A Further Study of the Othello: Have We Misunderstood Shakespeare's Moor? (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from A Further Study of the Othello: Have We Misunderstood Shakespeare's Moor?

The theory presented in these pages must stand or fall as an entirety. Yet it seems to me, what ever else its fate in the judgment of students, it at least, and at last, answers the long-standing accu sation against Shakespeare of sympathy with race prejudice and indifference to the claims of the com mon people; for in this interpretation we have a black man, who was once a slave, rising by his own merit to become a commander over white nobles; awarded the surpassing love of the almost angelic Desdemona; above all, rendered in heart and soul truly worthy such devotion, and invested with a nobility and loftiness such as Shakespeare has bestowed upon no hero of his own race. And be yond this momentous meaning, the theory now presented, if true, throws a finer light than hereto fore on Shakespeare's final attitude toward the.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A Further Study of the Othello: Have We Misunderstood Shakespeare's Moor?

It cannot be shown too often how Shakespeare cast out the grossness which abounded in the sources of many of his plots and which his age would have been glad to have had him enliven with his genius. Stemming popular taste and example, he strove for greater purity. The Bankside editors have called attention to such purification in "Hamlet" and the "Merchant of Venice." It has remained for an extended effort to be made in these pages to indicate in the case of Othello and Desdemona how Shakespeare portrayed a super-refined sexual honor with a delicacy and purity far beyond even the semi-sacred miracle or mystery drama of his youth, from which in part he obtained the suggestion.

Comparing the "Othello" with Cinthio's Italian tale, and bringing into consideration the strangely overlooked influence of the miracle play, a new view of Shakespearean purity and power must dawn upon us when we behold, as with the eyes of the Elizabethans, the last stage in the mesalliance of black and white portrayed in the redeeming colors of the old nuptial poetry, so significant in that day, but now so long forgotten that its spirit and its diction have become a dead letter.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.