Othello Critics Flashcards

Honigmann

• Iago's hamartia is his overconfidence in himself and underestimation of loyalty and friendship (Emilia and Desdemona).
• Iago is 'the play's chief humorist,' making us interested in him as a villain due to his ambition and humor.
• Iago 'deliberately defiles Cassio's image of Desdemona.'

Leavis

• Othello's hamartia is his susceptibility to others' words.
• Othello is seen as 'tragically pathetic' and sees himself as pathetic too.
• Othello 'tends to sentimentalize.'
• 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.
• There is tension between state and family, which would otherwise be equated in contemporary political rhetoric; Desdemona’s 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,' but this oversimplifies his internal conflict due to ideological pressures.
• Loomba's view that Othello 'is predisposed to believing his pronouncements' emphasizes how Othello becomes an agent for contemporary misogyny because he already faces constant prejudice.

Elliot

• In contrast with Phillips, Elliot views the play as 'a poem of human love divine.'
• Othello's love for Desdemona and being in a respectable/powerful position (hubris) are both so overwhelming that it leads to him killing both himself and her.

Phillips

• Desdemona 'is the love of a possession.'
• Othello's love for Desdemona was not some pure human love but more of a hegemonically masculine way to own something, especially 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 because Emilia unintentionally helps Iago with his evil plan, all because she picked up Desdemona's dropped handkerchief.
• Desdemona becomes 'a stereotype of female passivity.' Shakespeare reduces her to a conventional tragic victim.
• Criticism: 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’ because he internalizes that a white woman could never love a black man.
• Othello’s hamartia is his acceptance of his role as the insecure outsider.
• Othello has been conditioned into being used to the idea of inherent hierarchies.
• Criticism: This view underestimates the ability of Iago to manipulate and blames Othello's 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’.