Othello critics and productions

Question 1

What does Loomba say about Othello and Desdemona’s relationship?

Answer 1

‘Fantasy of interracial love and society tolerance’

Question 2

What does Barker say about the play Othello?

Answer 2

‘tragedy with no meaning’

Question 3

What does Coleridge say about Iago’s motives?

Answer 3

“motiveless malignity”

Question 4

What does O’Toole say about Iago?

Answer 4

“machiavellian villain” “there is no Othello without Iago”

Question 5

What are Hugh Quarshie’s comments on Othello

Answer 5

Questioned whether Shakespeare is conforming to the Jacobean societal construction in which moors are seen as a threat to society due to their tendency for violence

Question 6

What does Smith say about Iago?

Answer 6

“Iago is a repressed homosexual”

Question 7

What does Gardine say about women?

Answer 7

“Renaissance women” “suffering martyrs”

Question 8

What are John Quincey Adams thoughts on Othello and Desdemona’s marriage?

Answer 8

“black” “white” “intermingled”

Question 9

What does Rymer say about Desdemona’s choice to marry Othello?

Answer 9

“without sense” “married a blackamoor”

Question 10

What did Middleton Murray say about Othello?

Answer 10

“idea of magic” “central to it”

Question 11

what does Kuala say about the play Othello?

Answer 11

“idea of magic” “not central to it”

Question 12

What does Bradley said about fault of Othello?

Answer 12

“entirely blameless”

Question 13

What does John Quincey Adams say about about Desdemona?

Answer 13

“a wanton”

Question 14

What did Auden say about Desdemona’s marriage to Othello?

Answer 14

“she” “married” “class and colour, like Ludovico”

Question 15

What does Jameson say about women in Jacobean era?

Answer 15

“victims of males” “romantic idolization and anxious misogyny”

Question 16

What does Jameson say about Desdemona’s thoughts on Othello?

Answer 16

“Desdemona cannot accept” “susceptible” “irrationality”

Question 17

What did Bloom say about Desdemona?

Answer 17

“just a child”

Question 18

How does Jameson describe Desdemona and Iago?

Answer 18

‘virtuous Desdemona’ ‘Malevolent Iago’

Question 19

What does Bloom say about Emilia?

Answer 19

“only she can bring Iago down”

Question 20

what does Robeson say about Brabrantio?

Answer 20

“racism mirrors audience prejudice”

Question 21

What does Bloom say about Othello and Iago?

Answer 21

“it is Othello’s tragedy, but Iago’s play”

Question 22

What did Walker say about Cassio?

Answer 22

“represents the better man” “lacks true respect and commitment towards women”

Question 23

What did Walker say about Cassio in regards to society?

Answer 23

“keep” “good and wholesome reputation amongst Venetian court”

Question 24

What did Johnson say about Cassio?

Answer 24

“brave, benevolent, and honest”

Question 25

What did Hopkins say about Cassio?

Answer 25

“meaning ‘hollow,’ of Italian origin”

Question 26

What does Thomas say about Emilia?

Answer 26

“dramatically” “the play’s fulcrum”

Question 27

What does Thomas say about Emilia and Desdemona?

Answer 27

“the foil for Desdemona”

Question 28

What does Bradley say about Emilia?

Answer 28

“exaggeration of the vital truth”

Question 29

What does Ward say about Emilia?

Answer 29

“backbone of the tragedy”

Question 30

What does Rutter say about Emilia?

Answer 30

“no one much cares about”

Question 31

What does Bloom say about Emilia and heroism?

Answer 31

“heroic intervention”

Question 32

What does Ridley say about Rodrigo?

Answer 32

“pathetic figure”

Question 33

what does Jamieson say about Rodrigo?

Answer 33

“easily led by evil”

Question 34

What does Barker say about Rodrigo?

Answer 34

“goes to the devil” “eyes open”

Question 35

What is the setting of Othello a modern production and what is the production called?

Answer 35

- Frantic Assembly - Set in a modern pub, displays how the tragedy and violence is not just personal, but a social epidemic - there’s also a door to a bathroom where the ‘willow scene’ occurs

Question 36

What is the acting like in a production regarding Othello and Desdemona’s relationship and what is this production called?

Answer 36

- RSC 1989 - Desdemona and Othello are not physically intimate, their love feels restrained in a sense

Question 37

Which production has a significance in casting and what is that significance?

Answer 37

- Othello and Iago are both played by black actors - RSC 2015

Question 38

What is significant about the costume of a specific character and which production is this?

Answer 38

- Cassio’s courtly elegance emphasised by his white and crisp uniform, making him stand out amongst military men like Othello and Iago - Hytner’s 2013 production

Question 39

How is Bianca presented in a production and which production is this?

Answer 39

- Hytner’s 2013 production - presented as older than Cassio / desperate for love, an alternative view to the struggle of women in Venetian society

Question 40

In this specific production, Iago and Rodrigo were dressed in a certain way :

Answer 40

- 1965 film - Iago is depicted having white hair and have a dark outfit on - Roderigo has long brown hair and a burgundy red outfit on

Question 41

What is significance about the colour white in this specific production :

Answer 41

- 1965 production - Brabrantio and kinsmen were all wearing white - Othello dons an entirely white outfit and has a big christian cross in the middle of his chest - Desdemona dons white and her hair is light brown

Question 42

Interesting things in the 2019 Production by David Hoover

Answer 42

- Iago was played by a fat man and he has a phone light on when waking up Brabantio. - Othello and Iago are wearing military uniforms - staging is simplistic, only platforms and columns made of stone - During Iago’s first aside, Iago walked around the stage and pointed at the audience with a cigar - During the Willow Scene, the bed has a canopy and the actresses playing Emilia and Desdemona are laughing and joking with each other about death

Question 43

Interesting features of 1965 film :

Answer 43

- the actor, Laurence Olivier, had his face painted black entirely - When Othello arrived in Cyprus for the first time, he was wearing extravagant military uniform, with what looks like a crown - in the brawl scene, serious swords were drawn and chaos ensued, a black woman had been slashed - During Temptation Scene, Othello is revealed under his green cloak to wearing black - In this scene, Iago takes off Othello’s cloaks and takes away his sword - Othello defenseless, later on, Othello hugs Iago - after Iago calls Emilia ‘a foolish wife’ he immediately cuddles her when he finds out she has the handkerchief - the people from Venice wears red - the wedding sheets are red - by the end of the production, Othello returns to wearing white, just as Desdemona is

Question 44

Interesting facts about the 1990 Othello Production by Trevor Nunn

Answer 44

- When Brabantio and his kinsmen comes, a sword fight ensues - All wearing modern military outfits, very embellished - During the scene where Othello defends himself in front of the Venetian court, it takes place in a military strategy room rather than a court. it is smaller and has a more private feel - Desdemona comes in and her hair is covered by a grey scarf - When Iago is comforting Roderigo, he covers him with a dark coloured blanket and Roderigo says ‘goodnight, honest Iago’ -> foreshadowing - Cassio wears white - At the end of the play, Othello, Desdemona wears white but Emilia wears black