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Othello: A Level York Notes A Level Revision Guide

Revise the key points

Read through the key points, then print the cards as a handy revision aid.

1 Race

  • Usually in Renaissance drama black men and Moors were portrayed negatively; Othello is the first black hero.
  • Othello only behaves as the stereotype of the lustful, murderous black man when he is corrupted by Iago.
  • Othello is a racial ‘outsider’ in Venice but Shakespeare stresses his noble origins and his power and status as a mercenary general.
  • During the Renaissance many believed black people were fit only to be slaves. Shakespeare subverts this view in his depiction of his noble Moor.

Context

Othello: A Level

2 Religion

  • The preoccupation with good and evil underlines the play’s religious context.
  • Desdemona is linked to good through the use of references to heaven. Iago is linked to evil through references to hell and the devil.
  • Othello has converted to Christianity and subscribes to Christian values. He knows he is damned in the final moments of the play.
  • Iago has atheistic attitudes. He says men are in control of their own fates, ‘'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus’ (I.3.320).

Context

Othello: A Level

3 Setting

  • Venice was associated with power, romance and high culture, an appropriate setting for the Othello–Desdemona love match.
  • Italy was associated with villainy, decadence and corruption, and frequently used as a setting for plays on such themes. The Duchess of Malfi and ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore both explore these themes. Iago personifies these stereotypical Italian vices.
  • The isolation of and threats to the Cyprus setting symbolise the isolation of and threats to Desdemona and Othello.
  • The use of a military setting for a play about marriage underlines the conflict Othello faces when trying to combine love and work.

Context

Othello: A Level

4 Patriarchy

  • Renaissance women were subordinate to men and were ruled by them.
  • Legally, women were the possessions of men, so Renaissance fathers and husbands often treated their daughters and wives as objects to be used as they saw fit.
  • Assertive women were considered a threat to the social order. Desdemona asserts her right to live with Othello, but never challenges his authority over her.
  • Shakespeare’s positive portrayal of Emilia suggests assertiveness in a woman is not always a threat to patriarchy.

Context

Othello: A Level

5 Links to other Shakespeare plays

  • Many Renaissance and Jacobean plays focus on the tragic consequences of doomed love, for example Romeo and Juliet.
  • Marriage is usually a central theme in comedy. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is typical, focusing on courtship and marriage. Marriage provides a ‘happy ending’ in comedy.
  • Villains are often cynical atheists, who use others for their own ends. Ambitious Edmund in King Lear exploits women in the same way as Iago.
  • Dramatists often explore evil through the presentation of sexual corruption. In Hamlet Claudius poisons his brother and marries his widow, Gertrude.

Context

Othello: A Level

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