Critical anthology Flashcards
(9 cards)
What does Loomba say about women?
- Women have an “Inherent duplicity”
- Meaning they are naturally deceptive
What are the stereotypes Loomba says about black men in the 16th century?
“black-skinned people were usually typed as godless, bestial and hideous”
“unnatural sexual and domestic practices, as highly emotional”
“irrational, and prone to anger and jealousy”
What does Leavis say about Othello?
“a superb coup de theatre”
“I took him by the throat the circumcised dog And smote him”
Sees Othellos final speech as self-dramaticisation
What does Loomba argue about Venice?
“Venice’s openness could be viewed as dangerous by a society itself fairly suspicious of outsiders”
What does Kastan say?
“Tragic motor human error or capricious fate?”
“Arbitrary destiny reflecting the indifference”
“Tragedy… is the genre of uncompensated suffering”
What does Nuttall say?
“If we were all wicked, there would perhaps be no problem”
“An audience inwardly driven by envy were to delight in the fall of one greater than they”
“Gloating, envious spectator”
“Suffering and death are perceived as matter for grief and fear”
“Grief and fear become… matter for enjoyment”
What does A.C Bradley say?
“A total reverse of fortune, coming unawares upon a man who ‘stood in high degree’”
“A power which appears to smile on him for a little, and then on a sudden strikes him down in his pride”
“Othello himself is no mere private person; he is the General of the Republic”
”The consciousness of his high position never leaves him”
“His fate affects the welfare of a whole nation”
What does Mack say?
“the legendary figure of Cassandra” (figure in the Trojan war who said she could see the future but was never believed when she was telling the truth the whole time —> reflective in Desdemona, Bianca and Emilia)
“doomed never to be believed”
“those to who she speaks can only hear the opposing voice”
“Madness… contains both punishment and insight”
What does Honnigmann say about Iago?
“He enjoys a godlike sense of power”
“His humour makes him seem cleverer than his victims”
“Iago excels in short term tactics, not in long term strategy”
“The possibility that his own despised wife may accuse him publicly of a lie… and send him to his death has not occurred to him”
“He has neither felt nor understood…love”
