Context Flashcards
(22 cards)
1
Q
Shakespeare’s life
A
- England’s most famous playwright & poet
- Had global reputation & great influence on writing & global culture
- Wrote plays for acting troupe the Lord Chamberlain’s Men
- Plays generally in 3 genres = histories, tragedies & comedies
2
Q
When was the first recorded performance of Othello ?
A
1604
3
Q
Renaissance Period
A
- Writing during English Renaissance period
- Cultural movement = saw flourishing of Latin & Ancient Greek philosophies & knowledge in Western Europe
- Demonstrates development & flourishing of language
4
Q
Shakespeare’s plays surrounding Renaissance Period
A
- Draws on Greek & Roman classic writing in use of genre & references
- Explores psychology of characters in depth
- New vocab in plays
5
Q
When were theatre performances very popular for entertainment ?
A
Late Elizabethan & early Jacobean
6
Q
Shakespeare’s sources for Othello
A
- Drew lots of inspiration for plots from other sources
- Main story of Othello from Ali Hecatommithi by Cinthio = tells story of Disdemona & Moor captain
- Fleshed out story with other characters = Brabantio & Rodrigo
- Offers reasons for Othello’s insecurities & succumbs to Iago’s manipulations
- Iago’s web of authority highlighted to ruin Othello
7
Q
Textual history
A
- First Folio published in 1623 = collection of 36 works
- Some plays published in quartos = 7 years after death
- 2 versions of Othello = Follo edition 160 lines longer unknown why
- Mostly read Follo version today
8
Q
Production history
A
- Cast would have been entirely male, female roles played by young boys
- First Othello = Richard Burbage, using black makeup & wig
- 20th century = black actors more commonly took role
- White men playing Othello undermines credibility of characterisation & question to what extent he is a stereotype of a Moor
- 21st century = Bollywood version (Omkara) = shows religious & cultural differences & all black performance in US in 1997
9
Q
Who watched the plays ?
A
- Higher classes
- Monarch
- Lower working classes
- The Globe = 1p to stand at pit of theatre ‘the groundings’
- Written to be shown to all
10
Q
Venice
A
- rare example of contemporary republican government for original audience = continuation of Ancient Roman tradition
- Known for diversity = cultural & ethnic backgrounds
- Bursting with trade (close ties with North Africa & Middle East) & opportunity even though Ottoman-Venetian Wars raged during 16th century
- Exotic excitement & dangerous otherworldliness
- Alluring & mystical, on edge of ‘civilisation’
11
Q
Venice in Othello
A
- Desdemona listens ‘with greedy ear’
- Venetians hate & fear Othello
- Also fascinated with backstory & exotic experiences
12
Q
Why did Shakespeare set Othello abroad ?
A
- Racism is reflection of English fears & behaviours & Venetians
13
Q
Cyprus
A
- Even further removed from English audience geographically & symbolically
- More unknown & dangerous
- Closer to Arab & Turkish world
- Removed from Western Europe, civilisation & honour breaks down
14
Q
Race
A
- Records of some Africans living in England during 16th century = Shakespeare may have known some black people
- 16th & 17th century = black meant morality & race, white stood for purity & innocence (black = antithesis)
15
Q
Race in Othello
A
- Not fully possible to define Othello’s race = aware of otherness
- Uses Venice as space to explore concerns & preoccupations of his own society
- ‘When devils will the blackest sins put on’, ‘blackest’
- Conflation of blackness & evil that audience & characters would have assumed
- Treated with mixture of respect, fear & fascination
- Respected as military leader but purged from white European society
- Source of fascination for European characters
16
Q
Dramatic context
A
- Dramatic convention that Moors were menaces intent on destruction & when on stage seen as threat to moral, social & political order
- Othello = protagonist & initially noble & honourable
- Characterisation of Othello contrasts stereotypical depiction but echoes typical characterisation
17
Q
Religion
A
- Explores relationship between Christians & Muslims in late 16th century
- Set against backdrop of ongoing wars between Christian Republic of Venice & Muslim Ottoman Empire in 16th century
- Religious conflict is important background to a play whose protagonist is a convert to Christianity from Islam
- Great Chain of Being = hierarchy of all creation ordained by Gpd
18
Q
Religion in Othello
A
- War = subtle reminder of Christian & Muslim conflict & how Othello stands apart from society
- Muslim background = another cause of Venetians subtle distrust
- Religiously fuelled hatred = another motive for Iago’s destructive manipulations
- Iago uses Great Chain of Being to perceive Moors as less human
19
Q
Women
A
- Subordinates to men in 16th & 17th century
- Venetian women = famous for freedoms & liberality & sexual freedom
- Venice has reputation as a hub of prostitution & sexual freedom
20
Q
Marriage
A
- Women became husband’s possession
- Father’s expected to choose a husband for their daughter
21
Q
Marriage in Othello
A
- Brabantio expects to choose husband for Desdemona = not interracial ‘foul theif’
- Desdemona ‘bound’ to Othello but powerless in face of husband’s anger
- Emilia exposes Iago’s manipulations
22
Q
Women in Othello
A
- Desdemona has few rights although strong willed & defies Othello = ultimately a passive character who is powerless
- Emilia more oppressed than Desdemona = powerless
- Emilia contradicts the patriarchal hierarchy
- Venetian sexual freedom made male characters quick to assume they cheated = ‘whore of Venice’
