Pupil notes from critic session

QUOTATION A

Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned to-night;
for she shall not live: no, my heart is turned to
stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand.
- OTHELLO, ACT IV. SCENE I.

Critic 1:

Gender theorist: not very nice to women, angry, headstrong, violent, thinks of women as goods.

Critic 2:

Reader response: harsh tone, shocking.

Critic 3:

Formalist: use of metaphors, first line: rule of 3 things he wants, monosyllables ‘for she shall not live’

Critic 4:

Marxist: his high position in society will force him to keep his honour by losing his love for a woman who is disgraced; albeit as a high general informed him.

Critic 5:

Psychoanalytic: his state of mind is unstable, he is distressed and angry that Desdemona has cheated on him.



QUOTATION B

O curse of marriage,
That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad,
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others' uses.
- OTHELLO, ACT III. SCENE III

Critic 1:

Formalist: toad metaphor.

Critic 2:

Marxist: due to their conflict of social class, marriage would never have succeeded, and love could never prosper.

Critic 3:

Psychoanalytic: he is questioning his marriage. The idea that she is cheating on him is tormenting him.

Critic 4:

Gender theorist: not a great believer in marriage, exerting his power over women, reference to ‘delicate creatures’, compliment but an insult, animalistic, demeaning women.

Critic 5:

Reader response: contrast of ‘curse’ and ‘delicate’


QUOTATION C
 

An honourable murderer, if you will;
For nought I did in hate, but all in honour.

Othello, Act V Scene II

Critic 1:

Reader response: Othello should redeem himself. Shocking. Feels regretful not honourable.

Critic2:

Formalist: repetition of honour to emphasise.

Critic 3:

Marxist: due to his high position in society his honour will ultimately outweigh his affection for Desdemona by keeping his honour with her demise.

Critic 4:

Psychoanalytic: he is now trying to justify his behaviour.

Critic 5:

Gender theorist: he’s exerting power, doing it on behalf of all men (“else she’ll betray more men”) underlying misogyny, repeating honour to prove he is doing it for men. He loves her though.


QUOTATION D

O ill-starred wench!
Pale as thy smock! when we shall meet at compt,
This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,
And fiends will snatch at it.

Othello, Act V scene II

Critic 1:

Marxist: class system. ‘hurl my soul from heaven’ – Othello being repressed by religion.

Critic 2:

Psychoanalytic: feels guilty for killing Desdemona. Obsession with the devil suggest he’s in a bad mental state and past is affecting him.

Critic 3:

Gender theorist: ‘pale’, contrasts her/him. ‘wench’ – misogynist, angry.

Critic 4:

Reader response: shocking

Critic 5:

Formalist: simile, descriptive language, monosyllables.


QUOTATION E

Yet I'll not shed her blood;
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.

Othello Act V scene II

Critic 1:

Psychoanalytical: Othello is mentally unstable as he does not want to ‘shed her blood’ but is still insistent that ‘she must die’. This ties in with his emerged possessive nature that was brought out by Iago.

Critic 2:

Gender theorist: he’s asserting his authority, because in his view he thinks that women cannot be trusted, showing his male superiority.

Critic 3:

Reader response: shocking, writer intended to show Othello’s emotion in order.

Critic 4:

Formalist: repetition in last line mirrors putting out the light which is her life. The use of colour to convey contrast in the ‘snow’ white skin of Desdemona, red of her ‘blood’. Last line is monosyllabic – showing controlled anger.

Critic 5:

Marxist: ‘else she’ll betray more men’ – related to honour in Venetian society.