Othello †Why the Universal Fascination? Essay -- Othello essays

Othello Why the Universal Fascination? Though there is contention among literary critics regarding the universality of fascination with Shakespeares dramatic tragedy Othello, among many generations of viewing audience there is a sharp consensus in favor of the universal attraction of the play. Is characterization the dominant cause of the dramatists broad popularity? Harry Levin in the General Introduction to The riverbank Shakespeare finds other reasons for his appeal Universal as his attraction has been, it is best understood through particulars. Though to our advantage his creations are relatively timeless, they would not mean so much to us if they had not been timely in their day. Nor would they have made their lasting impact, if their author had not been past track of his exacting and exciting medium, linguistic, poetic, dramatic.. . . The book-learning that Shakespeare displays here and there is far less impressive, in the long run, than his fund of general informat ion. His frame of reference is so far-ranging, and he is so concretely versed in the tricks of so many trades, that lawyers have written to prove he was trained in the law, sailors ab let on his expert seamanship, naturalists upon his botanizing, and so on throughout the professions (2-4). Shakespeares universality his ability to please every taste, to win all mens suffrage, in Ben Jonsons phrase was compounded out of his very heterogeneity, his appeal to individuals through a concrete understanding of their concerns. (18) Francis Ferguson in Two Worldviews Echo Each Other ranks the play Othello quite high among the bardes tragedies Othello, written in 1604, is one of the masterpieces of Shakes... ...sher. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1996. Rpt. from Shakespeare The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p. n.p., 1970. Frye, Northrop. Nature and Nothing. Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press, 1965. Heilman, Robert B. The Role We Give Shakespear e. 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. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. Shakespeare. Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.