OTHELLO- CONTEXT

OTHELLO- CONTEXT

1. The Renaissance

   • keynote was a curiosity in thought which challenged old assumptions and traditions. New confidence in human reason and in human potential which challenged convictions.
   • began in England in early 16th century with Sir Thomas More, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard.
   • classical texts and culture of Greece and Rome rediscovered, and with this the 'golden age' of English lit began, of which Shakespeare's plays are part.
   • examines and questions the beliefs, assumptions and politics on which Elizabethan society was founded. Although his plays conclude in a restoration of order and stability, he subverts traditional values, as seen in Othello, where the tragic hero is a black man and the heroine an assertive young woman.
   • his criticism of authority, attitudes to race and nobility etc had to be muted/oblique due to censorship. Direct criticism of the monarch or court would not be tolerated, hence why his plays are always set in the past or abroad as with Othello.

2. Nationalism and Xenophobia

   • Italy had a 'double image'- on one hand a land of refinement and romance, a model of civilisation. Venice, Europe's centre of capitalism, was a free state, and renowned as one of the most beautiful cities in Italy.
     • on the other hand, it was associated with decadence, villainy and vice. Venice was 'a racial and religious melting pot'- Norman Sanders.
   • Elizabethans against mixed marriages and viewed Negroes and blackamoors with suspicion. Elizabeth issued edicts demanding their removal because they were considered an 'annoyance'.

3. Religion

   • Protestantism since break with Rome 1536. Plays free from direct religious sentiment, but had a Protestant emphases.
   • Othello has converted to Christian and the preoccupation with good and evil in the play suggests its religious context. central figures of his plays often beset by temptation and the lure of evil.
     • Shakespeare's heroes have the preoccupation with self and the introspective tendencies encouraged by Protestantism. (Act 3 Scene 3 Othello doubts his attraction as a husband)
   • Shakespeare's tragic heroes haunted by their consciences; agonise over their actions as they follow the path towards heaven or hell. Exactly the psychological journey othello goes on.
     • seen before and after Othello kills Desdemona. She remarks on his inner torment in Act 5 Scene 2 'Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?/ some bloody passion shakes your very frame'.

4. Female Subordination

   • patriarchy. Women had few legal rights- expected to be controlled by men. When married, all their property passed to their husbands.
   • many saw women as possessions and fathers were expected to choose husbands for their daughters.
   • seen as intellectually inferior, incapable of rational thought (Bianca). Rarely received an education.
   • Assertive and argumentative women seen as a threat to the social order and were punished for their behaviour with forms of torture such as the ducking stool, the scold's bride or 'carting'.
   • Yet European visitors commented women had more freedom than in many other European countries. Shakespeare's wife successfully managed a home and property, as well as her family, for 20 years while Shakespeare was pursuing his career in London.
     • Shakespeare's audiences included women, and he wrote many parts for strong-minded females such as Desdemona and Emilia.