Othello- Context

Othello- Context

1. The Renaissance

   • Shakespeare's drama questions the beliefs, assumptions and politics upon which Elizebethan society was founded
   • Any questioning of the monarchy would not tolerated- which is why Othello is set abroad

2. Nationalism

   • Italy had a double image in Elizabethan times
     • Venice was Europe's centre of capitalism, a free state, regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Italy, a land of refinement and romance, and a model of civilisation
     • Italy was also a country associated with decadence, villainy and vice. Venice itself was suspect as a "racial and religious melting pot"
   • Elizabethans were against interracial marriages and viewed black people with suspicion.
     • Elizabeth I issued edicts demanding black people be removed from England as they were an "annoyance"- many people viewed black people to only be fit for slavery

3. Religion

   • The nationalism of the renaissance was reinforced by Protestantism and Henry VIII's break with Rome
   • Shakespeare's plays are free from religious sentiment but the obsession of good vs. evil shows its religious context
     • Shakespeare's heroes have a preoccupation with self and the introspective- encouraged by Protestantism
   • Othello is haunted by his conscience
     • He agonises over his actions as he goes on a spiritual journey to heaven or hell.

4. Female subordination

   • Women's lives were controlled by the patriarchy during the renaissance era
     • Women expected to be ruled over by men
       • As Desdemona's submission to Othello shows
     • Many men saw women as possessions and fathers expected to choose husband's for their daughters- as Brabantio does
       • Women were thought to be incapable of an intellectual or rational thought
   • Women who were assertive and argumentative were seen as a threat to the social order and were punished
     • However, European visitors to England, at the time, commented English women had more freedom than in many other European countries