Othello Critics

Question 1

What does Ania Loomba say about Othello’s power?

Answer 1

“Othello’s colour and gender make him occupy contradictory positions in relation to power.”

Question 2

Who says “Othello’s colour and gender make him occupy contradictory positions in relation to power.”?

Answer 2

Ania Loomba.

Question 3

What does Ania Loomba say about Othello’s misogyny?

Answer 3

“Othello is a victim of racial beliefs precisely because he becomes an agent of misogynist ones.”

Question 4

Describe “Othello music”.

Answer 4

A combination of exotic imagery and powerful rhythms that can have a hypnotic effect on the audience.

Question 5

What does Fintan O’Toole say about Othello’s race?

Answer 5

“[Racism] is an integral part of [Othello] […] which he carries around in his most intimate, private self.”

Question 6

Who says that “[racism] is an integral part of [Othello] […] which he carries around in his most intimate, private self.”?

Answer 6

Fintan O’Toole.

Question 7

What does Ania Loomba say about Brabantio?

Answer 7

“Because Othello is needed in order to combat the Turks, the Senate is willing to regard him as “more fair than black”, but, for Desdemona’s father, such colour-blindness is not possible.”

Question 8

Who says that “such colourblindness is not possible” for Brabantio?

Answer 8

Ania Loomba.

Question 9

What does Frances Dolan say about the contemporary response to Othello’s race?

Answer 9

Othello’s race would have been problematic to Shakespeare’s audience and they would have felt suspicious of and mistrusted the hero because he is black.

Question 10

Who says that the Shakespearean audience would have felt suspicious of and mistrusted the hero because he is black?

Answer 10

Frances Dolan.

Question 11

What does Karen Newman say about contemporary responses?

Answer 11

Shakespeare challenges the negative assumptions of his society by making his hero a noble Moor.

Question 12

Who says that Shakespeare challenges the negative assumptions of his society by making his hero a noble Moor?

Answer 12

Karen Newman.

Question 13

Who takes a pessimistic stance on contemporary responses?

Answer 13

Frances Dolan: the Shakespearean audience would have felt suspicious of and mistrusted the hero because he is black.

Question 14

Who takes an optimistic stance on contemporary responses?

Answer 14

Karen Newman: Shakespeare challenges the negative assumptions of his society by making his hero a noble Moor.

Question 15

Which critics talk about contemporary responses?

Answer 15

Frances Dolan: Shakespeare’s audience would have felt suspicious of and mistrusted the hero because he is black.
Karen Newman: Shakespeare challenges the negative assumptions of his society by making his hero a noble Moor.

Question 16

Who says that Othello is not heroic?

Answer 16

Fintan O’Toole.

Question 17

What does Fintan O’Toole say about Othello’s character?

Answer 17

Othello is not heroic.

Question 18

Who says that “the act is heroic because Othello acts from inner necessity.”?

Answer 18

Helen Gardner.

Question 19

What does Helen Gardner say about Othello’s character?

Answer 19

“The act is heroic because Othello acts from inner necessity.”

Question 20

Which critics talk about the extent of Othello’s heroism?

Answer 20

Fintan O’Toole: Othello is not heroic.
Helen Gardner: “The act is heroic because Othello acts from inner necessity.”

Question 21

What does Friedrich Schlegel say about Othello?

Answer 21

“Othello is a barbarian.”

Question 22

Who says that “Othello is a barbarian”?

Answer 22

Friedrich Schlegel.

Question 23

What does Samuel Taylor Coleridge say about Othello’s nature?

Answer 23

“Noble, generous, open-hearted.”

Question 24

Who describes Othello is “noble, generous, open-hearted”?

Answer 24

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Question 25

Which critics talk about Othello’s nature?

Answer 25

Friedrich Schlegel: “Othello is a barbarian.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “noble, generous, open-hearted”

Question 26

What does F.R. Leavis say about Othello’s manipulability?

Answer 26

“We should see Iago’s prompt success not so much Iago’s diabolic intellect as Othello’s readiness to respond.”

Question 27

Who says that “we should see Iago’s prompt success not so much Iago’s diabolic intellect as Othello’s readiness to respond.”?

Answer 27

F.R. Leavis.

Question 28

What does F.R. Leavis say about Othello’s nature?

Answer 28

“Othello is ferociously stupid.”

Question 29

Who says that “Othello is ferociously stupid”?

Answer 29

F.R. Leavis.

Question 30

What reason does Fintan O’Toole give for Othello’s manipulability?

Answer 30

Iago manipulates Othello’s racism, which “is an internal part of [Othello] […] which he carries around in his most intimate, private self.”

Question 31

What does Samuel Taylor Coleridge say about Othello’s manipulability?

Answer 31

“Unsuspicious and unsuspecting”.

Question 32

Who says that Othello is “unsuspicious and unsuspecting”?

Answer 32

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Question 33

Which critics talk about Othello’s manipulability?

Answer 33

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “unsuspicious and unsuspecting”.
F.R. Leavis: “We should see Iago’s prompt success not so much Iago’s diabolic intellect as Othello’s readiness to respond.”

Question 34

Who says Iago and Othello “start to melt into each other”?

Answer 34

Fintan O’Toole.

Question 35

What does Fintan O’Toole say about Iago and Othello?

Answer 35

They “start to melt into each other.”

Question 36

How does Frank Kermode describe Othello’s language after the temptation scene?

Answer 36

Othello’s language adopts “the pathetic stress on ‘honesty’, unaccustomed langue verte picked up from Iago, and the vile berating of Desdemona.”

Question 37

Who says that Othello’s language adopts “the pathetic stress on ‘honesty’, unaccustomed langue verse picked up from Iago, and the vile berating of Desdemona.”?

Answer 37

Franke Kermode.

Question 38

Which critics talk about Othello and Iago slowly mirroring each other?

Answer 38

Fintan O’Toole: They “start to melt into each other.”
Frank Kermode” After the temptation scene, Othello’s language adopts “the pathetic stress on ‘honesty’, unaccustomed langue verse picked up from Iago, and the vile berating of Desdemona.”

Question 39

What does F.R. Leavis say about Othello’s “self-pride”?

Answer 39

By the end, Othello’s “self-pride” has become “insane and self-deceiving passion.”

Question 40

Who says that Othello’s “self-pride” has become “insane and “self-deceiving passion”?

Answer 40

F.R. Leavis.

Question 41

What does Stanley Cavill say about Othello’s soliloquy?

Answer 41

Othello’s soliloquy is “part of a ritual of denial.”

Question 42

Who says that Othello’s soliloquy is “part of a ritual of denial”?

Answer 42

Stanley Cavill.

Question 43

Which critic contrasts Fintan O’Toole, who asserts that Othello is not heroic?

Answer 43

Helen Gardner: “The act is heroic because Othello acts from inner necessity.”

Question 44

Which critic contrasts with Helen Gardner, who asserts that “the act is heroic, because Othello acts from inner necessity?

Answer 44

Fintan O’Toole: Othello is not heroic.

Question 45

Which critic directly contrasts Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who asserts that Othello is “noble, generous, open-hearted”?

Answer 45

Friedrich Schlegel: “Othello is a barbarian.”

Question 46

Which critic directly contrasts Friedrich Schlegel, who asserts that “Othello is a barbarian”?

Answer 46

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Othello is “noble, generous, open-hearted.”

Question 47

Which critic aligns with F.R. Leavis, who said that by the end, Othello’s “self-pride” had become “insane and self-deceiving passion.”?

Answer 47

Stanley Cavill: Othello’s soliloquy is “part of a ritual of denial”.

Question 48

Which critic aligns with Stanley Cavill, who asserts that Othello’s soliloquy is “part of a ritual of denial”?

Answer 48

F.R. Leavis: by the end, Othello’s “self-pride” has become “insane and self-deceiving passion”.