Arden Shakespeare: Othello

In a period of ten years Shakespeare wrote a series of tragedies that established him, by universal consent, in the front rank of the world's dramatists. Critics have praised either King Lear or Hamlet as the greatest of these. Ernst Honigmann, in the most significant edition of the play for a generation, asks: why not Othello? The third of the mature tragedies, it contains perhaps the best plot, two of Shakespeare's most original characters, the most powerful scene in any of the plays, and poetry second to none. This edition sheds new light on the text of the play as we have come to know it and on our knowledge of its early history. Honigmann examines the major critical issues, the play in performance and the relationship between reading it and seeing it. He also explores topics such as its date, sources, and the conundrum of 'double time'.