othello critics

honigmann

- iago's hamartia is his over confidence in himself, and under estimation of loyalty and friendship (emilia and desdemona)

- 'the plays chief humorist' ➡ we are interested in him as a villain because of his ambition and his humour

- 'deliberately defiles cassios image of desdemona'

leavis

- othellos hamartia is his susceptibility to others words

- 'othello is now seen as tragically pathetic, and sees himself as pathetic too'

- 'tends to sentimentalise'

- 'othello dies belonging to the world of action' ➡️ he never changes and remains overdramatic and gullible until the end

loomba

- the play is 'a nightmare of racial hatred and male violence'

- iago is successful because 'othello is predisposed to believing his pronouncements' and is 'an agent' of misogynistic beliefs

- tension between state and family which would otherwise by equated in the contemporary political rhetoric ➡️ desdemonas father cannot approve of othello the way the senate does

leavis and loomba comparison

leavis views othello as 'tragically pathetic' and 'dies belonging to a world of action', however this oversimplifies his internal conflict due to the ideological pressures surrounding him. loomba's view that othello 'is predisposed to believing his pronouncements' emphasises how othello becomes an agent for contemporary misogyny because he already faces constant prejudice and has been conditioned into being used to the idea of inherent hierarchies.

elliot contrast with phillips

• the play is 'a poem of human love divine'

• othellos loves for desdemona and being in a respectable / powerful position (hubris) are both so overwhelming ➡ leads to him killing both him and her

phillips:

• - desdemona 'is the love of a possession'

• othellos love for desdemona was not some pure human love but more of a hegemonically masculine way to own something, esp when he was oppressed himself

neely

cassio, iago and othello are all equally concerned with rank and reputation

jardine + criticism

emilia circulates the defamation of desdemona invented by iago ➡ emilia and desdemona are fated to die bc emilia unintentionally helps iago with his evil plan all because she just picked up desdemonas dropped handkerchief

desdemona becomes 'a stereotype of female passivity' ➡️ shakespeare reduces her to a conventional tragic victim

jardine's view of desdemona as 'a stereotype of female passivity' is reductive and overlooks her assertiveness even in oppressive structures. she makes the conscious decision to resist societal expectations by marrying othello and never reverts to racist ideology against him even when he's actively murdering her.

quin + criticism

‘othello becomes a victim of false consciousness’ bc he internalises that a white woman could never love a black man

othello’s hamartia is his acceptance of his role as the insecure outsider

this view underestimates the ability of iago to manipulate and blames othellos downfall almost entirely on himself. iago was also able to manipulate brabantio, cassio and roderigo who are white men in varying positions of power.

warren

iago is the ‘stage manager’