Othello Critics Flashcards
Henry L Warnken
“He is a soldier and is therefore accustomed to hardship and cruelty.”
“Iago may manipulate Othello, but Othello is no mere puppet…by the middle of the play, his thoughts and feelings echo Iago’s”.
D R Godfrey
“The very voice of jealousy itself” (Iago)
F R Leavis
“The tragic protagonist is responsible for his own downfall: Iago’s role is subordinate and merely ancillary.”
Othello is simply jealous and possesses a weak character. Marriage adds to his problems as this causes him to deteriorate further.”
A C Bradley
“Hesitation is almost impossible to him. He is extremely self-reliant, and decides and acts instantaneously.”
Thomas Rymer
“Maidens of quality should not run away with black moors.”
Samuel Coleridge
“Othello does not kill Desdemona in jealousy, but in a conviction forced upon him by the almost superhuman art of Iago.”
“Motiveless malignity”
S N Garner
“Her willingness to risk the censure of her father and society is some measure of her capacity for love”
“Before the senators, she answers her father’s charges forcefully and persuasively, without shyness or reticence.”
Anita Loomba
“Women and blacks exist as ‘the other’.”
Othello is an honourary white man at the beginning of the play, but by the end, he is a total outsider.
Ruth Cowhig
“an alien in a white society”
