critics

Question 1

AJ Honigmann - Othello is the most unbearably

Answer 1

Othello is the most unbearably exciting of Shakespearian tragedies

Question 2

Philips - Othellos love of Desdemona is the love of a …..

Answer 2

Othellos love of Desdemona is the love of a possession. she is a prize, a spoil of war

Question 3

Dr Johnson - the character of Iago is so conducted …..

Answer 3

the character of Iago is so conducted that he is from the first scence to the last hated and despised

Question 4

Philips - Othello is a man of ……

Answer 4

Othello is a man of action not a thinker

Question 5

Philips in reference to ‘it was my hint to speak’ said - Othello feels constantly

Answer 5

Othello feels constantly threatened and profoundly insecure when wooing desdemona

Question 6

Honigmann - his victims lack humour

Answer 6

his victims lack humour, iago appeals to us as more amusing

Question 7

Rhymer said that the chaos caused by the handkerchief was so implausible as it was ….

Answer 7

so remote a trifle

Question 8

Leavis said Othello’s harmatia was….

Answer 8

jealousy

Question 9

Gardner said Desdemonas murder had…..

Answer 9

the stamp of the heroic

Question 10

Cavell said Othellos speech in the final scence was….

Answer 10

part of a ritual of denial

Question 11

Jardine said Othello murdered Desdemoan for ……… not ….

Answer 11

adultery not out of jealousy

Question 12

Philips said Othellos life was a tragedy because

Answer 12

he didn’t understand the rules of venetian society

Question 13

Loomba - Othello is both a fantasy

Answer 13

Othello is both a fantasy of interracial love and social tolerance and a nightmare of racial hatred and male violence

Question 14

What was the difference between the reasons given by Johnson and Leavis for Othellos downfall?

Answer 14

Leavis = self deception Johnson = cool malignity

Question 15

T.S Ellito said Othellos final speech turned him into

Answer 15

a pathetic figure

Question 16

Honigman said it was possible to see Desdemona as

Answer 16

the strongest, the most heroic person in the play

Question 17

Honigman - Emilia love of Desdemona

Answer 17

Emilia love of Desdemona is Iagos undoing

Question 18

Honigman - Roderigo activates

Answer 18

Roderigo activates poisonous impulses in Iago

Question 19

Honigman - Roderigos over-mastering

Answer 19

Roderigos over-mastering, self destructive desire for Desdemona mirrors Othellos

Question 20

Leavis - Othello slips..

Answer 20

othello slips..readily into possessive jealousy because he is self centered

Question 21

Gardner - Desdemona is

Answer 21

loves martyr

Question 22

Tennenhouse said Desdemona was the …. in Act 1 scence 3

Answer 22

the embodiment of power

Question 23

Levais - Othello dies belonging

Answer 23

Othello dies belonging to the world in which his true part lay

Question 24

Ribner likens Othello and Desdemona to which biblical charcters?

Answer 24

Adam and eve

Question 25

Green - othello is concerned in action and in theme

Answer 25

othello is concerned in action and in theme with mens misunderstanding of women

Question 26

Mack - mad characters ….

Answer 26

mad character have insight

Question 27

Loomba - Othello is a victim

Answer 27

Othello is a victim of racial beliefs precisely because he becomes an agent of misogynistic ones

Question 28

Honigmann - Iago enjoys….

Answer 28

Iago enjoys a godlike sense of power

Question 29

what did Salgado say about Iago’s line ‘Ha i like not that’

Answer 29

the first drops in the hellish brew concocted by iago

Question 30

Coleridge said what about Iago motivation

Answer 30

motivless malignity

Question 31

AC Bradley - evil has never…..

Answer 31

evil has never been so masterfully portrayed as in the character of Iago

Question 32

Neel - female roles in the play are

Answer 32

female roles in the play are crucially important in understanding the male charcters