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One of Shakespeare's four major tragedies, Othello has captivated audiences for centuries. This reference book is designed to help students understand the play in greater depth. The early chapters discuss significant differences between the texts of Othello and explore the play's sources and ...

One of Shakespeare's four major tragedies, Othello has captivated audiences for centuries. This reference book is designed to help students understand the play in greater depth. The early chapters discuss significant differences between the texts of Othello and explore the play's sources and contexts. The book then examines the tragedy's settings, action, patterns of language, and major characters. Later chapters study the play's significant themes and review its critical heritage from the seventeenth century to the present. A final chapter analyzes various productions of the play, especially those available on film and videotape. A bibliographical essay concludes the volume.

Although Othello has been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, its performance history has been marked with risk and tension because of the play's focus on racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality. The controversies surrounding conflicting attitudes toward race and religion, love and ...

Although Othello has been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, its performance history has been marked with risk and tension because of the play's focus on racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality. The controversies surrounding conflicting attitudes toward race and religion, love and marriage, and war and the military in Shakespeare's time are reflected in the tragic plot and thematic ambiguities of Othello. This interdisciplinary casebook is designed to help students and their teachers explore the historical and modern issues related to the play. By combining primary documents with commentary, this guide considers many theatrical, cultural, social, and political concerns at the core of Othello. A literary analysis chapter addresses such topics as the nature of tragedy, the source of the play, and the richness of Othello's language, imagery, and thematic patterns. Three chapters on historical context consider attitudes toward race, love and marriage, and the role of the military in Shakespeare's,time, revealing some of the social and political controversies reflected in Othello. A discussion of performance and interpretation traces the ways that changing cultural values and artistic expectations have affected the popularity and interpretation of Othello on stage, in film, and in literary criticism over the centuries. A final chapter on contemporary applications expands the focus of discussion to explore how Othello might reflect and challenge perspectives on contemporary stories, including both factual events recorded in newspaper headlines and fictional plots drawn from a variety of storylines in literature.