Critical Reviews:
"Shakespeare, the crown of English literature, can rightfully boast of his marvelous achievements as a dramatist. His plays both comedies and tragedies, have a sterling worth of their own. The magnet of his plays pulls the iron dust of thoughts, and the reader feels himself bound by silky ropes of interest and pleasure. He maintains such an artistic balance in his writings as is found in an expert acrobat walking on a tight rope. His tragedies develop from beginning to an end as a rose progresses from budding to withering .Thoughts’ scent and feelings’ shade can be viewed in wordy flowers through the eye of imagination. Lost with Hamlet, ruined with king Lear, stunned with Macbeth and stupefied with Othello, the feels himself much maturer as the finds a treasure of knowledge, wisdom, expression and power. At the same time, some faults can be traced out as some spots can be seen on the shiny face of moon. In the following passages an effort has been made to present a critique of Othello."
Niamat Ali Depatment of English Govt. Islamia College, Kasur Pakistan |
“In transporting Othello and Desdemona to Cyprus, Shakespeare casts additional light on their relationship and enriches our understanding of the moral and psychological patterns of the play. … Desdemona's removal from her familiar environment isolates her during her ordeal. Finally, in what Alvin Kernan describes as the ‘symbolic geography' of the play, Cyprus stands as an insecure Christian outpost on the frontier of barbarism. It is an uneasy middle ground between civilization, represented by ‘The City' Venice and Desdemona, and ancient chaos, identified with the Turks, Iago and the savage origins of Othello himself. In the psyche of Othello, a ‘barbarian' and convert to Christianity, these polar forces are maintained in precarious balance.”
David M. Zesmer. Guide to Shakespeare. 1976. |
Do you enjoy audio books? If you want to read to Othello by listening to one, click on the video below:
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Below is a video summarizing the plot of the play. It explains the characters, morals and analysis of the play.
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The video below is about is my summary of Othello:
Social Impact:How it shaped the world: this play introduces the most important factor of humanization; racism. Racism occurs in the play when Othello, a Moor (African-American) and Desdemona get married. Everyone believes the reason why she married him is for sexual reasons and power, which is not true. This introduces interracial marriages. People aren't as against interracial marriages as they were before. There are people that continue to be racist against African Americans, but it has been better. With this play, people are realizing how it makes other people feel when they're made fun of, because of their race. Also, manipulation occurs in this play. Iago starts his scheme to destroy lives and it shows that it never works out. He hurt people and didn't care about them. The techniques of manipulation that Shakespeare uses in this play are brilliant because they are unexpected.
The literature: Iago uses his techniques of manipulation to destroy Othello. He becomes Othello's friend in order to take advantage of him and destroy him. First he tries to be there for him but he talks about him behind his back. Iago then tells lies about his wife cheating on him to get Othello angry. It makes Othello so angry that he killed her because he didn't want to her to hurt other men. He had thought that he was doing the right thing, but then he found out that Iago had been lying to him about everything. Othello killed himself because he couldn't live with what he had done. Everyone at the end of the play are astonished that someone could have lied so much and caused so much damage. Although Iago may have been brilliant, there was no reason for many people to die. The culture: Racism is brought up again when it comes to the culture. Around the 1600's, racism was far worse. Othello was introduced to show that it isn't bad to marry a Moor. It also shows that you cannot believe everything that you hear. When Othello shows his insecurity about his race in the play, Iago tacks on it and makes him feel bad about himself. The lack of confidence in Othello was key in this play because it lead to the protagonist downfall. Since people were being bullied because of their race, it leads them to believe that they are nothing. Interracial marriage are also important in this platy because love is love no matter what. Desdemona's love for Othello proved that she loved him because of who he is. Even Brabantio, Desdemona's father was angry that they had gotten married because he didn't believe she would be married to a Moor. |
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