CONTEXT of OTHELLO

CONTEXT of OTHELLO

1. HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

   • Heirarchical Chain of Being. Every person has an ordained position with ladder from God, king, man and woman.
   • Nature. Very present in elizabethan theatre. It has two contradictory aspects: the benevolent and harmonious, and the wild and violent.
   • External appearance was an indicator of what lay within. The imagery of 'seeming' is shown in Othello. Appearances can be deceiving, like Iago's honesty.
   • Failure of reason was considered to be the cause of the Fall of Man (Adam allowing Eve to overrule his better judgement).
   • Seven deadly sins: price, envy, gluttony, lechery, avarice, wrath and sloth.
   • Black was traditionally the colour of evil and of the devil.
   • Cuckoldry, becoming a horned beast, was a fear for men at the time. (couldn't satisfy women)
   • Women were possessions, dependent on others and only rose through association with men. The idea of a fickle female was a classical literary stereotype.

2. SHAKESPEARE AND THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

   • Shakespeare The Playwright
     • It is widely assumed that Shakespeare never left England, even though his plays are set in other countries.
       • He favoured Italy because it was the origin of the Renaissance and home to many of the source texts which inspired his contemporaries.
     • Lots of speculation of Shakespeare himself. Lots of information about other playwrights of his time but only some information has been gathered about him. Even this information is sometimes wrong or contradictory.
     • Ben Jonson said Shakespeare "had little Latin and less Greek" but this contradicts with the thought that he attended a grammar school with a classical curriculum.
       • Stratford Shakespeare's will makes no reference to plays, poems or his shareholdings in theatres. This is very unusual.
     • Suggestions for the real author of Shakespeare's works are Francis Bacon and Christopher Marlowe, because they met his death in mysterious circumstances of 1593.
   • Elizabethan Theatre (Elizabeth l: 1558-1603)
     • First permanent theatre built in London in 1576, had a dozen more built by the end of her reign.
     • Shakespeare was associated with Swan Theatre, and then the Globe Theatre, built in 1599, which he had a sharehold of.
     • Companies of actors were established, bearing the names of their patrons, e.g. the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
     • Several major sonnet cycles were written, perhaps because there was a female monarch. It became the Golden Age for its flourishing of the arts.
   • Jacobean Theatre: (James I: 1603-1625)
     • Drama became more political, satirical, violent and tragic. Emphasis on "blood thirsty revenge' with playwrights such as Ben Jonson and John Webster.
     • Wit, irony and sophistication were still very important in the language of theatre.
     • Poor people at the bottom as "groundlings" and wealthier people sat in galleries or boxes.

3. VENETIANS, MOORS AND TURKS

   • Italy was unique, organised in city-states. First Doge of Venice was elected in 727 and the republic survives for 1,000+ years.
   • The Venetian empire was based mainly on trade, and they built superb buildings and a fine city wall around the capital of Cyprus. This was called Nicosia and the "Famagusta" was the principal port on the eastern side, where the venetian's would've sailed.
   • "Moor" was used loosely to refer to black skins, but more correctly to those Moslems, who had conquered and settled in Spain from the 7th century AD.
   • Berbers: darker skin than Arabs. They were conquered and converted to Islam in the seventh century AD.
   • Negroes and blackamoors were considered a problem in England in 1601, when it was decreed that too many had crept into the realm. Elizabeth l issued two edicts of deportation for their return to Barbary.
   • The Christian world, Europe, north Africa, the Levant and Asia Minor, began to be threatened by Islam. They had rapidly conquered all the non-European areas christians had only achieved temporary successes over them.
   • The turkish invasion of 1570-71 (Othello's time) was a turning point. After this, Turks did not dare to venture into Italian waters.
   • The Siege of Famagusta- 1570-71. Lala Mustafa Pasha moved his forces to Famagusta but did not begin the actual seize until Spring and his reinforcements arrived in April 1571.
   • A generation later, a Calabrian solider named Francesco de Sessa was known as 'il Moror' or 'il Capitano Moro' because of his dark complexion. He was tried and banished from the island in 1544.
     • This may have contributed to Cynthio's original story 'El Captaino Moro', which formed the basis of Othello.