Othello critical theory

• F.R Leavis: '"Iago is not much more than a necessary piece of dramatic mechanism"'
• F.R Leavis: '"The tragic protagonist was responsible for his own downfall"'
• F.R Leavis: '"Iago's role is subordinate and merely ancillary"'
• Liz Lewis: '"Her identity disappears as Othello's jealousy becomes more defined"'
• Liz Lewis: '"Iago's manipulation of Othello occurs because of the views on women the moor already possesses"'
• R. Gibson: 'Othello "proved a significant symbol in the struggle for black emancipation"'
• Ania Loomba: 'Central conflict in Othello "is between the racism of a white patriarchy and the threat posed to it by both a black man and a white woman"'
• Ania Loomba: 'Othello is a "victim of racial beliefs because he is an agent of misogynistic ones"'
• Ania Loomba: '"In this play, a white woman flouts the established social hierarchies of 'clime, complexion and degree' to marry a black man, an act that betrays, in the eyes of some beholders 'Foul disproportions, thoughts unnatural!'"'
• Ania Loomba: '"Iago's machinations are effective because Othello is predisposed to believing his pronouncements about the inherent duplicity of women"'
• Ania Loomba: '"The English saw Venice not simply as a place for female deviance, but also as an ideal republic and hub of international trade."'
• Ania Loomba: '"Did the play make the case for a tolerant society, or did it issue a warning not only to disobedient daughters but also to 'open societies' who let in outsiders, especially black ones?"'
• A.C Bradley: 'Labelled Othello as 'blameless'. Othello is noble, as he 'inspires passion of mingled love and pity' which none of Shakespeare's other heroes aspire.'
• A.C Bradley: ''Othello's nature is all of one piece. His trust where he trusts is absolute… Othello decides and acts instantaneously."'
• A.C Bradley: 'Argues that Iago is motivated by pride, as he is in need to prove "his power and superiority"'
• A.C Bradley: 'Bradley states that tragedy doesn't only bring about "sympathy and pity, but admiration, terror and awe"'
• Sean McEvoy: '"audience becomes complicit in Iago's intentions… share Iago's delight"'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"if Iago were a straightforward villain he would arouse little fellow feeling in audiences, yet of course he is anything but straightforward and audiences have responded to him in different ways, depending on the actor."'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"he confides in us, so we watch his plot unfolding from his point of view"'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"His humour either intends to give pain or allows him to bask in his sense of his own superiority, very rarely is it at his own expense"'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"he deliberately defiles cassio's image of Desdemona"'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"he enjoys a godlike sense of power"'
• E.A J Honnigman: 'Hard Goddard, who thought that Shakespeare bestowed 'the highest intellectual gifts on' Iago"'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"despite his cleverness, he has neither felt nor understood the spiritual impulses that bind ordinary human beings together, loyalty, friendship, respect, compassion – in a word, love."'
• E.A J Honnigman: '"Emilia's love (of Desdemona) is Iago's undoing."'