The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice (Signet Classic Shakespeare) (Library Binding)

by William Shakespeare (Author), Sylvan Barnet (Author), Alvin B. Kernan (Editor) "Roderigo. Tush! Never tell me?..." (more)
Key Phrases: thy purse, second quarto, good lieutenant, Enter Othello, New York, King Lear (more...)

Product Details

• Library Binding: 246 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439500932
• ISBN-13: 978-1439500934
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL!, April 22, 2006

By	M. Stromyer "Andrew Stro" (Towson (Baltimore), Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Othello (Signet Classic Shakespeare) (Paperback)

Though I am not a particular fan of Shakespearian work, I instantly fell in love wioth Othello. This play is one of the greatest things ever written. Never has a playwright combined love, extreme decpeption, jealousy, anger, and fear in a play like Shakespeare has in Othello.

Even if you are not a fan of Shakespeare, I highlky recommend this play.

If you do not wish to read the play then I would recommend going out and renting or buying the movie "O" with Josh Hartnet, Julia Stiles, and Mikih Phifer. I would rent/but the 2 disc version because the second disc includes the original silent version of "Othello" from the 1920s.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Will, really bad commentary (Signet Classic), December 28, 2007

By	Harry Eagar (Maui) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Othello (Signet Classic Shakespeare) (Paperback)

Forty-plus years ago, when I first started reading Shakespeare, I liked the Signet Classic editions.

They were cheap and handy, and the play texts were just about right for a beginner: clear, with an indication of variant and disputed readings without overwhelming the play; a simple, convenient way of glossing the hard words; and useful short explications of some of the allusions.

Recently, preparing to go see a production of "Othello," I picked up the Signet Classic version to re-read, and I did something I had not done in my student days: I read the supporting material.

The background to the original staging and Renaissance playcraft was unexceptionable, but when I got to the "new dramatic criticism," I was appalled.

Not all of it was new. Of three essays, two dated from 1956 and 1960 and no doubt were part of the first issue in 1963. These were tedious and obvious, just the sort of thing that took all the enjoyment out of studying Shakespeare in school.

The third, dated 1980, had been added to pander to current campus fads -- not something you need when reading a Jacobean text. The editors got a three-fer: an essay by Madelon Sprengnether that coughed up psychoanalysis, feminism and PoMo French-Belgian trendiness in a convenient but indigestible hairball.

It's hard to imagine that still in 1980, people were taking Freud seriously and disgusting to see Shakespeare subjected to Belgian Nazis. Of the feminism, all I can say is that sometimes a sword is just a sword.

I have read a fair amount of Shakespeare criticism and liked little of it. But until Sprengnether, none of it disgusted me.

The copy I picked up second-hand dated from 1986. No doubt in the two decades since, more "new criticism" has been added to keep up with the dumbing down of the campuses. To 21st century students, here's some advice. You will be better off doing what I used to do: Stick by the big fish and let his remoras tag along unheeded.