CONTEXT

CONTEXT

1. Shakespeare

   • Listening every Sunday in English to readings from the Bishops Bible influenced his work which contained many Biblical echoes. Such references was found in most English authors from c16 to c20.
   • Born in 1564
   • From Stratford upon avon in Warwickshire England, an area of countryside and agriculture

2. Renaissance exploration

   • Turkish threat-Trading routes were threatened by the Turkish Empire, especially after the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the Turks in 1453.
   • Exploration by Portuga, Spain Italy lead to European discoveries of India, East Asia, the West Indies and eventually the 'New World'
   • Early explorers stuggled to make sense of new races and Native inhabitants were usually seen as inferior savages, fit for exploitation and in need of conversion to Christianity
   • Africans were also regarded as an inferior race but Shakespeare’s portrayal of Othello, a Moor who was of Moroccan or Berber origin, helped to change people’s perceptions. Othello is shown as a personable leader, admired as a soldier and as a man. He is also a man of mystery and fascination, having fought against mythical creatures and experienced many fantastical adventures which were completely alien to the current European world view.

3. Attitudes towards race

   • Africans were also regarded as an inferior race but Shakespeare’s portrayal of Othello, a Moor who was of Moroccan or Berber origin, helped to change people’s perceptions. Othello is shown as a personable leader, admired as a soldier and as a man. He is also a man of mystery and fascination, having fought against mythical creatures and experienced many fantastical adventures which were completely alien to the current European world view
   • Moors were often viewed by Elizabethans as aggressive and barbaric which is reflected in Brabantio's description of Othello
   • Africa is seen as a land of mystery and exoticism, where mythical and fantastical creatures live, such as the Anthropophagi, referred to in Othello.
   • There are some racist terms used in the play, such as ‘thick lips’ and ‘sooty bosom’, which may well have resounded to the Shakespearean audience, but it is perhaps significant that Shakespeare made Othello a Moor, with presumed origins in North Africa. This would have made him more acceptable to Elizabethan society than a sub-Saharan African.