Othello – Critical Theory – Race
Ryan - “[Othello and Desdemona are] prisoners of a time when racial prejudice and sexual
infidelity are so ingrained that even their heroic hearts are tainted by them”
Loomba - “Othello is both a fantasy of interracial love… and a nightmare of racial hatred and
male violence”
Kiernan Ryan - “The deep seated racism that poisons Venetian view of Othello and even
Othello’s view of himself”
F.R Leavis - “The tragic protagonaist’s fatal flaw is his failure to fully integrate himself with
Venetian culture.”
Ryan - “[Othello and Desdemona are] prisoners of a time when racial prejudice and sexual
infidelity are so ingrained that even their heroic hearts are tainted by them”
Loomba - “Othello is both a fantasy of interracial love… and a nightmare of racial hatred and
male violence”
Kiernan Ryan - “The deep seated racism that poisons Venetian view of Othello and even
Othello’s view of himself”
F.R Leavis - “The tragic protagonaist’s fatal flaw is his failure to fully integrate himself with
Venetian culture.”
