Critical Theories of Othello

Nota:

• Dr Johnson declared he is: "magnanimous, artless, and credulous, boundless in his confidence, ardent in his affection, inflexible in his resolution and obdurate in his revenge."
• "For all his dignity and massive calm...he is by nature full of the most vehement passion." A.C.Bradley

Nota:

• Swinburne believed he was a "truly noble hero- the noblest man of man's making"
• A.C. Bradley believes Othello is "so noble...[he] inspires a passion of mingled love and pity."

Nota:

• F.R. Leavis(1952) said "Othello's love is composed very largely of ignorance of self as well as ignorance of [Desdemona]." He also believed "[He] is responsible for his own downfall." He also said "The stuff of which he is made begins at once to deteriorate and shows itself unfit."
• T.S.Eliot (1927) believed Othello is "a terrible exposure of human weakness."
• Carol Kay asserted that Othello was "a man of low-self-esteem who will snatch at any straw to shore himself up."

Nota:

• A.C. Bradely (1904) declared Othello was "the most romantic figure among Shakespeare's heroes." 

Nota:

• Ruth Cowhig concludes that Othello's tragedy is that of "a black man whose humanity is eroded by cunning and racism of whites. She also argues that "However great Othello's confidence, his colour makes his vulnerability plain."

Nota:

• A. C Bradley has described Iago as "the master of manipulation." He also claims "Evil has nowhere else been portrayed with such mastery as in the character of Iago A. C. Bradley believes "Iago stands supreme among Shakespeare's evil characters because the greatest intensity and subtlety of imagination has gone into his making and because he illustrates in the most perfect combination of evil elements..."
• Coleridge offered a view calling Iago "A being next to the devil [driven by] motiveless malignity."
• D.R Godfrey describes Iago as "the most villainous character in all literature."

Nota:

• psychoanalysts claim Iago's hatred for Cassio and Desdemona may have arisen from his homosexual attraction towards Othello. Thus he saw both Cassio and Desdemona as rivals for Othello's attention.
• Cultural relativists point out that Iago may have been motivated by the anti- Semitism and anti-black sentiments that reined supreme in the Elizabethan era in which the play was first performed.

Nota:

• A.C Bradley proclaimed that "her nature is infinitely sweet and her love absolute."
• Ann Cook cautions that "an obviously all-virtous heroine would make Othello look like a fool for doubting her and would radically cut into any sympathy for him."
• Marilyn French suggests She "accepts her culture's dictum that she must be obedient to males [and is] self-denying in the extreme" when she dies.

Nota:

• Fraklin M. Dickey commented about Des's love that "to lose yourself in passion for another person is a moral imperfection likely to induce  general disregard of the moral law, a violation of the contemporary ide of moral responsibility."