Othello | Othello

In the first excerpt, Albert Gerard examines Othello's personality, discovering cracks in the "facade" of the generous, confident self-disciplined husband and general. The second excerpt is by Wyndham Lewis, who wrote in a deliberately provocative style and outside the mainstream of Shakespearean criticism. Lewis argues that Othello depicts "the race of men at war with the race of titans" and that the gods have predetermined that Iago, the petty Everyman, will triumph over the grandeur of Othello.

Albert Gerard
[Gerard examines Othello's personality, discovering cracks in the "facade" of the generous, confident self-disciplined husband and general. The critic argues that Othello believes that his marriage to Desdemona will transform his life from one of primitive "chaos" to one of civilization and contentment. This naive dream shatters, however, with his increasing jealousy and his growing awareness that his new-found happiness is an illusion. Gerard thus regards Othello's development as a change from innocence to self-awareness and...

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