Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-04-22
SDAKESPlARH'S "OTHILL0.'

Clhuio Ou tlib ilUclpdl ltalUu NTltClh.
Gays that "Othello is perhaps the great
est work in the world While this decIa-
rtaion is incidental 30 Nacaulgy's essay, il
Is, Of course, praise in the highest form,
especially emGnating from so distin-
gnished and erudte a source. Oih-lo
belongs 10 that group OF tragedies con-
stiiuted by Hamlet, Macbeth Lear, and
itself, and this group is unparalleled in
tie literature Of any ago or country.
The critics have not agreed os to what
comparative position 10 assign Othello,
but IN power. sublimity, and strength 1t
is the equal Of either OF the three named /;
and in the perfection of its dramatic az
ton. completeness of plot, or what is
technically called cOnstrUcfjvcness. il is
their superior. Viewed from the stand
point of purely dramatic construction, 1t
is a perfect PLAY. No supernatural
agencies are ueed in its movement, and
from beginning to end its situations are
produced 10y the employment Of the pas
sions natural to humanity, and all of its
characters might be even at this day of
enlightenment and progress living ex-
istencics.
One Of the most ACKNOWLEDGMENT
questions in regard to Othcllo is whether
lie was a negro or Moor. No less -
person than President John Quincy
Adams, man OF wonderful erudition,
has attempted to establish TINT Othello
was a negro, and Retzsch has made him
80 in bis outlines. Hildebrandt, also,
in his celebrated picture of Othello and
Desdemona, has painted Othelio as a
negro. For this contention there is
some support in the text One Of these
is Roderigo speaking Of Othello in the
fret scene as having "Mick tips" in
Act 2, Scene 3, Iago speaks OF him as
the "biack Otheilo." In Act 3, Scene
3, Othello says OF himself "FOr / am
btack " ) and again in the same scene in
the same act he says, in talking with
lago, in speaking of Desdemona:
"Her name. that was a. fresh
As Disna's visage, Is now begTimed and black
As mine OWn Jace.'
think, however, that these terms are
used in the play in a qualified or COM
parative sense. / think that the name
that Shakespeare has given to this play
viz, "Othello, the Moor of Venice, &"
should decide this whole question. In
the first folio-viz., the 1923 edition Of
Shakespeare, published by Hemminge e
Conduit, and, as l have stated in pre-
vious essays, is the only admitted au-
thoTity for the text OF his dramatic works,
the play is put down as "Othello, the
Moore Of Venice The story OF Othello
was taken by Shakespeare from the
" Hcccatommithj" Of Gerald Cinthio,
an Italian novelist, first published in
Sicily in 1865. In that story Othello is
known as the Moor, and has no other
name. Shakespeare may or may not have
ever seen a Moor or a negro, but, as
Richard Grant White says, che could
not fail to know the difference be-
tween the position and the cha
racter of the nation which built
the ALEXANDRIA and that which fur
nished their stock in trade to the Eng
lishmen, VINO, when he wrote Othello,
were supplying the plantations in the
Yves. Indies with slaves, and soon after
his death introduced negro slavery into
Virginia" The negro race has never
produced such n general and military
hero as Shakespeare portrays IN Othello,
whereas the Moors were warlike and
civilized race, and to such race Othello
would belong. And, in addition to this,
in Act 4, Scene 9, the following CONVEX
sation occurs between ROderigo and
Iago, which shows that Mauritania was
the native land Of Othello-viz
RoderIco: ais that true. Why. then Otheno
and DesdemonR return again 70 Venice"
laco: 30, no; no goes into Mauritania, and
tax rs away with him the fair Desdomona. unless
his abode be fingered here by some accident;
moving Of Cassie"
Mauritania was the ancient name of
Morocco, and Morocco was the country
of the Moors. l think the evidence
stated conclusiyely determines that
O.helo was Moor. The text also shows
that Othello was Of royal lineage, for, in
speaking of himself, he says:
"'Tis yet to know,
Which. when know that boasting Is an honor,
shall promulgate, fetch my lnc and being
From men Of royal siege"
Hazlltt mentions as one Of the criti-
cisms that has been made upon Othello
that in view OF the atrocious villiany
perpetrated by Iago. that he Qsgo) acts
an adequate motive. | cannot
for an instant see the justice of this criti
cism, and l think it supplies absolute ig
norance Of the text OF the play. In
Act l, Scene 3, and again in
Act ., Scene 3. lagos motives
pre- fully set forth and explicitly stated.
In addition, too, in Act l., Scene l, he
ayows to Roderigo the bitterest hatred
Of Othello because he has thwarted his
promotion Assuredly, in ell of this
there is adequacy-infnite adequacy Of
motive. lagos revenge IS low and gro
Yelling but his cause for revenge is un-
bounded, and bis methods those of an
Italian Of the Middle Ages, when almost
any depravity received sanction.
Macaulsy says, in speaking of Iago :
" IGgo is the object of universal losthing.
Many are inclined to suspectthst Shakes
peare has been seduced into an ex-
aggeration unusual with him, and has
drawn monster who has no archetype
in human nature" ] cannot concur in
this estimate of Iagc. In Iago Shakes
peare has unquestionably delineated a
but he is a natural mon
ster, and the worlds history sup
plies many parallels to him-many
that will readily occur to any his
torical reader. That Shakespeare de- |
ineated the character Of Isgo with ex-
IRENE care as to its naturalness is best !
,ttested by the fact that in Cinthio's |
original story Iago has little child three !
years of age that is greatly loved by !
Desdemona, and lago educates and !
Dribes this child to steal the handker-
thief while Desdemona is caressing it.
The use Of a pure child in this way is
rejected by Shakespeare as too monstrous
even for Iago, and in the play the hand /
ierchief is procured for him by his wife,
Emelia. This fact shows that Shakes
1eare toned down the character Of 1ago |
rs it existed in the original story. But /
( was remarkable indeed, in view OF
his criticism OF Macaulay's upon lsgo,
hat in his essay upon Machiayelli the |
Glowing passage should be found-viz.
ain this respect no history suggests more i'm |
,ortaut reflections than that Of the Tuscan and |
.ombRrd commOnWealths. The character OF the /
Italian statesmen seems, at hrst sight, collec- |
ion Of contradictions. "a phantom as m0nstTous |
s the FORTRESS Of he'll In Milton, half divinity, /
slf snake: majestic and beautiful above, groT6l- |
Ing and poisonous below. We SEQ man Who,e |
noughts and words have no connection with each
heei a IN "