Modern & Contemporary

Q: Modern and Contemporary Criticism

Contemporary critics have read _Othello_ in light of modern ways of life, including women's sexuality, post-colonialism and religion.

Q: Modern and Contemporary Performance

_Othello_ has been performed regularly since publication. Modern and contemporary productions have ranged from the traditional to the progressive.

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Modern and Contemporary Criticism

Two of the most important commentators on Shakespeare’s tragedies are A.C. Bradley and Gardner, though they disagree in their ideas about Othello.

Bradley

One of the most important commentators on Shakespeare’s tragedies was A(ndrew) C(ecil) Bradley (1851-1935).
Bradley took a very character-driven response to tragedy.

Shakespearean Tragedy

In his book Shakespearean Tragedy, first published in 1904, he said that ‘Of all the tragedies... Othello is the most painfully exciting and the most terrible’.
He also commented that ‘there is no subject more exciting than sexual jealousy rising to the pitch of passion’.

Gardner

Another important critic was Helen Gardner (1908-1986).
She disagreed with many of Bradley’s ideas about Othello.
Writing in 1963, Gardner said that ‘Othello is like a hero of the ancient world in that he is not a man like us, but a man recognized as extraordinary.’

Solitariness

Gardner also said that ‘the thing that most sets him apart is his solitariness. He is a stranger, a man of alien race, without ties or nature or natural duties’.

Modern and Contemporary Criticism

Contemporary critics have read Othello in light of modern ways of life, including women's sexuality, post-colonialism and religion.

Sex

A recent interpretation of the play has been offered by Karen Newman, who explores the connection between race and sexuality in critical responses to the play over time.
One idea that Newman puts forward is that Desdemona appears to enjoy sex—something that would have been considered unacceptable for women in Shakespeare’s day.

Foreigner

Furthermore, Newman argues there is the issue that she ‘enjoys sex with an outsider’.
Therefore, many prejudices and stereotypes are turned upside-down by their marriage.

Post-colonial readings

Post-colonial readings focus on the play’s representation of Ottoman Turks and argue that Othello is also part of this distinctive ‘Other’ world.

Religion

In fact, Othello and the Turks have a religious commonality about them.
Othello is a foreign mercenary but he has been engaged to defeat his own ethnic and religious group.
This may also seal his tragic fate.

Modern and Contemporary Performance

Othello has been performed regularly since publication. Modern and contemporary productions have ranged from the traditional to the progressive.

America, 1943

An American production took place in 1943 staging starring Paul Robeson as Othello and José Ferrer as Iago.
This production was the first ever in America to feature a black actor playing Othello with an otherwise all-white cast.
Considering the sensitivities over race relations in America at this time, this was a bold performance.

London, 1964

In 1964, the famous actor Laurence Olivier played Othello at the Royal National Theatre in London.
In order to perform this role he was ‘blacked up’ to look Moorish.
These days, such practice is never completed in the theatre as it is considered politically inappropriate.

Washington, 1997

In 1997, Patrick Stewart performed Othello with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. in a ‘photo negative’ production.
He played a white Othello with an otherwise all-black cast.
The play therefore explored a white man operating in a black society.