Critics: Othello – A C Bradley, ‘Shakespearean Tragedy’, 1904

simpleA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘…Othello’s mind, for all its poetry, is very simple. He is not observant.’
European womenA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘[Othello] has little experience of the corrupt products of civilised life, and is ignorant of European women.’
dignityA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘…for all his dignity and massive calm (and he has greater dignity than any other of Shakespeare’s men), he is by nature full of the most vehement passion.’
trustA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘…Othello’s nature is all of one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute.’
jealousyA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘…up to this point, where Iago is dismissed [Act 3, scene 3: 259 (p113)], Othello… does not show jealousy. His confidence is shaken, he is confused and deeply troubled, he feels even horror; but he is not yet jealous in the proper sense of that word.’
poisonA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘When Othello, after a brief interval, re-enters …, we see at once that the poison has been at work, and ‘burns like the mines of sulphur.”
fallA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘The Othello of the Fourth Act is Othello in his fall.’
changed manA C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘when Othello reappears we see at a glance that he is a changed man. He is physically exhausted, and his mind is dazed. He sees everything blurred through a mist of blood and tears.’
A C Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) (1904) ‘His self-control has wholly deserted him, and he strikes his wife in the presence of the Venetian envoy.’