Othello Context:
Race:
Usually in Renaissance drama: Moors = portrayed negatiely; Othello is the 1 st black hero
Othello only behaies as the stereotype of the lustull murderous black man when he is
corrupted by Iago (link to Leaiisl Foucaltl Loomba or Coleridge)
Othello is a racial ‘outsider’ in Venice but Shakespeare stresses his noble origins and his power
and status as a mercenary general (link to Bradley who opposes this noton)
Many belieied black people were ft only to be slaies. Shakespeare subierts this iiew in his
depicton of his noble Moor
Religion:
The preoccupaton with good and eiil underlines the play’s religious context (England during the
Elizabethan era – Catholic)
Desdemona linked to good through ref to heaien. Iago linked to eiil through ref to hell + deiil.
Iago has atheistc attudes. He says men are in control of their own fatesl ‘'ts in ourselies that
we are thus or thus’ (I.3.313).
Setting:
Venice associated with powerl romance + high culture = appropriate setng for O–D loie match
Venice is a trading port most powerful in the world
Shakespeare infuenced by the war between the Otoman Turks and Cyprus that ended in 1571
(explains setng – audience would haie been well aware of this war)
Italy was associated with iillainyl decadence and corruptonl and frequently used as a setng for
plays on such themes. Iago personifes these stereotypical Italian iices.
Isolaton of and threats to the Cyprus setng symbolise the isolaton of and threats to
Desdemona and Othello.
Military setng for a play about marriage underlines confict Othello faces when trying to
combine loie + work
Patriarchy:
Renaissance women were subordinate to men and were ruled by them.
Legallyl women were the possessions of menl so Renaissance fathers and husbands treated
daughters & wiies as objects to be used as they saw ft.
Assertie women = considered a threat to the social order (Loomba or Bamber). Desdemona
asserts her right to liie with Othellol but neier challenges his authority oier her.
Shakespeare’s +’ie portrayal of Emilia = assertieness in a woman isn’t always a threat to
patriarchy.
Emilia could be a contemporary allegory for Amelia Bassano (worked for Queen Elizabeth).
Emilia is a feminist character parallel to Amelia who was the 1 st published feminist poet
Elizabeth I claimed she was married to her country (so no husband) and that was where her
duty lay unlike Desdemona who puts loie before country
Concept of Elizabeth marrying a foreigner = betrayal of country (Desdemona?)
Witchcraf:
Race:
Usually in Renaissance drama: Moors = portrayed negatiely; Othello is the 1 st black hero
Othello only behaies as the stereotype of the lustull murderous black man when he is
corrupted by Iago (link to Leaiisl Foucaltl Loomba or Coleridge)
Othello is a racial ‘outsider’ in Venice but Shakespeare stresses his noble origins and his power
and status as a mercenary general (link to Bradley who opposes this noton)
Many belieied black people were ft only to be slaies. Shakespeare subierts this iiew in his
depicton of his noble Moor
Religion:
The preoccupaton with good and eiil underlines the play’s religious context (England during the
Elizabethan era – Catholic)
Desdemona linked to good through ref to heaien. Iago linked to eiil through ref to hell + deiil.
Iago has atheistc attudes. He says men are in control of their own fatesl ‘'ts in ourselies that
we are thus or thus’ (I.3.313).
Setting:
Venice associated with powerl romance + high culture = appropriate setng for O–D loie match
Venice is a trading port most powerful in the world
Shakespeare infuenced by the war between the Otoman Turks and Cyprus that ended in 1571
(explains setng – audience would haie been well aware of this war)
Italy was associated with iillainyl decadence and corruptonl and frequently used as a setng for
plays on such themes. Iago personifes these stereotypical Italian iices.
Isolaton of and threats to the Cyprus setng symbolise the isolaton of and threats to
Desdemona and Othello.
Military setng for a play about marriage underlines confict Othello faces when trying to
combine loie + work
Patriarchy:
Renaissance women were subordinate to men and were ruled by them.
Legallyl women were the possessions of menl so Renaissance fathers and husbands treated
daughters & wiies as objects to be used as they saw ft.
Assertie women = considered a threat to the social order (Loomba or Bamber). Desdemona
asserts her right to liie with Othellol but neier challenges his authority oier her.
Shakespeare’s +’ie portrayal of Emilia = assertieness in a woman isn’t always a threat to
patriarchy.
Emilia could be a contemporary allegory for Amelia Bassano (worked for Queen Elizabeth).
Emilia is a feminist character parallel to Amelia who was the 1 st published feminist poet
Elizabeth I claimed she was married to her country (so no husband) and that was where her
duty lay unlike Desdemona who puts loie before country
Concept of Elizabeth marrying a foreigner = betrayal of country (Desdemona?)
Witchcraf:
