Customer Reviews

Othello (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
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This edition is from the 3rd Arden Series and may have a more modern feel to readers than the previous series did. For example, modern scholars believe that Shakespeare's plays were performed without break between scene and act so this edition does away with the ACT I Scene 2 headings and instead merely inserts 1.2 in the text where the change occurs.

There is a fine introductory essay that gives important cultural information to help the reader understand the moral climate in Venice in Shakespeare's time and the context of the play in the author's career and times.

This edition has the many good notes one expects from Arden editions. The longer notes are moved to the back to avoid too great an interruption to the readability of the text. There is also music for the two songs in the play and an index.

A fine edition that I am glad to own and refer to.

I have never intently read Shakespeare before, but enough people told me that I needed to read "Othello" that I decided to break down and buy a copy. Everything about Shakespeare I find intimidating, so with much trepidation did I buy this critical edition of "Othello". Needless to say, this work is AMAZING. Not only does Dr. Honigmann give notes along the way to help the reader interpret what the characters are saying, but he also provides an extensive introduction outlining Shakespeare's sources, some possible motives, and some character criticism. He also provides one of Shakespeare's main sources, a short story written by Giraldi Cinthio, and in this short story he provides notes that link it directly to the text of "Othello". I am completely sold on "The Arden Shakespeare" series, and will continue to use it in the future. A definite buy!

The play "Othello" is magnificant, and there are plenty of reviews to attest to that. This reviewer wants to point out greatness of the publisher and editor in this case (referring to the Arden Shakespeare). After buying Arden's "Henry V" publication a year ago, I have become a devout fan.

I will never buy Shakespeare from another publisher. While these books may be slightly more expensive than a "mass market" edition, I believe that if you are going to take the time to read and understand Shakespeare, it is well worth the extra dollar or two. The Introduction, the images, and plethora of footnotes are irreplaceable and nearly neccessary for a full understanding of the play (for those of us who are not scholars already). I recommend that you buy ALL of Shakespeare's work from Arden's critical editions.

Shakespeare's play, "Othello" is usually recognized as one of his "great" tragedy's (with Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth). It certainly has a quite exciting plot and great poetry. If you have not yet had an oportunity to read this great work, I recomend it strongly. It is still an intelligent treatment of race, family and civic duty, and sex. It also has one of the most interesting bad guys around - Iago.

I read it in the Arden edition, edited by Honigmann. Honigmann argues that Othello has a strong claim at being Shakespeare's greatest tragedy and makes a strong case for the work. He has a good introduction that gives a quite balanced and clear overview on many topics regarding this play, from the "double" time method Shakespeare uses, overviews of the various characters, as well as a the stage history. Amazingly, he can be remarkably balanced, even when he is talking about his own views. While he is a decent writer, Shakespeare is better... In the text itself, he gives quite ample footnotes to help explain the language, why he picked particular readings, as well as where themes came from...

Like all scholarly Shakespeare editions, the notes are in danger of overloading the text. This reader, however, recognizes the distance between myself and Shakespeare and so I find it comforting to be able to look at the notes when I have questions. At times his "longer notes" were awkward, but there is no easy way to handle this amount of material.

This is probably the best version of Shakespeares Othello out there. It defines and describes the text, very useful. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Shakespeares works.

As mentioned on my review of the Norton Critical Edition of "Othello," I purchased the two versions together so I could put together an online version of the play for a project my professor has been working on for some time now. Personally, I like this version better than the Norton one because it keeps the British spellings, but for the purpose of the project the spellings are being made into the American spelling. Overall, it's a good edition and, as with the Norton edition, came at the suggestion of my professor.

"Hamlet," "Othello" and "Macbeth" are the best Shakespeare plays ever written. They are filled with deceit and betrayal, especially "Othello," which is the most interesting and easiest to understand. Once you read it you'll understand how gullible Othello is, how betrayed Desdemona feels (and for good reason) and how truly evil Iago is, and also learn how the lives of six people are ruined by a misplaced handkerchief. Now I want to see the movie.

Only Shakespeare, the great master of drama, could sculpt such a fabulous scheme. This play introduces one of the most tragic of characters, Othello. Othello is not the villain, but instead is a noble man who is entangled in a plot in which he knows nothing about and which eventually leads to the downfall of all those directly and indirectly involved. This is a masterful work of art that weaves both suspense and comic relief into one. Even "Macbeth" cannot compare to the tragedy found in "Othello." Othello is a tragic figure in that he is a good and honest man with a single fault that leads to his own destruction. He is too trusting and by trusting in everyone around him he leaves himself open to trickery. Because he himself would never lie and deceive he can never believe that others would lie to and deceive him. Iago, the villain is the perfect evil mastermind who controls the events surrounding his plot with great precision (and a little luck) until the final scenes of the play. I recommend this play to any drama fan and certainly to anyone interested in Shakespeare's great genius.