simpleA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘…Othello’s mind, for all its poetry, is very simple. He is not observant.’ |
European womenA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘[Othello] has little experience of the corrupt products of civilised life, and is ignorant of European women.’ |
dignityA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘…for all his dignity and massive calm (and he has greater dignity than any other of Shakespeare’s men), he is by nature full of the most vehement passion.’ |
trustA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘…Othello’s nature is all of one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute.’ |
jealousyA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘…up to this point, where Iago is dismissed [Act 3, scene 3: 259 (p113)], Othello… does not show jealousy. His confidence is shaken, he is confused and deeply troubled, he feels even horror; but he is not yet jealous in the proper sense of that word.’ |
poisonA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘When Othello, after a brief interval, re-enters …, we see at once that the poison has been at work, and ‘burns like the mines of sulphur.” |
fallA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘The Othello of the Fourth Act is Othello in his fall.’ |
changed manA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘when Othello reappears we see at a glance that he is a changed man. He is physically exhausted, and his mind is dazed. He sees everything blurred through a mist of blood and tears.’ |
A C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) | ‘His self-control has wholly deserted him, and he strikes his wife in the presence of the Venetian envoy.’ |
Critics: Othello – A C Bradley, ‘Shakespearean Tragedy’, 1904
July 30, 2019