Othello (3rd Series) (Paperback)

by William Shakespeare (Author), E. A. J. Honigmann (Author)
Key Phrases: scenic form, double time scheme, good lago, King Lear, Wilson Knight, Faerie Queene (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'Honigmann's extensive knowledge illuminates this play at every turn, making this the best edition of Othello now available.' -- Brian Vickers, Review of English Studies --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
This edition of "Othello" aims to shed light on the text of the play as we have come to know it, and on our knowledge of its early history. The professional malpractices of the publisher of the Quarto, as described in documents in the Public Record Office, and the professional zeal of the Folio scribe, who wished to tidy and correct Shakespeare's manuscript, introduced many plausible but post-Shakespearean readings into the text, which call into question a number of our assumptions about the play. As well as investigating the implications of these findings about the early texts, the editor offers a wider background to the play, discussing major critical issues, the play in performance and the relationship between reading and seeing it, and topics such as its date, sources, the famous conundrum of "double time", and its "greatness" compared with "Hamlet" and "King Lear". Commentary notes assist the reader's understanding of the text in detail; many are concerned with the contemporary resonances of its language.

Product Details

• Paperback: 425 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 3rd edition (October 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0174434642
• ISBN-13: 978-0174434641
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,480,028 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine edition with many helps for the reader, February 24, 2004

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Othello (Arden Shakespeare, Third Series) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great guide to one of Shakespeare's best tragedies, June 16, 2007

By	Ryan P. Hilderbrand (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Othello (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) (Paperback)

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!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Edition of a Great Play, January 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Othello (Arden Shakespeare, Third Series) (Paperback)

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.