Othello critics

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Iago’s soliloquies are ‘the motive hunting of motiveless malignity.’

Simon Bubb

“The horrific thing about Iago is his utter lack of humanity.”

Neville Coghill

“Psychologically, Iago is a slighted man, powerfully possessed by hatred against a master who has kept him down, and by envy for a man he despises who has been promoted over him.”

Germaine Greer

“Iago represents ‘the mindless inventiveness of racist aggression.’”

Nicholas Hytner

“Iago is able to do what he does to Othello because Othello trusts him more completely than two men in civilian life would trust each other... Of course, that’s why Iago feels betrayed…” 

Fintan O’Tool

“The important thing… is that this racism isn’t just the context in which Othello lives. It has entered his mind and his soul.”

Sam Mendes

“Desdemona made a very specific decision to marry this man… That makes her in some ways extremely strong, an active participant in the drama…”

Bonnie Greer

“Jealousy is the fatal flaw… something within Othello himself that he has never faced. Jealousy is destroying him.”

Ania Loomba

“Othello is both a fantasy of social tolerance and a nightmare of racial hatred.”

A.C. Bradley

“‘Desdemona is helplessly passive.’”

F.R Leavis

“self-dramatisation is an essential element in Othello's make-up”

G. Wilson Knight

(find real quote) The poetic nature of Othello’s speech is natural and part of noble nature / 'the Othello music'- a combination of exotic imagery and powerful rhythms that have a hypnotic effect on the audience.

Laurie Maguire

'Productions that cut the Clown ignore the way his role paves the way for lago's...the Clown, with his wit, is superior to anyone who shares a scene with him, just as lago is intellectually superior to any of his associates. When either lago or the Clown enters a scene, he dominates the stage and forces all others into the role of victim. Our laughter at the Clown tempers our hatred for the villain, lago, and reminds us that we respectthe intellectual powers of both characters regardless of their motives”