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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Monthly Archives: April 2013
“Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,/Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:”
Othello Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————– Othello persuades himself that he is acting rationally by demanding “some proof” of Desdemona’s infidelity, but he fails to take into account Iago’s skill at manipulation – or the mysterious workings … Continue reading
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Tagged absolute horror, Act Three, Cyprus, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan theater, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, holy writ, Iago, jealousy, language, literature, Othello, politics, religion, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, temptation scene, The Moor of Venice, torture, tragedy, Venice, waterboarding, William Shakespeare, writing
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“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!/It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/The meat it feeds on.”
Othello Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Act Three: When Desdemona intervenes on Cassio’s behalf, Iago suggests to Othello that she is doing so for reasons that go beyond mere friendship. Othello is resistant to Iago’s suggestion at … Continue reading
“Desdemona and Othello, alas, scarcely know each other, and sexually do not know each other at all.”
Othello Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————— To continue on where we left off in my last post with Bloom: “Iago derides Othello’s ‘weak function’; that seems more a hint of Iago’s impotence than of Othello’s, and yet … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Cassio, Cyprus, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Iago, jealousy, language, literature, love, Moor of Venice, Othello, renaissance humanism, Roderigo, Shakespeare, tragedy, Venice, war, William Shakespeare, writing
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“So will I turn her virtue into pitch,/And out of her goodness make the net/That shall enmesh them all.”
Othello Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams ——————— Act Two: Though battered by storms, the Venetians, led by Othello, arrive safely in Cyprus to the news that the Turkish threat has been eliminated. Roderigo is also on Cyprus, and … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Cassio, Cyprus, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Hamlet, Iago, jealousy, language, literature, Othello, othello desdemona, politics, renaissance humanism, Roderigo, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shakespeare, tragedy, turkish fleet, turkish threat, Turks, Venice, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Othello’s tragedy is precisely that Iago should know him better than the Moor knows himself.”
Othello Act One, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————————— First off – a few interesting points (or at least hopefully so): 1. What prompted Shakespeare to write Othello? One intriguing possibility is that the ambassador of the King of Barbary … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, Brabantio, Cassio, Cyprus, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, entertainment, Iago, jealousy, language, literature, lust, marriage, Othello, Othello music, politics, racism, renaissance humanism, Roderigo, sex, Shakespeare, society, tragedy, Venice, war, William Shakespeare, witchcraft
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“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.”
Othello Act One By Dennis Abrams ———————————– MAJOR CHARACTERS Othello, a black soldier, the “Moor” of Venice Desdemona, Othello’s new wife Michael Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant Bianca, a courtesan in love with Cassio Iago, Othello’s ensign (a lower-ranking officer) Emilia, Iago’s … Continue reading
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Tagged act one, beast with two backs, blackamoor, Cassio, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan tragedy, Hamlet, Iago, jealousy, king henry iv, language, literature, Moor, Moor of Venice, Othello, politics, renaissance humanism, Roderigo, Shakespeare, tragedy, Venice, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Iago, forever beyond Othello’s understanding, is not beyond ours, because we are more like Iago than we resemble Othello…”
Introduction to Othello Part Two By Dennis Abrams —————————————- To continue with our introduction to Othello, I’d like to start with more from Harold Bloom: “Auden, in one of his most puzzling critical essays [I’ll get to it later in … Continue reading
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Tagged A.C. Bradley, Auden, Desdamona, drama, Elizabethan tragedy, Falstaff, Hamlet, Iago, Introduction, language, literature, Othello, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, tragedy, William Shakespeare
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“Of all Shakespeare’s tragedies…not even excepting King Lear, Othello is the most painfully exciting and the most terrible.”
Introduction to Othello By Dennis Abrams While it might not have the cosmic or philosophical heft and resonance of Hamlet or King Lear, Shakespeare’s second great tragedy, Othello, is often felt to be his most gripping – and tormenting – … Continue reading
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Tagged A.C. Bradley, Desdemona, drama, Elizabethan tragedy, God of War, Hamlet, Iago, Introduction, language, literature, Moor of Venice, Othello, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, society, tragedy, war, william hazlitt, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Him have I lost; thou hast both him and me:/He pays the whole, and yet am I not free.”
Shakespeare Sonnet #134 SONNET 134 So, now I have confess’d that he is thine, And I myself am mortgaged to thy will, Myself I’ll forfeit, so that other mine Thou wilt restore, to be my comfort still: But thou wilt … Continue reading
The Play's The Thing 