Othello - book intro

            Fort Street Press is publishing a book of critical interpretations of your set Shakespeare text.
            
             William Shakespeare wrote many plays. In this collection of critical interpretations one can begin to understand the vast enormity of different readings that have been amassed since Shakespeare's plays were first published.
             Although Shakespeare was the playwright to many plays, this collection will concentrate on one of the plays that were written during Shakespeare's great tragic period, Othello. In 1565 Giovanni Cinzio wrote a tale that relates to the deception of a Moorish general ensign into considering that his wife has been dishonest. Shakespeare most likely used this as a backbone to the creation of Othello by complicating the plot with more characters. Othello has been performed ever since it was first performance by the King's Men at the court of King James I during 1604.
             This collection of critical interpretations has been produced to clarify and discuss the numerous interpretations available. Analysis of Othello differ from person to person however there are two main readings that have been accepted into society of the twentieth century. First of all, there is the Aristotelian tragedy, where generally some type of hamartia (tragic flaw) undermines the protagonist resulting in an unhappy ending; secondly is the feminist reading, where the focus is placed onto the women and how they are perceived within the play. These two critical interpretations are among the most popular and will be discussed briefly within this introduction; however, other readings are discussed throughout this collection.
             Integrated into this collection is Claudia Sander's essay The tragic Othello' which analyses Othello from the Aristotelian tragedy conception. Aristotle defined tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself- in a dramatised fashion that empathises the audience into either pity or fear for the hero' of story.