf (edification). The Egyptian screen adaptations of Othello introduce new Arab Desdemonas, who challenge patriarchal constraints, alongside new Egyptian Othellos, who represent social class dynamics.