Context unf Flashcards
1
Q
Who is the peson who made the first atlas and described ‘moors’?
A
Abraham Ortelius 1602
2
Q
What did Abraham Ortelius say about Moors?
A
- “They are jealous… greedy”
- “So simple they will believe any incredible fiction”
- “ignorant”
- trustworthy
- emotional and hot tempered
- clever and strong
3
Q
Who was the first person to play Othello?
A
Richard Burbage 1604 in the King’s men
- he blacked up for the role of othello
4
Q
What were the views of women at the time?
A
- property of their father or husband
- mentally and physically inferiour to men
- Great Chain of Being shows a wife ranks belowe her husband and must be submissive
- Virgin whore dichotomy
- Ideas of Genesis, and Eve. Mary
- prostitutes the lowest level of the GCoB
- Patriarchal England
- Queen Elizabeth
5
Q
When were women allowed to act on the stage?
A
1660
6
Q
How were merchants viewed?
A
- Their power was on the rise. They were not noble by inheritance but dealt with a lot of nobility as well as commonfolk. Divine right of kings made it important to be around the nobility
- Venice a trading hub and seen as home to a lot of merchants. London also had lots of merchants from Europe
7
Q
How was Venice viewed by England?
A
- Scared of the openess of expression in Venice and the laxity on chastity and privacy
- Idealised for its prosperity of trade and economy
- Catholic
- Cultural captiol of the Renaissance
- Military capable
- Used as a foil to england and also a critique of Catholicism and the loose nature of their culture
8
Q
How does the context of race contribute to the play?
A
- Black people seen as lower in the GCoB
- ‘Moor’ an ambiguous term, person from North Africa
- Xenophobia in England
- Transatlantic slave trade, believed by many that black people only fit to be slaves
- Travel writings- black people seen as exotic and ‘other’
- Blackness associated with sin and corruption and seen as bestial
- Black people associated with witchraft
- black men seen as overly sexual and having a large sexual appetite
9
Q
What genre is the play?
A
Tragedy
10
Q
What are the requirements for an Aristolean tragedy?
A
- Plot comes above characters as the tragic action is most valuable
- Hamartia (miss the mark), protagonist must have an inherent tragic flaw
- Peripetia (plot reversal), must be a reversal the plot and a scene of suffering
- Catharsis- suffering offers pain and relief for the audience
- Protagonist must be of noble of high importance (Othello unique as only domestically important)
11
Q
How was interracial marriage viewed?
A
As an abomination and doomed to fail
12
Q
Describe cuckholdry
A
- The fear of men that their wives would cheat on them
- It would ruin their reputation and often this fear came above the trust in their partner, led to women being frequently accused of promiscuity
13
Q
Context of religion
A
- England Protestant
- Venice Catholic
- Moors Muslim
- Villains are often cynical atheists- Edmund in King Lear is one example, and he exploits women in the same way as Iago does
- Hellish language would have been shocking for a Jacobean audience
- Women were viewed as untrustworthy because of Eve’s sin
