Context Flashcards
The setting of Italy/Venice in Jacobean drama
Italy was frequently used by Jacobean dramatists who wished to explore themes related to appearance and reality, corruption and sexual decadence.
Venice also became a symbol of hedonistic excess in the early modern English imagination.
Hecatommithi by Cinthio
- collection of tales by Italian writer Cinthio
- Shakespeare stuck closely to the original story, but made some rather significant changes
- these included compressing the timescale of events to heighten emotional impact
- introducing the war between the Turks and the Venetians
- the lust-driven jealousy of the Ensign in Cinthio’s tale seems to be replaced with the professional jealousy of Iago
- The Ensign’s wife was fully aware of her husband’s villainy but was too scared to speak out, unlike Emilia who wasn’t aware but spoke up when she realised.
The link between Cinthio’s story and Shakespeare’s play
Neither a disparity in age (Othello old and Desdemona young) nor Othello’s unfamiliarity with Venice is in the story on which Shakespeare based his play (in that story, for example, the Moor is a longtime resident). This suggests that the playwright was deliberately accentuating this marriage as a union of opposites.
James I
It is possible that Shakespeare may have been influenced by the interests of James I when he wrote Othello. James was fascinated by Turkish history and wrote a poem about the famous sea battle that took place at Lepanto in 1571. A coalition of of Christian forces, including the Republic of Venice, defeated the main Turkish fleet.
When Shakespeare wrote Othello, James was the new patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, the King’s Men.
Elizabethan Madonna-Whore dichotomy
women were only seen either as saintly Madonnas or debased prostitutes.
Ideas that obsessed Jacobean dramatists (brief)
- the nature of good and evil
- the difference between appearance and reality
- corrupt authority figures
Race in Elizabethan England
- doctors and philosophers seemed to conclude that melanated skin was either because an individual was from a hot place (linked to ideas of sexual promiscuity) or as a mark of sin
only other Black character in a Shakespeare play
Aaron from ‘Titus Andronicus’
social class in the play in general
a distinct lack of working-class characters, arguably besides Bianca, Emilia and Iago, for audiences to identify with. This may cause us to see Iago in a more sympathetic manner (A.C. Bradley)
The Myth of Venice
- viewed as famously open and egalitarian society due to its trade connections
- unique waterways and grand architecture contributed to its status as a mythical location
- luxurious, exotic and progressive
- simultaneously, though, a place viewed as dangerous and undignified by Protestant Elizabethans due to it being a Catholic region
Madness
- viewed as a physical illness/disease
- contagious
- could be cured by physical treatment?
The portrayal of Iago and Machiavelli
demonstrates some of the Elizabethans’ misunderstandings of the works of Machiavelli who was a Floretine himself.
Today, Machiavelli is a respected political theorist, but many Elizabethans saw his work as immoral, thus the creation of stage Machiavels as devious began to come about.
the Christian Great Chain of Being
animals far below noble men and men, even below women
Parker’s film adaptation
Iago has tears in his eyes when saying “I am your own forever” and lies at Othello’s side on the bed when he is stabbed (gay)
the importance of outward appearances
during the Renaissance people believed that you could tell whether someone was good or evil based on their outward appearance. e.g. physical defects such as birthmarks could prove you a witch.
because he looks honest, Iago is able to successfully conceal his villainy.
confirmation bias
the tendency to search for, interpret, favour and recall information in a way that supports one’s prior beliefs or values. people display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information.
the way in which Othello receives information from Iago may indicate that he suffers from a kind of ‘confirmation bias’ whereby he is predisposed to believing Iago because of his own belief in his inferiority. he chooses to believe Iago over his own wife.
misogynistic beliefs? internalised racism?
can also argue against this because Othello appears confident and witty at the start of the play (“Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them”)
honour in Renaissance society
a wife’s chastity was part of her husband’s honour, therefore a woman’s good name was very important in Shakespeare’s society. court records for York c.1600 show that 90% of defamation cases involving female plaintiffs looked into the woman’s sexual reputation.
cultural significance of handkerchiefs in the Renaissance
associated with courtly desire. there is a particularly pertinent story where Elizabeth I was watching a tennis game and one of the players wiped his brow with her handkerchief; the other player claimed that this was ‘too saucy’ and they got into a brawl.
could be used to argue against Rymer’s criticism of the handkerchief, with the ‘ado’, ‘stress’ and ‘passion’ caused by it being seen as entirely implausible.
Aristotle on tragic heroes
the tragic hero should not be entirely good or evil, and should instead possess a ‘fatal flaw’ that is designed to incite phosbos (fear), pathos (pity) and eleos (sadness) in audiences.
the meaning of Desdemona’s name
derived from the Greek word “dysdaimon”, meaning “ill-fated” or “ill-starred”.
Suicide
although it is a sin in Christianity, the Ancient Greeks and Romans often saw suicide as patriotic or noble because it was a way of avoiding disgrace and preserving one’s honour. In many Greek/ Roman tragedies the protagonists commit suicide for other reasons as well: to avoid further suffering, end grief or sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
Why did Venice appear so fascinating to Jacobean playwrights and audiences with regard to it’s liberal treatment of sexual relations?
prostitution was regulated by the state and involved thousands of women
Marriage
- fathers expected to control their daughters and marry them off for their own social/ financial advantage.
- it was a means by which men controlled and passed on their property, and women were seen as possessions.
- Brabantio is more tolerant than many Renaissance aristocrats would have been at the time, as he says he was willing to allow Desdemona some choice in who she married.
Translated travel log read by the English
Coryat’s ‘Crudities’
- as a result, they developed an impression of Venice as a refined, advanced and cosmopolitan hub
transition from Venice to Cyprus
shift in setting marks a geographical transition from a carefully manicured hub of civility to a chaos-ridden nexus of aggression.
Venice, in seeking to preserve a pristine image of civilisation, effectively outsourced its military base and talents to a foreign land and with foreigners.
Pertubation
‘The Commonwealth and Government of Venice’
refers to political and social instability. this was thought to be the most negative element in Venetian state government.
military outsourcing was advantageous for Venice’s rulers; however, it may be plausible to argue that the more Venice tries to transfer its uglier, baser functions elsewhere, the more its people’s darker, violent essence must come out in their dealings with others. just as the state must allow for its civilised and chaotic facets to play out within the same environment, an individual must accept that they possess both light and dark, good and bad impulses all at once. there is no need nor sense in trying to refute one or the other.
Elizabeth I’s reign
England actively pursued international trade by expanding reach into African and Middle East markets. as a result, there was a greater degree of goods and labour exchange across borders. this facilitated more interracial encounters.
for example, african and arabic merchants, dignitaries and diplomats were regularly invited to Elizabeth I’s court. Shakespeare, while likely not personally acquainted with Elizabeth as far as historians are aware, would certainly have witnessed the growing multicultural presence at court.
Travel log that contributed to the perception of the ‘Moorish other’
Leo Africanus’ ‘Description of Africa’
the Barbary Company (est. 1585)
granted England exclusive trading rights with North African nations in the Barbary coast. this opportunity provided England with access to Moorish mercinaries - men hired as soldiers on a contractual basis. they became guardians of the English state and overseers of English national security; however, because they were foreign, they were also constantly seen as a source of fear and suspicion for the native English people. This arrangement created the paradoxical anxiety of having to trust the safety of the state in the hands of foreigners. Can you ever trust someone whose background you don’t fully understand?
the tragedy of Othello in the light of not being able to trust someone whose background you don’t fully understand
Othello can never be a fully integrated and accepted Venetian citizen because his values and modes of behaviour are deemed to be ‘different’. though Shakspeare, may be portraying waht seems like the tale of a disastrous interracial marriage, he may also be reflecting on the socio-political implications of engaging foreign mercinaries for the domestic interest of the English state. As technically ‘useful’ as foreign soldiers may have been for fighting off military threat, will the English people ever be able to overcome their doubt and oversion towards those they politically depend on, but will look at askance?
Iago’s change of motivation
In Cinthio’s original tale, the ensign’s motivation for the downfall of the Moor was his unrequited love for Desdemona. Shakespeare offers various possible reasons for Iago’s hatred of Othello - none of which are truly convincing. By making Iago’s motives ambigious, Shakespeare makes his version of characterisation more human and more dramatically impactful, as audiences will be trying to figure out the motives of a man who ultimately appears to be a ‘motiveless malignity’ (Coleridge). A messier but more realistic take on social and interpersonal relations, contrary to the more clean-cut and causality-driven worldviews reflected in Classical Renaissance texts. The playwright challenges the idea of events happening for a specific reason or unfolding according to cosmic forces we can make sense of. Is causality or chaos the primary principle of life?
summative contextual comment
Othello could be seen as a deeper humanistic and philosophical triumph born out of the intellectual cross-pollination of an English dramatist and an Italian writer. Shakespeare’s adaptation of Cinthio’s text raises the philosophical bar, so to speak, and deepens the psychological exploration of human nature, conflict and relationships.
the Privy Council’s open letter
While the presence of African and Arabic people increased in Elizabeth’s court (after the Barbary Company was established in 1585), the Privy Council, on behalf of Elizabeth I, issued a series of proclamations ordering the expulsion of Black people from her realm. the native English people were growing increasingly wary of foreign presence.
