OTHELLO- context

OTHELLO- context

1. Social

   • Ownership
     • Women were possesions and were dependent on thir fathers until they were handed over to the rule of their husbands, who they also had to honour, love and obey
     • Women were considered to be naturally inferior in intellect and morality, their feelings or points of view were not considered; all decisions were made for them and they were expected to accept them without aurgument and carry out the wishes of men
   • Double standards
     • Male promiscuity, adultery were not condemned and considered natural
     • Adulteruss Women however were considered a threat to the church and to the fabric of society; they were blamed for leading men astray, destroying men's honour and bringing shame on their families
       • Women were thought to be easily seduced, being desended from Eve, the betrayer of mankind
     • Madonna/Whore complex, men wished to marry virgins and to have chaste wives for social reasons, but have whores readily avalible for their pleasure, creating a dichotamy of women, e.g. the Madonna and the Whore
   • Silent victims
     • Women were expected to be seen not heard, especially in their Fathers' or Husbands' presence. Together with Emilia with 245 lines and Desdemona with 388, have only half as many lines as Iago in the play
   • Male fantasies
     • Dialogues between all the male characters reveal a deep seated fear of women deceving them.
       • Othello's horror of cuckoldry
       • Brabantio's dream
       • Cassio's reaction to the idea that Bianca wants him to marry her

2. Cultural

   • The chain of being
     • Elizabethans inherited from medival theology the idea of a hierarchical chain of being on which every creature appeared in its ordained position on a ladder descending from God,angel,king,man,woman, to vegtable, animal
     • Creates the objection to women ruling men
     • In Shakespeare, a human who falls below the level of man into bestiality is labelled as a monster.
       • Likewise, any change in this order is likely to result in tradgey
   • Apperance
     • External appearance was belived by many in Shakespeare's time to be what lay within, goodness or evil
     • This is the conundrum that torments many of Shakespeare's tragic heros, becuase Iago looks honest, Othello asumes he is honest