Context Flashcards
William Shakespeare Biography
> Moved to London in 1590
Theatre troupe adopted by King James as the King’s Men in 1603
Career bridged reigns of Elizabeth I and James I - favoured by both
Not educated further than Grammar School
Experienced the unpredictable rough and tumble of mid16th century society
Historical Context
> England had independent trade relationships with “Moorish” Northern Africa
Spanish Catholics, from eleventh to fifteenth century, battled to re-conquer Spain from the Islamic ‘Moors’. Inspired prejudice and suspicion that lasted well after the Moors were overthrown
Shakespearean England had strong anti-Catholic sentiment and feared a Spanish invasion
English slave trade saw black people coming to England
Queen Elizabeth founded The Barbary Company (institutionalized trade between England + Morocco) and received Moroccan diplomats in 1600.
English suspicion of Islam: Elizabeth issued a degree expelling Moors from England in 1599 and 1601
Developed a paradoxical anxiety of having to entrust the State’s interests in the hands of foreigners
Inspiration
> Primary source ‘Un Capitano Moro’ by Cinthio. It provides the backbone for Othello’s plot
Minor alterations eg. Iago’s motives + minor characters
Pliny’s Natural History and Leo Africanus’ A Geographical History of Africa, aided Shakespeare in his understanding
Africanus characterizes Moors as candid and unaffected, but prone to jealousy
Shakespeare’s characterisation is more human and dramatically impactful as audience left questioning Iago’s motives - messier but more realistic take on social and interpersonal relations
Contrary to causality driven worldview of Classical Renaissance texts - Shakespeare challenges idea that things must happen for a specific reason
Othello seen as a deeper, humanistic, philosophical triumph born out of intellectual cross-pollination between Italian and English dramatist - Shakespeare’s adaptation raises the philosophical bar and furthers the psychological exploration of human nature, conflict and relationships
Ambiguity of Moor
> Term used in Elizabethan England to refer to non- Europeans eg. North Africans, Arabs, Indians
Contradictory references to origins:
“Barbary” = area in Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean
“Thick lips” = further South African
“Sooty” = referred to as black
Impossible to know Shakespearean audience’s exact interpretation
Race
> Typical Renaissance Drama = negative depiction of Moors, Othello is the first black ‘hero’
Behaves as the murderous, lustful black stereotype after Iago’s corruption
Othello racial ‘outsider’ in Venice, but his noble origins and mercenary status stressed
Shakespeare subverts Renaissance view of black people as only ‘slaves’
Play contains opposition of black and white imagery, but marker of difference is not racially specific
Religion
> Large focus on good and evil
Desdemona’s ‘goodness’ referred to by heaven imagery; Iago’s ‘badness’ referred to by imagery of hell and the Devil
Othello is a Christian convert. Knows he is damned by the end of the play
Iago displays Atheist attitudes - he says men are in control of their own fate
Setting
> Venice associated with power, romance and high culture; situational irony with the events of the play
During early slave trade and ongoing Christian-Muslim conflicts
Venice height of European civilisation and political savvy
Shakespearean audience familiar with Thomas Coryat’s ‘Crudities’ and Gasparo Contarini - refined, advanced and cosmopolitan impression of Venice
Elizabethan England similar period of peace, fertile art and culture
Othello displays beneath Venice’s veneer of sophistication, it has its own festering immorality (Iago)
Patriarchy
> Renaissance ideology - women subservient to men
Legally, women were possessions of men and so treated as such
Female assertiveness considered a threat to social orthodoxy
Emilia representation - challenges female conventions
Shakespeare Representations of Race
> Titus Andronicus villain, Aaron, stereotypical black character and antithesis of Othello
Only Iago voices stereotypical attitudes towards Othello
Social Implications
> Europeans used, but did not fully integrate foreigners - racial barriers
Othello and Desdemona
> Their union embodies the themes of racism and unchecked female sexuality; reaches its peaks through the metaphors for Desdemona and Othello’s offspring
Iago assumes the role of repairing the cultural drift caused by their marriage - embodies voice of racial intolerance
Significance of Venice to Cyprus
> Cyprus - tributary state won over by the Venetians from the Turks
Geographical transition from carefully manicured hub to chaos-ridden nexus of aggression
Venice seeks to preserve image of civility so outsources its military base to a foreign land and foreigner
Gasparo Contarini deems perturbation (socio-political instability) negative element in Venetian Governance
Problem: supresses the natural primitive energies that reside in any state that need to be released. Iago manipulations could be an expression of repressed impulses of man’s darker side; could represent dangers of these pent up energies
How can you fully trust someone you don’t understand?
> Brabantio switches from friendliness to Othello as a Military General to animosity when he becomes his Son-in-Law
Desdemona’s tragic plight = results of her inability to understand Othello’s foreigner status and insecurities from that
Tragedy could come from Othello, whilst a respected member of Venetian State due to military expertise, he can never be a fully integrated citizen - values and modes of behaviour fundamentally different/ seen as
Shakespeare commenting on social/ political implications of foreign mercenaries engaging in domestic interests - English State doubt of political dependence vs cultural disapproval
Niccolo Machiavelli
> Diplomat for 14 years in Italy’s Florentine Republic
Wrote The Prince, a handbook for Politicians on the use of ruthless, self-serving cunning
Main theme is man’s capacity for determining his own destiny in opposition to the power of fate
“Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”
Wrote The Prince after being expelled from political service
What is prose?
> conversational way of speaking, no set structure or rhythm
visually no structure, capital letters at the beginning of sentences, runs across page like a novel
prose can convey status (often used for lower-status or comedic characters)
What is verse?
> defined by a rhythm, can rhyme but doesn’t often
display internal rhythm of character, structural thoughts/ inner workings
used for higher born characters or heavier subjects
Iambic Pentameter
> form of verse, typical line has ten syllables, each line divided into five segments (feet) and contain two syllables
words often fall into different feet
Blank verse
> two or more pentameter lines that do not rhyme
Iamb
> two syllables where more stress is placed on the second syllable (de-dum)
Trochee
> more stress falls on the first syllable rather than the second
usually appear at the start or middle of a line
used to bring out attention to a key term
abrupt changes and violent interjections
Spondee
> strong and almost equal stress on both syllables
often used in close succession with pyrrhic
Pyrrhic foot
> two syllables lightly stressed
skip lightly over syllables to arrive more quickly at phrase Shakespeare wants to resonate with us
emphasise impact of Spondee
