IAGO. SOME APPROACHES TO THE ILLUSION OF HIS MOTIVATION. A Study in Pluralist Criticism.

by Stanley Edgar Hyman

IAGO. SOME APPROACHES TO THE ILLUSION OF HIS MOTIVATION. A Study in Pluralist Criticism

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1970

About the author

Hyman, Stanley Edgar 1919-1970
Hyman, Stanley
Hyman, Stanley E. 1919-1970

Reviews

[Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear and concise, if not particularly compelling overview of different critical ways of looking at the character of Iago from Shakespeare’s “Othello.”

Hyman gives a cursory gloss to five different critical lenses, concluding with the scholarship equivalent of a shrug, saying that none of the lenses in and of itself is sufficient, and that understanding and appreciating Iago requires one to be open to overlapping interpretations in conversation with each other.

Hyman’s “pluralist criticism” is eminently reasonable and close to my own thinking, but doesn’t make for exciting reading.

There is a totally superfluous appendix by Phoebe Pettingell examining the motivations of Jago, the character from Verdi’s opera adaptation of “Othello” which I was annoyed by and mostly skimmed.

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presenting five different approaches to Iago's characterization (and thereby his motivation) - as stage villain, as the devil (with a really nice reading of the difference “base Indian” of the Quartos and “base Iudean” in the First Folio), as a representation of the playwright (as a counterpoint to Prospero), as a latent homosexual, and as a Machievelli figure - Hyman goes through multiple scenes from the play in each section to support each possible reading (even though he favours Iago as devil). I had not thought of the figure of Iago as either a Machievellian nor as a destructive Prospero-like figure, so these were particularly interesting sections to go over.

[Jasmine]

Another case of no rating - wasn't super helpful to my essay, but could be helpful to others.