• Next message: Hardy M. Cook: "Macbeth Characters"
• Previous message: Hardy M. Cook: "Michael Maloney Hamlet"
• Next in thread: Hardy M. Cook: "Footnotes in Bevington Othello?"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ]

The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.2120  Thursday, 16 December 2004

[1]     From:   Geralyn Horton <g.l.horton@mindspring.com>
        Date:   Wednesday, 15 Dec 2004 11:04:08 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 15.2114 Footnotes in Bevington Othello?

[2]     From:   Philip Weller <response@clicknotes.com>
        Date:   Wednesday, 15 Dec 2004 10:29:49 -0800
        Subj:   Re: SHK 15.2114 Footnotes in Bevington Othello?


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Geralyn Horton <g.l.horton@mindspring.com>
Date:           Wednesday, 15 Dec 2004 11:04:08 -0500
Subject: 15.2114 Footnotes in Bevington Othello?
Comment:        Re: SHK 15.2114 Footnotes in Bevington Othello?

John W. Kennedy <jwkenne@attglobal.net>

 >Philip Weller <response@clicknotes.com>
 >
 >Oh, but there is a world of nuance between "I have fallen in love with
 >you" and "I want a MAN."

Not a MAN, but a man such as the one described in his story, i.e.
himself.  And I don't think for the lover there's a real difference
between wishing to be like the beloved (made as such a man) and wishing
to unite with the beloved (that the only such man was made to be her
other half).  It embodies the twin- soul other-half ideal that they were
made for each other and that uniting will make them one flesh, combining
their attributes.

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Philip Weller <response@clicknotes.com>
Date:           Wednesday, 15 Dec 2004 10:29:49 -0800
Subject: 15.2114 Footnotes in Bevington Othello?
Comment:        Re: SHK 15.2114 Footnotes in Bevington Othello?

 >>Philip Weller <response@clicknotes.com>
 >>
 >>I don't agree with this:
 >>
 >>>"Made for her" would be a distinctly forward thing for a nice /period/
 >>>girl to have intended, and a shameful thing for Othello to reveal if she
 >>>had let herself so slip.
 >>>
 >>>Portia, who is wonderful wise, says without shame: "Beshrew your eyes, /
 >>>They have o'erlook'd me and divided me: / one half of me is yours, the
 >>>other half yours -- / Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, /
 >>>And so all yours."
 >
 >Oh, but there is a world of nuance between "I have fallen in love with
 >you" and "I want a MAN."

After Othello tells his story to Desdemona, "she wish'd / That heaven
had made her such a man."  I'm guessing that she was looking at him when
she said it, and in Othello's place I would take this as he does,
meaning "I have fallen in love with you," not "I want a MAN."

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, editor@shaksper.net
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them.

• Next message: Hardy M. Cook: "Macbeth Characters"
• Previous message: Hardy M. Cook: "Michael Maloney Hamlet"
• Next in thread: Hardy M. Cook: "Footnotes in Bevington Othello?"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ]