Context for Othello - Iago specific Flashcards
What is a MACHIAVELLIAN
someone using trickery
State the production AO3 in relation to Shakespeare and Iago. What two things does it feature? Who do these features entertain? What do these scene do to the main plot - what do they provide?
Often, Shakespeare features a comedic subplot which include bawdy and crude jokes to entertain the lesser educated audience members. These scenes also mimic and undermine the main plot, providing comic relief from the plots intensity. However, this is not the case in Othello as the play remains sombre throughout with an intense focus on Iago’s evil manipulation and Othello’s subsequent breakdown.
State the setting A03 for Othello - what is the association with the place in question? What era is Othello written in? How does Iago’s language contradict the typical character of the setting?
Venice is associated with exotic excitement and a prominent trade hub of the Jacobean era. However, Iago uses ant-black derogatory language to describe Othello, but the white Venetian characters are also very intrigued by him and his backstory.
State race A03 for Othello - how is this achieved by Iago. How does the depiction differ to Shakespeares audience vs a modern audience? What does the colour of someones skin means in the 16th and 17th century?
Othello is described as black, more often or not by Iago. To Shakespeare’s audience, this does not necessarily mean he is of sub-Saharan African origin; to them, his blackness simply means he is not white. In the 16th and 17th centuries black refers to both morality and race; white stood for purity and innocence, black was the antithesis.
State religious AO3 for Othello. What religious is Othello dedicated to? How does this cause distrust? How does this provide a motive for Iago?
Othello’s fighting against the Ottoman Empire indicates dedication to Christianity, his Muslin background is another cause for the Venetians subtle distrust of him. Religious fuelled hatred is perhaps another motive for Iago’s destructive manipulations.
State hierarchy AO3 for Othello - what does Shakespeare explore through Iago? What does this represent in the era its written? What evidence is there of this?
Shakespeare explores the Great Chain of Being through Iago’s derogatory descriptions of Othello to prevail the evident racism in the Jacobean period of the early 17th century. “black ram” “barbary horse” “the beast with two backs” Act 1 scene 1. Animals are considered lower than humans in the Christianity ordained by God. Iago perceives the Moor and people of the African descent to be less than human in his eyes.
State women and marriage AO3 for Othello? What was Venice known for? Who is Iago suspicious of? What evidence is there?
Stereotypes of Venetian women. Venice was thought of as a city famous for the freedoms and the liberality it offered its inhabitants and as a result of this reputation it was thought of as a place of sexual freedom too. Iago is suspicious that Emilia has slept with Othello. Emilia exposes Iago’s manipulations in Act 5 scene 2 “I am bound to speak”
Give A03 for colonization in the narrative. What was Renaissance England not yet infected by? What can we consider the speech between Iago and Othello as?
Colonization of the narrative – Renaissance England was not yet infected by the national desire to colonize Africa, the narrative power struggle between Othello and Iago as individuals nonetheless anticipates the political impetus. WE CAN CONSIDER THEIR SPEECH AS A MICROCOSMOCI EXAMPLE OF HEGEMONIC FORCES – unsurprisingly Iago’s narrative subsumes that of Othello.
