Time+Era+Criticism1

=Criticism of Othello in the 1950s and 1960s =

=Web Resources=
 * Racism is present in the play, but Othello is being accepted and not persecuted for being a moor. Similarly in the 1950's racism was still present but due to the Brown vs. Board of Ed, racism was declining and more people were being accepted into communities. This [|article] expands on life during the 1950's.
 * The 1950s were a time when women did not have a whole lot of rights. This [|PBS article] summarizes many of the things women were expected to do in the home.
 * The 1950s were a precursor to the 1960s, both chronologically and ideologically. Whereas in the 1960s it was OK to be part of the counterculture and rebel against your family, trying to do that in the fifties would have gotten you beat by your parents. This [|article] discusses how "conformity in the 50s was challenged in America".
 * The common conception of the 1950s is a time when everyone was nice to each other and everyone, particularly adults, was a prude. This [|article] completely refutes that idea- women have less sex now than they did in the 1950s. It's rather ironic, then, when Iago says in Act II.i that "[women] rise to play and go to bed to work." (line 118) - does the same idea hold true for //Othello?//
 * Good people can have evil actions and thoughts. It is not always the evil villains that commit such evil. This article expresses the battle between [|good and evil] of Othello; especially between Iago and Othello. The reader now knows the extent of Iago's plan to destroy Othello, but what will win; The deceitful forces of evil or the innocence of good.
 * Although the major problems that occur in Othello, like racism and jealousy, are things that remain constant throughout the ages, most people forget the [|history] that Othello is based on.

[[image:http://www.jamaicans.com/blog/wp-content/jungle-fever.jpg width="245" height="235" align="right" caption="How has time changed our analysis of Othello's marriage?"]]
=News Articles=
 * Article 1:This [|criticism] from 1904 is an excerpt from a collection of criticism of Shakespeare's tragedies. It compares Iago and Othello as both romantic, tragic, and mentally unstable characters. It gives an idea of what the overall criticism of the early 20th century was like, especially its reluctance to touch upon any issues that are by any means sensitive.
 * Article 2: Although we are trying to differentiate the criticism of Othello during the 1950's, 1960's and modern day, it can be argued that Othello has relevance no matter what the time period. This [|article]explains the authors view of this play and how people from any time period can relate to it.
 * Article 3: [|An article from 1944] discusses the idea of a more complex side to Othello. (This article will be relevant in the discussion of "The Modern Othello")

=Blog Posts=
 * Blog 1: Many things have changed since the 1950's and the role of a good wife is no different. This [|blog] discusses the ideal wife's attitude and job towards their family and job from 1950 and compares them to modern day ideals.
 * Even today, individuals are constantly being compared to Othello and Iago. [|In this blog post], Hillary Clinton is given the title as the "Modern Day Iago"

=Videos= media type="youtube" key="Jqe4W08124M" height="344" width="425" -A short video explaining the daily life of a small town during the 1950's. media type="youtube" key="klAXvUYEJso" height="344" width="425" -An exert from an interview with Lauren Olivier, an actor who performed the play Othello during the 1960's. This shows a glimpse of how his ideas differ from what we know and believe today.

media type="youtube" key="UrIc3eINXT4" height="344" width="425"

=Criticisms=

“My noble father, …Moor my lord.” (197-207, Act I Scene III)

In this quote Desdemona reveals that she has dual loyalty. She is loyal to her father because he raised her and has always cared for her. Yet she is also loyal to Othello because he is her husband. Brabantio acts like any father would. Upon finding out about this marriage he was in immediate denial of the fact that Desdemona would do such a thing, yet once it is proven true, he still harbors resentment towards Othello. Shakespeare’s depiction of a father (Brabantio) has remained true throughout the ages. Even during the 50’s and 60’s when a major counter culture was coming, fathers would react in the same fashion. Just the sheer shock that your own daughter betrayed you would cause any parent to react in the same fashion. In the 50’s this outrage and behavior of Brabantio would have been acceptable, yet during the 1960’s when the counter culture took over, a father would be expected to be more reserved and more understanding. Starting then society has become more accepting of the choice of the children in matters of marriage and pretty much every aspect of their life. Especially today, the behavior exhibited by Desdemona would not be considered shocking, merely slightly rude because she didn’t reveal her marriage to her father.

Criticisms Analysis[[image:http://www.jendajournal.com/issue5/ampofo/3.jpg width="265" height="354" align="right" caption="The dynamics of a relationship changed in the 50's and 60's"]]
//"The humorous Iago has been a favorite because he can always entertain, even when he is failing the intent of the play. An audience// //watching such a rascal's crimes will leap eagerly to the relief of laughter; so Iago has been played almost as a comedy figure. The danger in this was spotted as surely by modern reviewers as by their predecessors: the play suffers because this Iago is tempted merely to make game of Othello, but his own character suffers even more for lack of motivation. Thus an Iago of 1912 "tended to be impish rather than devilish. . . the real venom. . . . seldom emerged." In the 'twenties, Rathbone played him "in the tradition of Edmund Kean -- gay, lighthearted monster.//**//"//**

This excerpt explains that through time, people- including critics-, have a changed perception of characters based on their time period. When this book was written in 1950's Iago is seen with a comic light, almost as a comic relief character. However critics in 1912 saw him in a totally different light, dark, mysterious, and evil. Similarly today, while reading the play we see his actions as meticulous and evil like characters such as the killer in "Silence of the Lambs". Both men are evil but in order to carry out their evil plans, they are both intelligent and understand other people's emotions and desires; they are then able to manipulate them. Time period affects how characters with the same lines and context are interpreted and perceived by the audience.

Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Othello The Search for the Identity of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona by Three Centuries of Actors and Critics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1961. Questia. 13 Nov. 2008 .

In the last couple of days we have been discussing evil, and how it is viewed in different characters. Yet we haven’t discussed what qualities of evil Iago truly has. Throughout time Iago has constantly been the main character in Othello’s play. This is because as a villain his actions seem to have no motivation, also called "motiveless malignity". “His motivations have been disputed, on occasion heatedly, and the character’s origins have been traced to numerous possible sources.” (Gilchrist) This is what truly makes Iago a great villain. His past is a mystery to us; we are drawn to wonder why he functions like he does. At the same time though, we know he is out to get Othello, but we do not know exactly his motives for doing so. He is exacting revenge, but in doing so, how will it aid him? The mystique surrounding Iago as well as his eagerness of revenge depict Iago as a truly fearsome creature.

Gilchrist, K.J. “Approximations: Iago as a Plautine leno.” www.marshall.edu. 11 November 2008 .

//What were the mainsprings of lago's nature? A novel attempt to find and stage them absorbed Laurence Olivier. He had interpreted Hamlet as an Oedipus-complex figure, after the concept of Dr. Ernest Jones, Freud's friend, and had achieved a popular success; he now wondered if some comparable theory might shed dramatic light on Othello. With his director, he interviewed Jones, whose ideas were startlingly unconventional and as such appealed to both of them. . . to his mind the clue to the play was not Iago's hatred for Othello, but his deep affection for him. His jealousy was not because he envied Othello's position, not because he was in love with Desdemona, but because he himself possessed a subconscious affection for the Moor, the homosexual foundation of which he did not understand. The two theater men were charmed. "The great climax in Act III, when Iago and Othello kneel together planning the death of Cassio, became virtually a love scene with Othello's 'Now art thou my lieutenant,' and Iago's reply, 'I am your own forever' taking on a new significance. Even Iago's often-repeated 'I hate the Moor' was easily explained away by the psychologist; it was simply the stubborn protestations of a man unaware of his true subconscious emotions."(Rosenberg 158)//

This quest for an alternative motivation for Iago took place in 1953, a date made significant by the nature of the topic of discussion- homosexuality. A topic that is still a bit of a taboo today, discussing homosexuality in the 1950s would have been nearly unthinkable. The importance of this new notion is not only the unconventionality of it, but also the unique approach a reader can take to viewing //Othello// when reading with Iago's homosexual motivation (and his internal denial of it). Now, many scenes take on a whole new meaning. One thing seemingly absent in //Othello// that Shakespeare is famous for is double entendres- the scene that Rosenberg mentions (where Othello and Iago plot Cassio's death) takes on, as he says, "a new significance". It's definitely an interesting idea.

Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Othello The Search for the Identity of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona by Three Centuries of Actors and Critics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1961. Questia. 13 Nov. 2008 .

**"The Modern Othello" Criticism**
//"One of the pitfalls of the intellectual Othello trapped an actor of the 'thirties. By his very expression of a brainy, restless subtlety, he destroyed the image of a lofty, trustful man of action at the mercy of scheming intellect, and took the life from the conflict with Iago. Interestingly, two reviewers saw a small feline shape in this performance. One: "the eager, nimble-witted watchfulness of one of the lesser and more apprehensive cats. . . [his] mind is quick with defenses against attack from all quarters." The other: "abrupt, nervous. . . . his gait -- feline rather than tigerish. . . we saw, not a giant on the rack, but a small man in great distress.'"// (Rosenberg 146).

It's an interesting concept that Othello would be compared to an animal; particularly a cat. A cat is usually associated with being solitary, cold, and selfish. At first, that doesn't match up with Othello at all. In the beginning, we see him as a respected, well-liked, and loving man. He loves his soldiers as well as Desdemona. As time passes, this image of Othello begins to fade. Othello is trapped in an inner conflict. He loves Desdemona but Iago has used jealousy to his advantage to weaken Othello and gain power. Othello is more like a dog chasing a ball. If you throw it enough times, you can have the dog chasing after nothing just by faking a throw. People, can be easily corrupted when their weaknesses are hit at the core. Throughout the play the basic ideas of trust, jealousy, and "survival of the fittest" all have a prevalent role in the actions of the characters. All of these things can be traced back to natural human/animal instincts (though they become more complicated by human emotions). Othello was naive, and trusted those around him too easily. These concepts brought up in the excerpt above echo throughout any time period where there was something to gain by deceiving those around you.

//"How could Othello be deceived by Iago? How could so noble a man turn from love to fury, and destroy his wife and his life?// //Perhaps he is not really noble.//  //Perhaps, some critics suggest, he is meant to be an impostor, even to himself, asserting some dignity and self-command only to deceive himself, to mask a deep insecurity and predisposition to jealousy. There is in this -- as in most objections to the nobility of Othello, or of the play -- an echo of old Rymer. Rymer thought Othello was too ready to be jealous, in fact labored to be. This theme was refined in 1863 by the German critic Flathe, who saw an Othello motivated by enormous selfdeceit. Behind his façade he has guilt feelings, partly, probably, because of his sordid sexual adventure with Emilia that provoked Iago's hatred. He is insecure, overproud, oversensitive, hungry for admiration, compulsively concerned with his appearance before the world. He is terribly fearful of humiliation: his deep inner doubt that Desdemona could love anyone as unworthy as he is makes him welcome Iago's insinuations of her disloyalt// (Rosenburg 185)

Rosenberg, Marvin. The Masks of Othello The Search for the Identity of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona by Three Centuries of Actors and Critics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1961. Questia. 13 Nov. 2008 .