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Othello Criticism - S. T. Coleridge & Charles Lamb From todays prospective, there is no doubt that Shakespeare's tragedy Othello has properties of political incorrectness. Yet, this masterpiece cant be simply banned from public libraries, like it would happen to works of less famous authors, had they clearly associated evil with a dark color of skin. Nevertheless, something had to be done to purify Shakespeare's original intentions. Thats why there are numerous critics that try explaining authors true motivations from the different point of view, so they can be brought inline with contemporary political trends.
One of such critics is Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who suggests nothing less but Othello being a true hero in this tragedy: Othello must not be conceived as a Negro, but a high and chivalrous Moorish chief (Coleridge). It is a true that Othello possesses many great psychological qualities, yet hes a black The mastery of Shakespeare lies in the fact that the conflict in his masterpiece revolves not just around obvious racial discrepancies. Viewers have no doubts in validity of the reasons that led to this conflict, even though that these reasons cant be clearly defined. Coleridge indulges in the fallacy of omnipotence when he says that: We, the audience, know that Iago is a villain from the beginning (Coleridge). Quite contrary, Iago might prove thousand times to be a villain, yet audiences sympathy is going to be on his side, simply because his reasoning to act the way he did is rational. On the other hand, we have Othello, seemingly perfect (except his color) individual, whose rational is based on anomalistic subconscious.
The color of his skin here is a mystic warning Author wanted to show us that sometimes form defines the content. This is what makes this tragedy great author strives for nothing less but to describe the universe in illogical terms. Yet, there is also a hope, since misapprehension in this case comes as a part of natural law. Coleridge suggests Othello being a true victim. This is only true to certain extent. After all, his dignity is restored in the end, unlike Desdemonas In my opinion, Charles Lamb came much closer to understanding the essence of Shakespeare's tragedy in his analysis.
He describes the relationship between Othello and Desdemona as such that under no circumstances could lead to drastic ending, yet on the stage things appear quite differently: it is the perfect triumph of virtue over accidents, of the imagination over the senses. She sees Othello's color in his mind. But upon the stage, when the imagination is no longer the ruling faculty, but we are left to our poor unassisted senses (Lamb). This is a very valid point when one watches tragedy on the stage, he gets a totally different experience from if he had read it. The question is whether our visual perception of reality is what defines our logic or it happens other way around. Shakespeare wanted to show that peoples subconscious intuition is not to be taken lightly.
There are Darwinist motive in this tragedy biological predetermination, which appears to be as such that cant be rejected out of hand. Lamb rightly suggests that: The error of supposing that because Othello's color does not offend us in the reading, it should also not offend us in the seeing (Lamb). We cant disregard Othello's color. Were drawn to character for exactly the same reason why many White people are drawn to exotic ethnic food it discusses and fascinates them at the same time. It appears that Shakespeare also wanted to give us a moral lesson through his tragedy. Whatever the laws of nature might seem cruel and unjust, ones virtue is to follow them.
At the same time, even the most virtuous individuals are condemned if they choose to proceed their own ways. This seems to be the single moral in Othello. Lambs understanding of authors original intentions is based on recognition of tragedy's complexity, rather then on skin-deep interpretation of its visual effects.
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Research essay sample on Othello Criticism S T Coleridge Charles Lamb
