Othello †How it Ranks Essay -- Othello essays

Othello How it Ranks In the context of thousands of plays written by hundreds of dramatists since cholecalciferol years prior to the time of Christ, how does William Shakespeares play Othello rank? In this essay let us find the proper place for this play, and consider sarcastic whimsey in the process. Othello would appear to have a beauty about it which is hard to match thus ranking high. Helen Gardner in Othello A Tragedy of viewer and mint touches on this beauty which enables this play to stand above the other trage crumbles of the Bard Among the tragedies of Shakespeare Othello is supreme in one quality beauty. Much of its poetry, in imagery, graven image of phrase, and firmness of purpose of rhythm, soaring yet firm, enchants the sensuous visual sensation. This kind of beauty Othello shares with Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra it is a corollary of the theme which it shares with them. But Othello is also remarkable for another kind of beauty. Except for t he lower-ranking purview with the clown, all is immediately relevant to the central issue no scene requires critical justification. The play has a rare intellectual beauty, satisfying the trust of the imagination for order and harmony between the parts and the whole. Finally, the play has intense moral beauty. It makes an immediate appeal to the moral imagination, in its presentation in the condition of Desdemona of a love which does not alter when it alteration finds, but bears it out even to the edge of doom. (139) The play is so quotable consider Desdemonas beginning lines before 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 continuing reputat... .... San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from The Noble Moor. British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955. Heilman, Robert B. The Role We Give Shakespeare. Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ Princeton Universit y Press, 1965. Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The electrical Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http//www.eiu.edu/multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. The Engaging Qualities of Othello. Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p. Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957. Othello How it Ranks Essay -- Othello essaysOthello How it Ranks In the context of thousands of plays written by hundreds of dramatists since 500 years prior to the time of Christ, how does William Shakespeares play Othello rank? In this essay let us find the proper place for this play, and consider critical opinion in the process. Othello would appear to have a beauty abo ut it which is hard to match thus ranking high. Helen Gardner in Othello A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune touches on this beauty which enables this play to stand above the other tragedies of the Bard Among the tragedies of Shakespeare Othello is supreme in one quality beauty. Much of its poetry, in imagery, perfection of phrase, and steadiness of rhythm, soaring yet firm, enchants the sensuous imagination. This kind of beauty Othello shares with Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra it is a corollary of the theme which it shares with them. But Othello is also remarkable for another kind of beauty. Except for the trivial scene with the clown, all is immediately relevant to the central issue no scene requires critical justification. The play has a rare intellectual beauty, satisfying the desire of the imagination for order and harmony between the parts and the whole. Finally, the play has intense moral beauty. It makes an immediate appeal to the moral imagination, in its presenta tion in the figure of Desdemona of a love which does not alter when it alteration finds, but bears it out even to the edge of doom. (139) The play is so quotable consider Desdemonas opening lines before 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 continuing reputat... .... San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from The Noble Moor. British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955. Heilman, Robert B. The Role We Give Shakespeare. Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press, 1965. Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http//www.eiu.edu/multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. The Engaging Qualities of Othello. Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p. Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.