Causal attribution and the analysis of literary characters: A. C. Bradley's study of Iago and Othello

Abstract

A. C. Bradley's approach to character-construal in Shakespearean Tragedy (MacMillan, 1904) has often been regarded as a good example of the humanizing approach to literary characters. His lectures on Iago, Othello or Macbeth have been criticized by other scholars for a number of reasons, but particularly for using premises and facts in his argumentation which are not found in the plays. Bradley's task is in many senses an example of person perception, which he performs without alluding to any social psychological theories or methods. In the present article I revise Bradley's reasoning in the light of Kelley's Covariance Theory of Causal Attribution, in an attempt both to re-evaluate Bradley's procedures and, especially, to determine ways in which social psychology might provide literary critics with valuable tools and insights.