Othello - Critical Quotes

Question 1

Coleridge: Iago is ‘a being…’, operating through a ‘m________ m_______’

Answer 1

Iago is ‘a being next to the devil’ driven by ‘motiveless malignity’

Question 2

A. C. Bradley: Othello is ‘the most r…’, and at the end we feel ‘a________ and l____’

Answer 2

Othello is ‘the most romantic figure among Shakespeare’s heroes’, and at the end we feel ‘admiration and love’

Question 3

T. S. Eliot: Othello’s final speech is ‘a terrible…’

Answer 3

Othello’s final speech is ‘a terrible exposure of human weakness’

Question 4

Marilyn French: Desdemona ‘accepts her culture’s…’ and is ‘s___-d____…’ when she dies

Answer 4

Desdemona ‘accepts her culture’s dictum that she must be obedient to males’ and is ‘self-denying in the extreme’ when she dies

Question 5

Lisa Jardine: Desdemona proves to be ‘too k_____, too i_______’, and is therefore punished by the patriarchy, becoming a stereotype of female passivity

Answer 5

Desdemona proves to be ‘too knowing, too independent’, and is therefore punished by the patriarchy, becoming a stereotype of female passivity