Settings

Settings

1. Act I is set in Venice and Act II-V were set in Cyprus. The military events of the play are based on historical fact

2. Venice

   • Italy in the Elizabethan times was a setting for plays about intrigue, secret love, affairs and revenge
     • This is because foreign courts were stereotyped as being full of villainy and sexual perversion
   • Venice had a reputation as a city of wealth and sophistication, but also loose morals
   • Shakespeare is able to use the setting of Venice to show Othello is an outsider
     • He serves the senate but is not Italian- unlike his adversary, Iago
       • Iago is the typical Italian villain- scheming, selfish and amoral
       • Iago is able to use Othello's status as outsider to convince him he does not understand the society they serve

3. Cyprus

   • The "warlike island" under occupation
     • The conflict and danger in the setting are mirrored in the tragic events that occur there
       • It is away from the 'civilisation' of Venice and Iago's plans prosper there
   • Othello is sent to Cyprus to restore order- but instead destroys himself and his wife
   • Cyprus is also an isolated setting, which is psychologically appropriate
     • Secure in their love in Venice, Desdemona and Othello are wrenched apart in Cyprus