context Flashcards
when was the play first performaed?
sometime between 1602 and 1604
how is the play ‘transcendental’?
it appeals to many different people across time and place through generic themes and issues
when and where was shakespeare born?
1564 in stratford upon avon
who and at what age did shakespeare marry?
anne hathaway at 18
what theatre troupe did shakespeare become an important member of?
the lord chamberlain’s men
when did shakespeare die?
in 1616
what was the three main types of plays shakespeare wrote?
comedies, tragedies and histories
what may have inspired shakespeare’s transition to tragedies
the loss of one of his children in 1596
what were the nature of the first group of plays shakespeare wrote and what did they involve?
comedies involving romantic love stories that often ended happily
what king did shakespeare’s theatre troupe become popular with?
james i
Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Othello are all examples of what type of play?
dramatic tragedies
how does the location of the play distance the audience?
it is set in the mediterranean, distancing the contemporary london audience, even though many of the issues in the play are relevant to england
what is a feature of the renaissance, and how is this reflected in the play?
it was a period of great change, when many established (and often medieval) rules were upturned.
desdemona and othello’s union is part of breaking this tradition.
what do characters like emilia demonstrate in terms of the renaissance?
women that were trying to gain more power
what do characters like iago demonstrate in terms of the renaissance?
the rise of individuals trying to break the established order
what is an example of the established order being broken in Othello?
desdemona and othello’s marriage
what do tragedies classicaly present?
the fall of high-status characters
how might the play be seen as a communication of tragedy tradition?
othello is a renowned general, so he could be considered a high status character, the play showing his fall.
why, in classic tragedies, were high-status characters used rather than low-status?
high-status characters have so much further to fall and lose than a lower starus character
what is a tragic flaw?
a trait of a character that is problematical and leads to their downfall. often another character (a tragic villain) will find this weakness and aims to exploit it.
what is the spiral of tragedy in a tragedy?
when the tragic hero’s flaw has been exploited. everything starts going wrong and the character can’t escape their downfall, they tend to blame everyone but themselves.
how does chaos result in a tragedy?
the main character makes a set of poor decisions, these decisions don’t just impact them, but wider society and other characters around them.
when does a tragedy reach its climax, and what is the climax in othello?
when something happens that is impossible to change, in othello, it is the murder of desdemona.
what follows a tragedy’s climax?
the tragic hero will realise what they have done and gain insight. then they are either killed by a heroic figure of by themselves.
