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Work #1014 · Mature

Othello

William Shakespeare
c. 1603-04 (first performed Whitehall, 1 November 1604) · English (Early Modern)
Tragic drama in five acts · Elizabethan-Jacobean English Renaissance drama

Jealousy, race, and the destruction of a good man — Iago's motiveless malignity working through Othello's capacity to be deceived

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Othello (Mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Othello

Compressed time of tragic action — happy marriage to murder in days.

Space

Othello

Venice as civilised political space; Cyprus as military-colonial outpost.

Matter

Othello

Embodied racially-marked Othello; sexually-suspected Desdemona; handkerchief as material proof.

Observer

Othello

Othello as deceived; Iago as manipulator; Emilia as late truth-witness.

Energy

Othello

Jealousy, sexual suspicion, military violence.

Information

Othello

Handkerchief as famous Shakespearean information-token; Iago's manufactured "proofs."

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Othello

Racial politics increasingly central to contemporary reception. Iago's motivation has been the perennial critical puzzle; modern criticism locates it in racial-class-military structure.