Critics' Comments (AO5) Flashcards
What are the 8 subjects of your critics’ comments?
Othello
Iago
Desdemona
Emilia
Cassio
Bianca
Roderigo
Miscellaneous
Who are your 6 critics for Othello?
Bell
Greer
Phillips
Ryan
Traub
T.S Eliot
Bell on Othello
“it is not so much Iago’s suggestion…that sparks Othello’s jealousy, but the realisation that she is actively interested in sex…and is therefore not the virtuous girl he wooed”
Greer on Othello’s jealousy
“it is only Othello’s jealousy, not Iago’s hatred, that is the real tragedy”
Phillips on Othello
‘A man of action, not a thinker’
Ryan on the conflict in Othello
Shakespeare makes it plain from the start that it’s not just Iago the newly-weds are up against, but the status quo
Traub on Othello
Othello is vulnerable because he internalises Iago’s negative view of black men
T.S Eliot on Othello (2 points)
Othello’s final speech was a “terrible exposure of human weakness”
full of “an attitude of self-dramatization”
Who are your 6 critics for Iago?
A.C. Bradley
Adelman
Bowen
Coleridge
Kovel
Leavis
A.C. Bradley on Iago
“Goodness annoys Iago” because he has been overlooked
Adelman on Iago
‘Iago successfully attempts to rid himself of interior pain by replicating it in Othello’
Bowen on Iago and Othello’s relationship
‘the embodiment of the sly politician exploiting the noble warrior’s struggle’
Coleridge on Iago
“the motive-hunting of motiveless malignity”
Kovel on Iago (2 points)
‘Iago drives Othello mad by revealing the contents of his own unconscious to him’.
He destroys Othello’s confidence, ‘pricking the bubble of phallic pride’
Leavis on Iago (2 points)
‘Iago is subordinate and merely ancillary’
‘He is not much more than a necessary piece of dramatic mechanism’
Who are your 5 critics for Desdemona?
Freebury-Jones
Greenblatt
Jardine
Ranald
Tennenhouse
Freebury-Jones on Desdemona
Desdemona is caught up in the crossfires of militaristic, male insecurities
Greenblatt on Desdemona (2 points)
Desdemona’s marriage was her attempt to gain power in a society ruled by men
Othello and Desdemona’s passion is based on lust
Jardine on Desdemona (4 points)
Desdemona becomes a stereotype for female passivity
‘glorious in her resignation in the face of husbandly chastisement’
Desdemona is punished for being ‘too knowing’ and ‘too independent’
Desdemona’s death is a lesson in what happens if the male hierarchy is disobeyed
Ranald on Desdemona
She entertains Cassio ‘in a matter too free to be consistent with virtue’
Tennenhouse on Desdemona and women (2 points)
Desdemona’s death is an example of silencing the rebellious female voice
Women who challenged the patriarchy “demand their own deaths”.
Who are your 3 critics for Emilia?
A.C Bradley
Bayley
Gay
Newman
A.C. Bradley on Emilia
‘Her stupidity in this matter is gross, but it is stupidity and nothing worse’
Bayley on Emilia
She is ‘the mouthpiece of repressed femininity’
Gay on Emilia
Emilia is the truly tragic female figure in the play
Newman on Emilia and Desdemona
‘[Their] conversations reveal Desdemona’s naivety, virtue and loyalty’
Who are your 4 critics for Cassio?
Adamson
Johnson
Walker
Warren
Adamson on Cassio
Cassio’s rupture with Othello…provides a number of disquieting foreshadowings of Othello’s future
Johnson on Cassio
Cassio is brave, benevolent, and honest
Walker on Cassio
‘a slave of passion’
Warren on Cassio (2 points)
‘can be accused of using women in the same way that Iago does’
’ Cassio’s worthiness outweighs his weakness’
Who are your 4 critics for Bianca?
Berry
Bunten
Chugh
Norris
Berry on Bianca
“Bianca, the lower-class courtesan, is the only character who bridges the social gap between Othello’s world and Cassio’s.”
Bunten on Bianca
‘Bianca reflects the paradox of Venetian sexual morality’
Chugh on Bianca
Bianca’s function is to call Cassio’s credibility into question
Norris on Bianca
She reflects the angers and hurts of many of the characters and the nature of real and imagined jealousies
Who are your 3 critics for Roderigo?
Honigmann
McInnis
Ryan
Honigmann on Roderigo (2 points)
“Roderigo activates poisonous impulses in Iago”
“Roderigo’s over-mastering, self-destructive desire for Desdemona mirrors Othello’s”
McInnis on Roderigo and Iago’s relationship
“a darkly comic commentary on the absurdity of human desire and the lengths to which we will go to achieve it””
Ryan on Roderigo
Roderigo is the play’s privileged loser, a nobleman who can pay his way to the top but has no innate claim on it.
Who are your 2 miscellaneous critics?
Cox
Wheale
Cox on the play
Binaries dominate the play of Othello
Wheale on Venice and Cyprus
“…these locations dramatise the singular vulnerability of the Moor himself, a figure who is an alien…unassimilated to Christian European culture “
