Give some information on Shakespeare’s life?
-Thought of as England’s most famous playwright and poet ever to have lived.
-He was born April 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
-His plays were divided into 3 areas, consisting of histories, tragedies, and comedies.
Give some information on the Renaissance period?
-Theatre performances were a very popular form of entertainment in the late Elizabethan era.
-Shakespeare was writing during the English Renaissance period, which lasted from the 15th to the mid 17th century.
-The renaissance was a cultural movement which saw the flourishing of Latin and ancient Greek philosophies and knowledge in Western Europe.
-He draws on Greek and romantic classical writing and it demonstrates the development and flourishing of language in this period.
Give some info on the first recorded plot of Othello?
-The first recorded performance of Othello was in 1604, at the Banqueting house, James I’s London palace.
-The cast would have been entirely male.
-English actor Edmund Kean took on the role wearing light brown make-up, suggesting an interpretation of Othello as North African.
Give some notes on the setting of Venice?
-Othello begins in Venice, but by Act 2, the action has moved to a Venetian war outpost in Cyprus.
-In England in the 16th and 17th centuries, Venice had a reputation as a cosmopolitan and diverse city, full of wealth and political instability.
How was Venice known for its diversity?
-Very diverse population, home to many varieties of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including those like Othello who had immigrated and adopted Venetian (and Christian) values.
-It was a place bustling with trade and opportunity, although the Ottoman, venetian wars raged through the 16th Othello and is the backdrop in Othello.
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Why and how was Venice a place of exotic excitement and dangerous otherworldliness?
it seemed alluring and almost mystical in its exoticism, but also a place on the edge of ‘civilisation’ therefore making it something to be feared.
-We see this through Iago’s anti-black derogatory language which he uses to describe him.
What was Cyprus like, compared to Venice?
Whilst Venice sat at the edge of ‘civilisation’, Cyprus was even more unknown, therefore more dangerous, and closer to the Arab and Turkish world.
-The further the play is removed from Western Europe, the more civilisation and honour break down.
Give context notes on race in Othello?
Shakespeare uses Venice as a space in which he can explore the concerns and preoccupations of his own society, including interracial and intercultural encounters.
-We cannot determine Othello’s race for certain, although today we might assume the term ‘Moor’ refers to an Arab inhabitant of North Africa, in Shakespearean England the term had numerous definitions and could also describe people from any region in Africa.
What is the connotations of black and white and the colour symbolism throughout the play?
In the 16th and 17th centuries, ‘black’ could refer to both morality and race, whilst ‘white’ stood for purity and innocence, and black was the antithesis.
-The association of blackness with evil is one reason why Othello and his ‘otherness’ are feared by white Venetian society.
Give some more notes on race?
Othello is treated with a mixture of respect, fear and fascination, and this all plays into his race. Despite the fact that he is a well respected military leader, he is ultimately purged from the white European society to which he only ever partially belonged to. But as an ethnic minority, Othello is also a source of fascination for the European characters, as everyone eagerly listens in A1S3 where he recounts his backstory, on his story of faraway and unknown places.
Give some notes on religion context?
The hierarchy of the great chain of being (order of importance = god then humans then animals). –Informs Iago’s derogatory descriptions of Othello. He frequently compares him to an animal (“black ram”, “Barbary horse”, “the beast with two backs”) (A1S1) - since we know that animals were considered lower than humans in the Christian hierarchy ordained by God, Iago perceives Moors and people of African descent to be less than human in his eyes, and in the eyes of God aswell.
Give some key context notes on Women?
-women were subordinates to men in the 16th and 17th century.
-when they married, everything they owned became their husband’s possession, being a wive was also considered one of their purposes.
-Fathers were expected to choose a husband for their daughters, as Brabantio expects to do for Desdemona. He also considers her to be his ownership and accuses Othello of being a ‘foul thief.’
Give context notes on Emilia linking it to gender?
-She is powerless through most of the play.
-She only takes the handkerchief as she is bound to him through social order, however by the end, Emilia speaks the truth, and exposes Iago’s manipulations when stating “I am bound to speak” in Act 5, even when he threatens and eventually stabs her. Patriarchal hierarchy present here.
How are Iago’s odds stacked against him?
-Yet he is convinced the world is conspiring against him.
-He was passed over for a promotion he believes he deserves, leaving him stranded at the bottom of the pecking order.
Analyse “I know my price, I am no worse a place” - A1S1.
Iago tells Roderigo this, suggesting he is entitled to his promotion.
-The stative verb “know” suggests certainty and confidence.
Explain how Iago is seen as the jilted husband?
Iago is ruled by sexual jealousy, exaggerated pride and belligerent (aggressive) competitiveness - all traits defining toxic masculinity.
-Shakespeare demonstrates the hypocrisy within male insecurities through Iago’s contradictory actions.
-He views women as trophies for their ego and virility.
How is Iago seen as the undecided?
Iago may talk a big game, making an effort to appear confident and self-assured, but Shakespeare hints at a conflicted, unstable mental state.
How is Iago seen as the ‘con man’
-Iago is a master manipulator, able to distort reality or his own appearance to fit his needs. Beyond this, Shakespeare implies Iago is afraid of truthfulness and vulnerability.
“I am not what I am” A1S1
Conveys the paradox that is human identity, and the truth that we are limited by our own perception of others.
“O beware, my lord, of jealousy: It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” - A3S3.
Portrays the sinful associations of jealousy, and its corruptive nature which it possesses on people.
-It ultimately will lead to tragedy and Othello’s final downfall, hence making this quote in A3S3 ironic.
Explain Geohumoralism in Africans.
geohumoralism stated that Africans were not naturally jealous, but if they were provoked, they would respond violently.
Othello’s blackness presupposes him to rage, and Iago takes advantage of his racial instability.
“An old black ram is tupping your white ewe” - A1S1.
Suggests that racially charged language is used to portray Othello’s sexual relationship with Desdemona as unnatural, establishing a binary between black and white from the start.
