Othello part 2: ‘Farewell the Tranquil Mind, Farewell Content’

Episode 206 Last time I discussed the dating and sources for Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’, the early performance history, and some points about the structure and poetry in the play. Then I took you through the first part of the play, up to the point where Iago had managed to sow seeds of doubt into Othello’s mind about the constancy of women and get his professional rival Michael Cassio so drunk and fired up that he got involved in a brawl with the town governor and is demoted. In doing so I looked at the characters of Iago, Brabantio and Cassio, so on this occasion listening to that episode is essential before starting on this one. If you need to do that as soon as you are back, I will be picking up from exactly where I left off last time. The character and expected role of Emelia The relationship of Emelia and Desdemona The character of Bianca and the Venetian courtesan How Bianca contrasts with Desdemona Conflicting views of the character of Desdemona The character of Othello The play as a tragedy of Greek proportions The disintegration of Othello from strong leader to murderer Othello as a social disruptor The ‘noble savage’ Vs the veneer of sophistication The role of resentment and honour in the play Later performances of the play Some very selected criticism of the play Support the podcast at: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to Othello part 2: ‘Farewell the Tranquil Mind, Farewell Content’ online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Othello part 2: ‘Farewell the Tranquil Mind, Farewell Content’ is an episode from The History Of European Theatre by Philip Rowe.

This episode is 37:46 long.

This episode was published on Mar 9, 2026.

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