Essay on Bradley vs Leavis, Notes on Othello - 766 Words.
In The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, many characters are unjustly victimized. Throughout the play, Othello’s wife, Desdemona, is a victim of many false statements that lead to her ultimate death. In the beginning, Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, believes that Desdemona is a victim under a spell of the Moor Othello.
Othello to help Cassio; he agrees: “I will deny thee nothing.” Iago then goes to work on Othello in the so-called “Temptation Scene”, suggesting that A summary of the plot Act One Like so much of the play, the first scene takes place at night. Iago, Othello’s personal ensign, complains that he has been passed over as Othello’s lieutenant in favour of Cassio. He and Roderigo taunt.
This last speech of Othello is his way of expressing to viewers how he would have liked them to see the events of the play. However, his speech, albeit elegant and characteristic of Othello’s extravagant and Romantic use of language, is flawed, ironic and thus it is impossible to see the events of the play in the light that Othello would like us to.
It may be Othello’s tragedy, but it is Iago’s play. (Hugh Quarshie) Othello really is, beyond any question, the nobly massive man of action, the captain of men he sees himself as being. (F.R. Leavis). Othello’s tragedy is that he is living the life of a chivalric warrior in a world run by money and self-interest. (Sean McEvoy).
Othello's jealousy impedes his ability to distinguish between reality and appearance. While the prejudiced characters in the play denigrate Othello as an animal or a beast based on his race, Othello's obvious honor and intelligence makes these attacks obviously ridiculous. Yet when Othello is overcome by jealousy, he does become beast-like, falling into epileptic fits that rob him of the.
A point much contested by critics is how Shakespeare presents Othello himself: some, such as A.C. Bradley, hold the view that the General is a noble tragic hero, whereas F.R. Leavis would contradict this by claiming Othello to be a weak man whose fatal flaw is jealousy. Iago is a key instrument in Othello’s downfall and uses deception to plant the idea of Desdemona’s infidelity. He.
Othello succeeds in turning himself into a pathetic figure, by adopting an aesthetic rather than a moral attitude, dramatizing himself against his environment. He takes in the spectator, but the human motive is primarily to take in himself.5 Eliot's notion of a weak, self-dramatizing Othello was endorsed by F.R. Leavis.