The fact that the art of Shakespeare is perceived in history is represented in the film by the two additional characters Pasolini combines with the ones created by Shakespeare in his “Othello”. One is the puppet-master and the other is the garbage man. What the great playwright considers as spontaneous human complexes is for Pasoloni result of manipulation of human soul by certain conditions of life which make insecurity a basic rule of living. Permanent uncertainty in our human value prevents us from perceiving
Shakespearean art existentially – instead of comparing the characters of his plays with our life we transform them into idealized puppets whom we play with and whom we worship. The result, which Pasolini describes in the film is that Shakespeare’s characters as carriers of meaning are dying with each post-Shakespearean generation.