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Article SHAKSPERE'S OTHELLO. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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Shakspere's Othello.
unquestioned by any critic * This circumstance gives it a peculiar interest , which we shall proceed briefly to consider . The comparison which some critics have drawn between the relative merits of the play and the novel , proceeds upon an erroneous principle ; the same test of criticism is inapplicable to the two productions . " There was wanting in the narrative
of Cinthio , " observes M . Guizot , " the poetical genius which furnished the actors , —which created the individuals , —which imposed upon each a figure and a character , —which made us see their actions , and listen to their words , —which presented their thoughts and penetrated their sentiments , —that vivifying power which summons events to ariseto progressto
ex-, , pand , to be completed , —that creative breath , which , breathing over the past , calls it again into being , and fills it with a present and imperishable life : —this was the power which Shakspere alone possessed , and by which , out of a forgotten novel , he has made Othello . " t
This passage is eloquently true as a criticism on Shakspere ' s play , but does not apply to Cinthio ' s tale ; in fact , it only defines the province of the dramatic poet ' s art . Cinthio ' s story was no drama , but one of the plainest and most straightforward narratives , exhibiting human nature under its ordinary aspects , and tracing the simple chain of events with
ordinary regularity : there is no art in its structure , no consideration in its arrangement , and it consequently lays claim to no merit beyond what it may possess in point of style , consistency , and general truth to nature : it was not a true tale , but it might have been . " My intention in this work , " says the author , " was , above all , to narrate events the most
like truth , which might , together with innocent amusement , bring also some profit to every class of persons . " On each of the grounds just mentioned , the claim of this tale to considerable merit may be admitted , apart from any invidious comparison with the infinitely grander fabric which Shakspere has erected out of its simple materials .
At the same time , a comparison of a different and more legitimate kind may be profitably drawn . The greatness of any work of art , in conception , form , and execution , serves to enhance the interest which attaches to the elements of thought out of which it arose . With what eagerness do we regard the first studies of any of the great masters , —tracing
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Shakspere's Othello.
unquestioned by any critic * This circumstance gives it a peculiar interest , which we shall proceed briefly to consider . The comparison which some critics have drawn between the relative merits of the play and the novel , proceeds upon an erroneous principle ; the same test of criticism is inapplicable to the two productions . " There was wanting in the narrative
of Cinthio , " observes M . Guizot , " the poetical genius which furnished the actors , —which created the individuals , —which imposed upon each a figure and a character , —which made us see their actions , and listen to their words , —which presented their thoughts and penetrated their sentiments , —that vivifying power which summons events to ariseto progressto
ex-, , pand , to be completed , —that creative breath , which , breathing over the past , calls it again into being , and fills it with a present and imperishable life : —this was the power which Shakspere alone possessed , and by which , out of a forgotten novel , he has made Othello . " t
This passage is eloquently true as a criticism on Shakspere ' s play , but does not apply to Cinthio ' s tale ; in fact , it only defines the province of the dramatic poet ' s art . Cinthio ' s story was no drama , but one of the plainest and most straightforward narratives , exhibiting human nature under its ordinary aspects , and tracing the simple chain of events with
ordinary regularity : there is no art in its structure , no consideration in its arrangement , and it consequently lays claim to no merit beyond what it may possess in point of style , consistency , and general truth to nature : it was not a true tale , but it might have been . " My intention in this work , " says the author , " was , above all , to narrate events the most
like truth , which might , together with innocent amusement , bring also some profit to every class of persons . " On each of the grounds just mentioned , the claim of this tale to considerable merit may be admitted , apart from any invidious comparison with the infinitely grander fabric which Shakspere has erected out of its simple materials .
At the same time , a comparison of a different and more legitimate kind may be profitably drawn . The greatness of any work of art , in conception , form , and execution , serves to enhance the interest which attaches to the elements of thought out of which it arose . With what eagerness do we regard the first studies of any of the great masters , —tracing