William Shakespeare's Othello (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations) by Harold Bloom

The most striking difference between Othello and Shakespeare's other tragedies is its more intimate scale. Since the work focuses on personal rather than public life, Othello's private descent into jealous obsession plays out in the domestic sphere and is rendered all the more chilling for it. This invaluable reference guide to one of Shakespeare's greatest dramas offers a range of contemporary essays and critical viewpoints and is introduced by scholar Harold Bloom.

Iago is the genius or bad angel of Othello and of Othello...[He] has been a fecund ancestor in high literature. His progeny include Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost, Claggart in Melville's Billy Budd, and Judge Holden in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.ùHAROLD BLOOM

In suspecting that his wife has been unfaithful, Othello only demonstrates his own lack of faith. This domestic paradox carried over to the secondary, allegorical level of the play, where the marriage of Othello and Desdemona represents the passionate but troubled marriage between the sinner's soul and its Savior.ùROBERT N. WATSON