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Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" (A Moorish Captain) by Cinthio (a disciple of Boccaccio) first published in 1565. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign Iago. Because of its varied themes — racism, love, jealousy and betrayal — Othello remains relevant to the present day and is often performed in professional and community theatres alike.
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Quotations
Demand me nothing: what you know, you know:From this time forth I never will speak word.
Iago, scene ii
Even now, now, very now, an old black ramIs tupping your white ewe.
Iago, scene i
Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul,But I do love thee! and when I love thee not,Chaos is come again.
Othello, scene iii
He that filches from me my good nameRobs me of that which not enriches him,And makes me poor indeed.
Iago, scene iii
Heaven me such uses send,Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend.
Desdemona, scene iii
If after every tempest come such calms,May the winds blow till they have waken'd death!
Othello, scene i
Encyclopedia
Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" (A Moorish Captain) by Cinthio (a disciple of Boccaccio) first published in 1565. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign Iago. Because of its varied themes — racism, love, jealousy and betrayal — Othello remains relevant to the present day and is often performed in professional and community theatres alike. The play has also been the basis for numerous operatic, film and literary adaptations.
Characters
- Othello, a Moor in the service of the Republic of Venice; Desdemona's husband
- Desdemona, Othello's wife and Brabantio's daughter
- Iago, Othello's ensign and Emilia's husband
- Emilia, Iago's wife and Desdemona's attendant
- Cassio, Othello's lieutenant
- Brabantio, a Venetian senator, Gratiano's brother, Desdemona's father, and Othello's father-in-law
- Bianca, an associate of Cassio's sometimes identified as a courtesan
- Roderigo, a dissolute Venetian, Desdemona's admirer, and Iago's confederate
- Duke of Venice, or the "Doge"
- Gratiano, Brabantio's brother
- Lodovico, Brabantio's kinsman and Desdemona's cousin
- Montano, Othello's Venetian predecessor in the government of Cyprus
- Clown, a servant
- Officers, Gentlemen, Messenger, Musicians, Herald, Sailor, Attendants, etc.
Plot
The play opens with Roderigo, a rich and dissolute gentleman, complaining to Iago, a high-ranking soldier, that Iago has not told him about the secret marriage between Desdemona, the daughter of a Senator named Brabantio, and Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army. He is upset by this development because he lusts for Desdemona and has previously asked her father for her hand in marriage. Iago is upset with Othello for promoting a younger man named Michael Cassio above him, and tells Roderigo that he (Iago) is simply using Othello for his own advantage. Iago's argument against Cassio is that he is a scholarly tactician and has no real battle experience from which he can draw strategy. By emphasizing this point, and his dissatisfaction with serving under Othello, Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him about his daughter's affair. After Roderigo rouses Brabantio, Iago says aside that he has heard rumors that Othello has had an affair with his wife, Emilia. Later, Iago tells Othello that he overheard Roderigo telling Brabantio about the marriage and that he (Iago) was angry because the development was meant to be secret.
News arrives in Venice that the Turks are going to attack Cyprus; therefore Othello is summoned to advise. Brabantio arrives and accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft, but Othello defends himself successfully before an assembly that includes the Duke of Venice, Brabantio's kinsman Lodovico and Gratiano, and various senators, explaining that Desdemona became enamored of him for the stories he told of his early life.
By order of the Duke, Othello leaves Venice to command the Venetian armies against invading Turks on the island of Cyprus, accompanied by his new wife, his new lieutenant Cassio, his ensign Iago, and Emilia as Desdemona's attendant.
The party arrives in Cyprus to find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Othello orders a general celebration. Iago schemes to use Cassio to ruin Othello and takes the opportunity of Othello's absence at the celebration to persuade Roderigo to engage the drunken Cassio in a fight. The brawl greatly alarms the citizenry, and Othello is forced to quell the disturbance. Othello then strips Cassio of his rank and confers it upon Iago. After Cassio sobers, Iago persuades him to importune Desdemona to act as an intermediary between himself and Othello, hoping that she will persuade the Moor to reinstate Cassio.
Iago now persuades Othello to be suspicious of Desdemona and Cassio. As it happens, Cassio is courting a woman named Bianca, who is a seamstress and prostitute. Desdemona drops a handkerchief that was Othello's first gift to her and which he has stated holds great significance to him in the context of their relationship; Emilia obtains this for Iago, who has asked her to steal it, having decided to plant it in Cassio's lodgings as evidence of Cassio and Desdemona's affair. Emilia is unaware of what Iago plans to do with the handkerchief. After he has planted the handkerchief, Iago tells Othello to stand apart and watch Cassio's reactions while Iago questions him about the handkerchief. He goads Cassio on to talk about his affair with Bianca; because Othello cannot hear what they are saying, Othello thinks that Cassio is referring to Desdemona. Bianca, on discovering the handkerchief, chastises Cassio. Enraged and hurt, Othello decides to kill his wife and orders Iago to kill Cassio.
Iago convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio because Cassio has just been appointed in Othello's place, whereas if Cassio lives to take office, Othello and Desdemona will leave Cyprus, thwarting Roderigo's plans to win Desdemona. Roderigo attacks Cassio in the street after Cassio leaves Bianca's lodgings and they fight. Both are wounded. Passers-by arrive to help; Iago joins them, pretending to help Cassio. Iago secretly stabs Roderigo to stop him talking and accuses Bianca of conspiracy to kill Cassio.
In the night, the main character Othello confronts Desdemona, and then kills her by smothering her in bed, before Emilia arrives. At Emilia's distress, Othello tries to explain himself, justifying his actions by accusing Desdemona of adultery. Emilia calls for help. The Governor arrives, with Iago and others, and Emilia begins to explain the situation. When Othello mentions the handkerchief (distinctively embroidered) as proof, Emilia realizes what Iago has done; she exposes him, whereupon Iago kills her. Othello, realizing Desdemona's innocence, attacks Iago but does not kill him, saying that he would rather have Iago live the rest of his life in pain. Lodovico, a Venetian nobleman, apprehends both Iago and Othello, but Othello commits suicide with a dagger before they can take him into custody. At the end, it can be assumed, Iago is taken off to be tortured and possibly executed.
Source
Othello is an adaptation of the Italian writer Cinthio's tale, "Un Capitano Moro" from his Gli Hecatommithi (1565), a collection of one hundred tales in the style of Boccacio's Decameron. No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, and verbal echoes in Othello are closer to the Italian original than to Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. It also resembles an incident described in the earlier tale of "The Three Apples", one of the stories narrated in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).
Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale, with his few other characters identified only as "the Moor", "the squadron leader", "the ensign", and "the ensign's wife". Cinthio drew a moral (which he placed in the mouth of Desdemona) that European women are unwise to marry the temperamental males of other nations.
Cinthio's Moor is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but some researchers believe the poet also took inspiration from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England circa 1600.
While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's tale in composing Othello, he departed from it in some details. Brabantio, Roderigo, and several minor characters are not found in Cinthio, for example, and Shakespeare's Emilia takes part in the handkerchief mischief while her counterpart in Cinthio does not. Unlike Shakespeare's Iago, Cinthio's ensign lusts after Desdemona and is spurred to revenge when she rejects him. Shakespeare's opening scenes are unique to his tragedy as is the tender scene between Emilia and Desdemona as the lady prepares for bed.
Shakespeare's most striking departure from Cinthio is the manner of his heroine's death. In Shakespeare, Othello suffocates Desdemona, but in Cinthio, the Moor commissions his ensign to bludgeon his wife to death with a sand-filled stocking. Cinthio describes each gruesome blow, and, when the lady is dead, the Moor and his ensign place her lifeless body upon her bed, smash her skull, and cause the cracked ceiling above the bed to collapse upon her, giving the impression its falling rafters caused her death.
In Cinthio, the two murderers escape detection. The Moor then misses his wife greatly, and comes to loathe the sight of his ensign. He demotes him, and refuses to have him in his company. The ensign then seeks revenge by disclosing to the "the squadron leader" (the tale's Cassio counterpart), the Moor's involvement in Desdemona's death. The two depart Cyprus for Venice, and denounce the Moor to the Venetian Seignory; the Moor is arrested, taken to Venice, and tortured. He refuses to admit his guilt and is condemned to exile. Desdemona's relatives eventually find and kill him. The ensign, however, continues to escape detection in Desdemona's death, but engages in other crimes while in Venice. He is arrested and dies after being tortured. Cinthio's "ensign's wife" survives her husband's death to tell her story.
Date and text
The earliest mention of the play is found in a 1604 Revels Office account, which records that on "Hallamas Day, being the first of Nouembar ... the Kings Maiesties plaiers" performed "A Play in the Banketinghouse att Whit Hall Called The Moor of Venis." The work is attributed to "Shaxberd." The Revels account was first printed by Peter Cunningham in 1842, and, while its authenticity was once challenged, is now regarded as genuine. Based on its style, the play is usually dated 1603 or 1604, but arguments have been made for dates as early as 1601 or 1602.
The play was entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on October 6, 1621, by Thomas Walkley, and was first published in quarto format by him in 1622:
THE Tragoedy of Othello, The Moore of Venice. As it hath beene diuerse times acted at the Globe, and at the Black-Friers, by his Maiesties Seruants. Written by VVilliam Shakespeare. LONDON, Printed by N. O. [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Walkley, and are to be sold at his shopl at the Eagle and Child, in Brittans Bursse, 1622.
One year later, the play was included among the plays in the First Folio of Shakespeare's collected plays. However, the version in the Folio is rather different in length, and in wording: as the editors of the Folger edition explain,
...the Folio play has about 160 lines that do not appear in the Quarto. Some of these cluster together in quite extensive passages. The Folio also lacks a scattering of about a dozen lines or part-lines that are to be found in the Quarto. These two versions also differ from each other in their readings of numerous words.
Scholars differ in their explanation of these differences, and no consensus has emerged. One explanation is that the Quarto may have been cut in the printing house to meet a fixed number of pages. Another is that the Quarto is based on an early version of the play, while the Folio represents Shakespeare's revised version. Most modern editions are based on the longer Folio version, but often incorporate Quarto readings of words when the Folio text appears to be in error.
Quartos were also published in 1630, 1655, 1681, 1695, 1699 and 1705.
Themes and tropes
Othello's racial classification
There is no consensus over Othello's racial classification; although normally performed as a black person today, he was frequently performed as an Arab during the nineteenth century. Othello is referred to as a "Moor", a term that technically referred to a Berber and Arab people of North Africa, but which was used more casually during the English Renaissance to refer to dark-skinned people in general, including black people.
E.A.J. Honigmann, the editor of the Arden Shakespeare edition, concludes that Othello's race is ambiguous. Various uses of the word 'black' (for example, "Haply for I am black") are insufficient evidence, Honigmann argues, since 'black' could simply mean 'swarthy' to Elizabethans. Moreover, Iago twice uses the word 'Barbary' or 'Barbarian' to refer to Othello, seemingly referring to the Barbary coast inhabited by the "tawny" Moors. Roderigo calls Othello 'the thicklips', which seems to refer to European conceptions of Sub-Saharan African physiognomy, but Honigmann counters that, arguing that because these comments are all insults, they need not be taken literally. Furthermore, Honigmann wonders whether the ambassador of the Arab King of Barbary, who stayed with his retinue in London in 1600 for several months and occasioned much discussion, might have inspired Shakespeare's play, written only a few years afterwards.
However, Michael Neill, editor of the Oxford Shakespeare edition, disagrees, arguing that the earliest external references to Othello's colour (Thomas Rymer's 1693 critique of the play, and the 1709 engraving in Nicholas Rowe's edition of Shakespeare) assume him to be a black man, while the earliest known North African interpretation was Edmund Kean's production of 1814. Modern-day readers and theatre directors now normally lean towards the "black" interpretation, and North African Othellos are rare.
Iago / Othello
Although the title suggests that the tragedy belongs primarily to Othello, Iago is also an important role and has more lines than the title character. In Othello, it is Iago who manipulates all other characters at will, controlling their movements and trapping them in an intricate net of lies. A. C. Bradley — and more recently Harold Bloom — have been major advocates of this interpretation.
Other critics, most notably in the later twentieth century (after F. R. Leavis), have focused on Othello. Apart from the common question of jealousy, some argue that his honour is his undoing, while others address the hints of instability in his person (in Act IV Scene I, for example, he falls 'into a trance').
Critical analysis
There have been many differing views on the character of Othello over the years. They span from describing Othello as a hero to describing him as an egotistical fool. A.C Bradley calls Othello the "most romantic of all of Shakespeare's heroes" and "the greatest poet of them all". On the other hand, F.R. Leavis describes Othello as "egotistical". There are those who also take a less critical approach to the character of Othello such as William Hazlitt, who makes a statement that would now be regarded as racist, saying that "the nature of the Moor is noble...but his blood is of the most inflameable kind".
Performance history
Othello possesses an unusually detailed performance record. The first certainly-known performance occurred on November 1, 1604, at Whitehall Palace in London, being mentioned in a Revels account on "Hallamas Day, being the first of Nouembar", 1604, when "the Kings Maiesties plaiers" performed "A Play in the Banketinge house at Whit Hall Called The Moor of Venis." The play is there attributed to "Shaxberd".
Subsequent performances took place on Monday, April 30, 1610 at the Globe Theatre, and at Oxford in September 1610. On November 22, 1629, and on May 6, 1635, it played at the Blackfriars Theatre. Othello was also one of the twenty plays performed by the King's Men during the winter of 1612–13, in celebration of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V, Elector Palatine.
At the start of the Restoration era, on October 11, 1660, Samuel Pepys saw the play at the Cockpit Theatre. Nicholas Burt played the lead, with Charles Hart as Cassio; Walter Clun won fame for his Iago. Soon after, on December 8, 1660, Thomas Killigrew's new King's Company acted the play at their Vere Street theatre, with Margaret Hughes as Desdemona — probably the first time a professional actress appeared on a public stage in England.
It may be one index of the play's power that Othello was one of the very few Shakespearean plays that was never adapted and changed during the Restoration and the eighteenth century. Famous nineteenth century Othellos included Edmund Kean, Edwin Forrest, Ira Aldridge, and Tommaso Salvini, and outstanding Iagos were Edwin Booth and Henry Irving.
The play has maintained its popularity into the 21st century. The most famous American production may be Margaret Webster's 1943 staging starring Paul Robeson as Othello and Jose Ferrer as Iago. This production was the first ever in the United States of America to feature a black actor playing Othello with an otherwise all-white cast (there had been all-black productions of the play before). It ran for 296 performances, almost twice as long as any other Shakespearean play ever produced on Broadway. Although it was never filmed, it was the first nearly complete performance of a Shakespeare play released on records. Robeson had first played the role in London in 1931 opposite a cast that included Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona and Ralph Richardson as Roderigo, and would return to it in 1959 at Stratford on Avon.
Another famous production was the 1982 Broadway staging with James Earl Jones as Othello and Christopher Plummer as Iago, who became the only actor to receive a Tony Award nomination for a performance in the play.
When Laurence Olivier played his legendary and wildly acclaimed performance of Othello at the Royal National Theatre in 1964, he had developed a case of stage fright that was so profound that when he was alone onstage, Frank Finlay (who was playing Iago) would have to stand offstage where Olivier could see him to settle his nerves. This performance was recorded complete on LP, and filmed by popular demand in 1965 (according to a biography of Olivier, tickets for the stage production were notoriously hard to get). The film version still holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for acting ever given to a Shakespeare film - Olivier, Finlay, Maggie Smith (as Desdemona) and Joyce Redman (as Emilia, Iago's wife) were all nominated for Academy Awards. Olivier was among the last white actors to be greatly acclaimed as Othello, although the role continued to be played by such performers as Paul Scofield at the Royal National Theatre in 1980, Anthony Hopkins in the BBC Shakespeare television production on videotape. (1981), and Michael Gambon in London stage production directed by Alan Ayckbourn in 1990.
When Patrick Stewart played Othello at the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, D.C., he portrayed the Moor as a white man with the other characters played by black actors.
Actors have alternated the roles of Iago and Othello in productions to stir audience interest since the nineteenth century. Two of the most notable examples of this role swap were William Charles Macready and Samuel Phelps at Drury Lane (1837) and Richard Burton and John Neville at the Old Vic Theatre (1955). When Edwin Booth's tour of England in 1880 was not well attended, Henry Irving invited Booth to alternate the roles of Othello and Iago with him in London. The stunt renewed interest in Booth's tour. James O'Neill also alternated the roles of Othello and Iago with Booth, with the latter's complimentary appreciation of O'Neill's interpretation of the Moor being immortalized in O'Neill's son Eugene's play Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Othello opened at the Donmar Warehouse in London on 4 December 2007, directed by Michael Grandage, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello, Ewan McGregor as Iago and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona. Despite tickets selling as high as £2000 on web-based vendors, only Ejiofor was praised by critics, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for his performance; with McGregor and Reilly's performances receiving largely negative notices.
Adaptations and cultural references
Opera
Otello, a three act opera with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Berio di Salsi and music by Gioachino Rossini was first performed at the Teatro del Fondo, Naples, on December 4, 1816. The opera deviates from Shakespeare's original in some aspects: Jago is less diabolical than his Shakespearean counterpart, the setting is Venice rather than Cyprus, and the composer and librettist provided an alternative happy ending to the work, a common practice with drama and opera at one time. The opera is rarely performed.
Giuseppe Verdi and librettist Arrigo Boito adapted Shakespeare's play to Otello, an Italian grand opera in four acts that was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan on February 5, 1887. It was Verdi's second to last opera (followed by another Shakespeare adaptation, Falstaff) and is considered by many to be Verdi's greatest tragedy. Verdi and his librettist dispensed with the first act of the play. The popular opera attracts world class singers and is found in the repertoire of prominent opera houses. Franco Zeffirelli's 1986 film version of Verdi's opera starring Plácido Domingo as Othello won the BAFTA for foreign language film. (Indeed, according to the Kennedy Center's biographical note on Domingo, Laurence Olivier saw Domingo in Otello and, furious, told Franco Zeffirelli: "You realize that Domingo plays Othello as well as I do, and he has that voice!")
On February 25, 1999, Bandanna, an English language opera in a prologue and two acts with a libretto by Irish poet Paul Muldoon and music by Daron Hagen was performed by the opera theater at The University of Texas in Austin. The opera is set in 1968 on the United States–Mexican border and borrows elements from Cinthio's tale, Shakespeare's play, and Verdi's opera.
Ballet
Mexican choreographer José Limón created a 20-minute, four character ballet called The Moor's Pavane to the music of Henry Purcell in 1949. The work premiered at the Connecticut College American Dance Festival in the same year. American Ballet Theatre was the first dance company outside Limon's to include the work in its repertory. It is a standard in dance companies around the world and notable interpreters of the Moor include Rudolf Nureyev.
The ballet Othello was choreographed by John Neumeier to music by Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke, Naná Vasconcelos et al. and was premiered by the Hamburg Ballet in Hamburg on January 27, 1985, with Gamal Gouda as Othello, Gigi Hyatt as Desdemona, and Max Midinet as Jago. The work remains in the repertoire of the Hamburg Ballet, seeing its 100th performance in 2008.
In 2002, modern dance master Lar Lubovitch created a full-length ballet in three acts based on the Shakespeare play and Cinthio's tale with a score by Elliot Goldenthal. The work has been staged by the San Francisco Ballet with Desmond Richardson, Yuan Yuan Tan, and Parrish Maynard in the principal roles. The San Francisco Chronicle hailed the work as "a major new chapter in American ballet as well as a spectacular addition to the international repertory." The ballet was broadcast on PBS's Great Performances: Dance in America and the program was nominated for an Emmy Award. The ballet is recorded on Kultur video. Othello was first performed in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 23, 1997, by American Ballet Theatre.
Other ballets include Prologue choreographed by Jacques d'Amboise for the New York City Ballet in 1967 as a prequel to Shakespeare's play, Othello choreographed by John Butler to the music of Dvorák for Carla Fracci and the La Scala Ballet in 1976, and a version choreographed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefous for the Louisville Ballet in the 1980s.
Film
See also Shakespeare on screen (Othello).
The two earliest screen adaptations of Othello are black and white, silent German versions filmed in 1909 and 1922. The 1909 version was directed by, and stars, Franz Porten as Othello, Henny Porten as Desdemona, and Rosa Porten as Emilia. The 1922 film stars the celebrated Emil Jannings as Othello, Werner Krauss as Iago, and Ica von Lenkeffy as Desdemona.
The Orson Welles-directed 1952 version, The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice was also filmed in black and white. The film stars Welles as Othello and Suzanne Cloutier as Desdemona. The troubled production was filmed over the course of three years as Welles' time and money permitted. Lack of funds (and costumes) forced Roderigo's death scene to be shot in a Turkish bath with performers wearing only large, ragged towels. The film won the Palme D'Or at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.
- ?????? (1955), USSR, starring Sergei Bondarchuk, Irina Skobtseva, Andrei Popov. Directed by Sergei Yutkevich.
- All Night Long (1962) A British adaptation in which the character of Othello is Rex, a jazz bandleader. Featuring Dave Brubeck and other modern jazz musicians.
- Othello (1965) starring Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman
- Catch My Soul (1974) adapted from Jack Good's rock musical, directed by Patrick McGoohan and starring Richie Havens, Lance LeGault, Season Hubley and Tony Joe White.
 - Othello (1995) starring Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Fishburne, and Irene Jacob. Directed by Oliver Parker.
- Kaliyattam (1997), in Malayalam, a modern update, set in Kerala, starring Suresh Gopi as Othello, Lal as Iago, Manju Warrier as Desdemona, directed by Jayaraaj.
- O (2001) a modern update, set in an American high school. Stars Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, and Josh Hartnett
- Omkara (2006) (Hindi) is an Indian version of the play, set in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The film stars Ajay Devgan as Omkara (Othello), Saif Ali Khan as Langda Thyagi (Iago), Kareena Kapoor as Dolly (Desdemona), Vivek Oberoi as Kesu (Cassio), Bipasha Basu as Billo (Bianca) and Konkona Sen Sharma as Indu (Emilia). The film is directed by Vishal Bharadwaj who earlier adapted Shakespeare's Macbeth as Maqbool. All characters in the film share the same letter or sound in their first name as in the original Shakespeare classic. It is one of the few mainstream Indian movies to contain uncensored swear-words.
- Eloise (2002) a modern update, set in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Jarum Halus (2008) a modern Malaysian film, in English and Malay by Mark Tan.
Television
Graphic Novels
Othello, an adaptation by Oscar Zarate, Oval Projects Ltd (1985). Reprinted in 2005 by . Includes the complete text of the play.
Gallery
External links
- —text by PublicLiterature.org
- —Scene-indexed and searchable version of the text.
- —lists numerous productions.
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