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Othello

  • Textbook
  • © 1988

Overview

Authors:
  1. Peter Davison
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Part of the book series: The Critics Debate (TCD)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages 1-7
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 9-13

  3. Survey

    1. Genre criticism

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 15-20

    2. Historical and social criticism

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 20-27

    3. Dramatic convention and decorum

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 27-34

    4. Character and psychological criticism

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 34-43

    5. The play as dramatic poem

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 44-50

    6. Archetypal criticism

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 51-58

  4. Appraisal

    1. Contextual criticism

      • Peter Davison
      Pages 59-85

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 86-94
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Keywords

About this book

Even productions of Othello based on very different conceptions of the play can prove successful ad deeply moving. Among critics, however, Othello has roused furous critical disagreement, remarkable for the degree of animosity exposed. After an Introduction in which the problems of analysing this play are outlined, Peter Davison considers six critical approaches to Othello: Genre, Historical and Social, Dramatic Convention and Decorum, Character and Psychological, the Play as Dramatic Poem, and Archetypal Criticism. In the second part of this study, Professor Davison offers his own, contextual approach. He takes into account the historical and social context in which the play was written, the context of the play in performance, and the context in which contemporary audiences see and read Othello. He also provides a guide for further reading.

About the author

PETER DAVISON is Secretary to the Trustees of Albany and Visiting Professor in Performance Arts at Westfield College, University of London. Formerly a Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, his many books include Contemporary Drama and the Popular Dramatic Tradition in England and Popular Appeal in English Drama to 1850 (both by Macmillan), editions of Merchant of Venice, Richard II and 1 and 2 Henry IV, and studies of Hamlet and Henry V.

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