Context
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Copyright © York Press, 2017