Context

Question 1

Context on Shakespeare’s life

Answer 1

little is known about him - attended grammar school where he would have read Virgil and Ovid seen in his works
Wrote his plays for the acting troupe the Lord Chamberlain’s men
first recored performance of Othello was in 1604

Question 2

context on the Renaissance period

Answer 2

theatre performances were very popular and Elizabeth I was a generous patron
cultural movement which saw the flourishing of latin and ancient greek philosophies

Question 3

Shakespeare’s sources for Othello

Answer 3

Gli Hecatommithi by Cinthio published in 1565 telling the story of Disdemona and a Moor captain

Question 4

Production history

Answer 4

usually Shakespeare’s plays feature a comedic subplot but this is not the same in Othello
first performed in 1604 at the Banqueting House and was and was recorded to have been performed at a royal wedding
Othello would have most likely been played by a white man in blackface undermining the credibility of Othello’s characterisation

Question 5

Context about Venice

Answer 5

reputation as a cosmopolitan and diverse city full of wealth and political stability - known for its diversity and trade opportunities
for English audiences it was associated with exotic excitement and dangerous otherworldliness

Question 6

context about cyprus

Answer 6

a war outpose and was even more unkown than Venice therefore more dangerous - allows an ideal setting for english anxietes and preoccupations

Question 7

context about race

Answer 7

only a small minority in England most likely
othello’s race is never really defined but his otherness is palpable
conflation with blackness and evil mostly used by Iago
he is a fascination but also a threat and ends up being purged from society

Question 8

dramatic context

Answer 8

in general dramatic convention moors were menaces intent on destruction e.g Aaron in Titus Andronicus

Question 9

religious context

Answer 9

ongoing wars between the Christian republic of Venice and the Muslim Ottoman Empire
great chain of being hierarchy informs Iago’s derogatory descriptions of Othello who is described as an animal

Question 10

context on the position of women

Answer 10

subordinate to men and seen as possessions of men who sells them off to be owned by the husband
venice was seen as a place of liberation and rgus sexual freedom which may be why the men in the play are so quick to assume their wives are unfaithful