Julius Caesar and Othello: The Moor of Venice

Despite their settings in different times and places, these two plays share many similar themes. Both are interested in competing forms of political order and social discipline; both think carefully about the relationship (and analogies) between marital and political life; both illuminate the intensely competitive and emotional relationships between men; and both are keenly aware of how a “whisper” can change everything.

Professor Crawford is the Mark Van Doren Professor of Humanities and former Chair of Literature Humanities. She specializes in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature and culture and has written numerous works on various literary giants. Read her full biography at english.columbia.edu.