Critics Flashcards
(32 cards)
Kastan
Tragedy often appears meaningless and is frequently unrewarded
“uncompensated suffering”
Questions why the characters suffer what is the point?
Bradley
Must be of significant stature and have wider-reaching consequences for society
Bradley’s view highlights the social implications of a tragic hero’s actions.
Nutall
We delight in the fall of one greater than ourselves
Nuttall’s perspective indicates a complex emotional engagement with tragic narratives.
Fu
He is the cleverest in the room and the owners are willfully foolish
This dynamic creates a compelling antagonist that resonates with the audience
Fill in the blank: According to Nuttall, tragedy is fun; we delight in the fall of one greater than _______.
ourselves
True or False: Bradley argues that the tragic hero’s demise should only affect themselves.
False
Bradley emphasizes that the consequences of a tragic hero’s downfall extend to society.
Kastan quote talking about tragedy…
“universal and inexplicable”
“coherent and powerfully compelling sense of tragedy can be seen to develop throughout the plays”
Pleasure of tragedy-nuttall quotes and analysis
“Fear and grief in turn matter for enjoyment”
“…value the disturbing, the jagged, the painfulwork”
Help explain why Othello remains such a powerful tragedy
Audiences find pleasure in pain, particularly when watching the fall of a noble figure.
fear and grief are part of the catharsism
attitude of values challenging or painful art over simple enjoyment
Nature of pleasure-fu quotes
“Iago is the singular pinnacle of villainy in this play, and though he is a terrfying villian, his behaviour is appropiate for the role”
“the less othello takes reponsibility for his actions, the more it enables him to feel contempt for the abasement of his character”
Tragic hero-Bradley quotes
“essentially a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death”
“a tale, for example of a man slowly worn to death by disease, poverty, little cares, sordid vices, petty persecutions, however piteous or dreadful it might be, would not be tragic in the shakespearen sense”
The art of the dramatist-Fryre quotes
“his death(Othello)restores order to a chaotic world of tragedy”
contradicts Bradley’s idea that tragedy is “essentially a tale of suffering and calamity concluding to death”
“tragedy as an art form must lead us to experience”
Bradley focuses on emotional turmoil and suffering and inevitable doom while Frye sees tragedy as a structured form where death can restore order ?
Is Othello’s death purely tragic(Bradley) or does it bring necessary closure to a world poisoned by Iago’s chaos
Cassio as Othellos foil-veronika walker quote
“Othello represents the wisdom, the experience,backbone-both the brains and brawn-of any army foundation”
“ cassio has physical beauty and grace
Othello has calculating finesse and wisdom”
Fallen women-Ruth Vanita quotes
Ultimate irony in the plays representation of male-female relations is that two women accused of ‘falling’ morally by their husbands, actually fall not morally but physically before our eyes, felled by those morally ‘fallen’ husband hands and symbolically by the male dominated society
male solidarity-Ruth vanita quotes
“violence on a male produces an immediate counterinteraction
Jealousy and sexism-Kiernan Ryan
“shown to be the rule in venice rather than an exceptional emotional disorder to which Othello is expecially prone to succumb to”
Not Othello’s personal flaws but a reflection of normal venetian attitudes
his emotional disorder is just him following the toxic logic of venetian patriachy
‘these characters fall prey to “the green eyed monster” that stalks any society in which the sexual desire of one human being is regarded as the property of another
Jealousy isnt just personal it comes from venetian systems that treat women as objects.Othello’s tragedy isnt just about the emotion-its about the toxic norms pof ownership, patriachal societies and sexual control
Catherine Bates-love and civilisation
“a fundementally creative force and as such is opposed to the forces of destruction
love between Othello and Desdemona initially represents a civilising unifying force crossing cultural and racisal boundaries
“love sponsors the forces of life, creating human families and social groups in the teeths of mans instinct for destruction-both self destruction and destruction of the other”
Love instead of being creative is weaponised and becomes a force of destruction.Othello destroys himself and then destroys Desdemona
Bringing the military to the domestic-John McCloskey quotes
“It is the ethical blindness of Iago which prevents him from seeing that the methods of war,legitimate as they may be on the field of battle, are not equally applicable to the affairs of peace”
Iago lacks the moral vision to see that war tactics like manipulation, deception and strategy shouldnt be used in domestic life so wrongly applies this warfare attitude
Iago treats civilian life relationship and emotions as if they are a battlefield
He uses Othello’s military background against him and these warfare tactics destablise Othello’s personal life
The handkerchief-Paul yachnin quotes
“for most of the characters the handkerchief is reproducible,exchangeable, and has certain cash value”
“…Circulates widely everyone recognises it as private property”
This personal object becomes a public item of economic and symbolic exchange, refelcting on the themes of ownership trust and betrayal
It is a token of fidelity and its movement from hand to hand fuels jealosuy and misunderstanding
Virginia Mason Vaughan daughter vs wifely duty-quotes
“in choosing a foreigner Desdemona has violated the venetian norm of arranged endogenous marriages”
“… worships the patriarchal dictum that once married, the wife owes her husband the same respect and duty”
Kiernan Ryan-Desdemona and Othello marriage quotes
“They act in other words as if they were already free citizens of a truly civilised future, instead of a time when racial prejudice and inequality are so ingrained that even their heroic hearts are tainted by them”
“Othello and Desdemona find unleashed upon them…venomous rage of a society who are rocked by the mere fact of their marriage”
Honigmann talking about humour…
“Either intends to give pain or allows him to bask in his sense of superiority”
Caryl Philips…
Remarks that the line “she had eyes and chose me” reveals Othello’s gross insecurity
Says the ‘fatal mistake’ Othello makes is to question his own judgement
Thomas Rymer in reference to the handkerchief
He mocked Shakespeare’s use of the prop by saying the ‘the handkerchief is so remote a trifle no booby…could make any consequence from it”
What does Stanley say about Othello in act 5 scene 2?
Asserts that Othello’s opening speech is ‘part of a ritual of denial’
