Othello Critics Quotes

Othello Criticism Critic: Carol

Thomas Neely

 They see Othello Othello and Iago as closely identifed with each each other; they they are "two parts o a single motive--related not as the halves o a sphere, but each implicit in the other." !tructure, too, imitates that o the pastoral comedies in its movement rom an urban center to an isolated retreat, with resultant intensity, reedom, breadown, and interaction among disparate characters. Though Othello reers to #yprus as a "town o war," once the threats o Turs and the storm have lited, it is instead $enuss isle, a place or celebration--rela%ation, drining, eating &dinner arrangements are a re'uent topic o conversation here as in (rden), *irting, sleeping, lovemaing. In the comedies, the potential corruption o these activities is suggested in witty banter, songs, comic simile and metaphor; in Othello, this corruption corruption becomes literal. Critic: Pierre

Machery

"The boo revolves around this myth +i.e., that the boo is uncannily alive; but in the process o its ormation the boo taes a stand regarding this myth, e%posing it. This does not mean that the boo is able to become its own criticism it gives an implicit criti'ue o its ideological content, i only because it resists being incorporated into the *ow o ideology in order to give a determinate representation o it." Critic: Paul

Yachnin

"In Othello, !haespeare maneuvers to mae wonder  out o the material he has to wor with, which, among other things such as language and costume, includes the abric o the handerchie and the body o the boy actor who plays esdemona. These two ob/ects are constructed so as to enhance the cultural status o the play by raising it above the commercialism and materiality o actual play production. 0ut i we can deploy a strategic resistance to the plays sublimity &a resistance that came more easily to the original audiences), then the ordinariness o these "wonders" and the particular ways in which they are presented presented will allow us critical insight i nsight into the mystifcations o !haespear !haespeare e and !haespeare criticism." "( te%t lie Othello will be to the engrossed reader as esdemona is to her husband--an ob/ect whose capacity to arouse wonder in the beholder is seen to underwrite the beholders selhood." "1or most o the characters, the handerchie is reproducible, e%changeable, and has a certain cash value. 1urthermore, although it circulates widely, everyone recogni2es it as private property. 0ecause it is private property, 3milia, #assio, and 0ianca all spea about maing copies o it. In this regard, is it even clear that 3milia plans to eep it ater having ound it4 1or esdemona, the handerchie balances between the everyday and the sacred, becoming a hugely valued love toen that is nonetheless commensurable with monetary value. "5here should I

lose the handerchie4" she ass, "0elieve me, I had rather have lost my purse 6 1ull o crusadoes" &7.8.97,9:-9)." Critic: Stephen

Gosson

0ehavious in the theatre "In our assemblies at plays in ot easily /ealous its the most appalling bit o sel-deception. Les the most easily /ealous man that anybodys ever written about. The minute he suspects, or thins he has the smallest grounds or suspecting, esdemona, he wishes to thin her guilty, he wishes to"