Othello (Vol. 35) | D. R. Godfrey (essay date 1972)
D. R. Godfrey (essay date 1972)
SOURCE: "Shakespeare and the Green Eyed Monster," in Neophilologus, Vol. LVI, No. 2, April, 1972, pp. 207-20.
[In the essay below, Godfrey discusses the interplay between jealousy and evil in Othello.]
To proclaim Shakespeare's Othello as a tragedy of jealousy is but to echo the opinion of every critic who ever wrote about it. The jealousy not only of Othello, but of such lesser figures as Roderigo and even Bianca is surely self-evident enough to be taken for granted. And yet, though the jealousy of Othello in particular is invariably mentioned and assumed, it cannot be said that any over-riding importance has on the whole been attributed to it. While Othello may deliver judgement on himself as one,
not easily jealous, but being wrought,
Perplex'd in the extreme,
(V. ii....
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