Rating Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Rating Othello Is this Shakespearean tragedy Othello at the top of the rating chart, or is it just near the top? This essay intends to examine various aspects of this subject, along with critical opinion. The Bards presentation of emotions, character, of good and evil actions that are down-to-earth these are sometimes seen as the main reasons for the high ranking of Othello. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar in The Engaging Qualities of Othello maintain that the popularity of this play has been consistent for about 400 years and they tell why Shakespeares tragedy Othello has enjoyed popularity on the stage from the authors time to our own. It has remained a living drama over the centuries because it treats emotions that are universal and persistent in human nature. Its characters do non exist on a plane far removed from ordinary life we are not asked to witness the conflict of kings and conspirators beyond the experience of everyday people we are not involved in the conseq uences of disasters on a cosmic scale what we witness is a struggle between good and evil, the demonstration of love, tenderness, jealousy, and hate in equipment casualty that are humanly plausible. (126) The realistic aspect of the play presents a full range of characters, a full range of emotions, a full range of motivations, a full range of actions just as are present in real society. The down-to-earth consideration is very important to Othellos enduring popularity. Francis Ferguson in Two Worldviews Echo Each Other ranks the play Othello quite high among the Bards tragedies Othello, written in 1604, is one of the masterpieces of Shakespeares tragic period. In splendor of language, and in the sheer power of the story, it belongs with the greatest. But some of its admirers find it too savage. . . .(131) The play is so quotable consider Desdemonas opening lines in the beginning the Council of Venice My noble father, / I do perceive here a divided duty, or Othellos last words Killing myself, to die upon a kiss. Could the go on reputation of Othello be attributed to the quotable ultimate form in which the Bard of Avon expressed his ideas? Robert B. Heilman says in The Role We Give Shakespeare If we use the word support, however, we do describe a way in which Shakespeare serves.