Contexts Flashcards
The Renaissance saw a new confidence in human reason and potential which challenged old convictions, this is seen to have began in Italy in the 14th century. What is the significance of this?
As Othello and Desdemona are moved from Venice, the city of social progression and culture, to Cyprus a place of war and civil disobedience foreshadows the fall of their martial love.
Shakespeare’s play examines and questions the beliefs, assumptions and politics upon which Elizabethan society was founded. Although the play concludes in a restoration of order and stability, how does Shakespeare still subvert traditional values?
through the fact that Othello, the tragic hero, is a black man while the heroine is an assertive young woman
Arguably Shakespeare gives Iago subversive views in order to discredit them as _______ (opposes official policy)
dissident
Why would Shakespeare critique of the ways those in authority behave or question race and nobility have to be muted or oblique?
as direct criticism of the monarch or contemporary English court would not have been tolerated; most reasonably why the play is set in Italy
England was increasingly hostile to foreigners both officially and at a popular level; with London having witnessed several major riots against foreign residents and ______.
artisans
Which monarch issued edicts demanding the removal of black poeple from English because they were considered as an ‘annoyance’?
Elizabeth 1
The central figures of many of Shakespeare’s plays have individuals beset by temptation and the lure of evil. When do we see an example of Othello’s introspection (examination of mental process, self reflect)?
In Act 3 scene 3 when he is alone on stage and begins to doubt his attractions as a husband
“why did I marry”
Othello goes on a psychological journey that can be understood as a spiritual progression towards even or hell. When do we see evidence of Othello’s tormented conscience?
both before and after he kills his wife
Desdemona remarks on Othello’s inner torment when she says what in Act V Scene 2?
“some bloody passion shakes your very frame”
Women expected to be ruled by men, as what demonstrates?
Desdemona’s submission to Othello
Intellectually, women were thought to be inferior to men, and incapable of rational thought. What were assertive and argumentative women seen as?
as a threat to the social order and were punished for their behaviour with forms of torture
Shakespeare’s wife managed a home and property as well as her family for 20 years while Shakespeare was pursing his career in London. What reflects Shakespeares recognition of strong women?
the way he allows Desdemona and Emilia a number of moments of strength
Why is the storm in Cyprus that opens Act 2 described verbally by the characters on stage?
in order to create a mood of tension for the audience
Why does the treatment and murder of Desdemona need to be looked at contextually?
as in Elizabethan england domestic abuse was not uncommon and, except in cases of extreme cruelty, not considered unacceptable as if Desdemona was guilty, the general feeling would be acceptance for her murder
the military events of the play are based on historical fact. Elizabethan dramatists often use Italinate settings for plays about intrigue, secret affairs and revenge. Why?
this is because foreign courts were stereotyped as being full of villainy and sexual perversion. While Venice had a reputation as a city of wealth and sophistication, it was also perceived as a place of loose morals
How does Shakespeare use the setting of Venice to isolate Othello?
as this immediately portrays him as an outsider, while he serves the senate, he is not Italian unlike his adversary,
How is Cyprus described?
as a “warlike island”
Away from the civilisation of Venice, Iago’s evil schemes prosper. While Cyprus is threatened by the Turks, what is Othello threatened by?
Iago threatens his peace of mind
Cyprus is an isolated setting which is psychologically appropriate. Secure in their love in Venice, othello and Desdemona are wretched apart in Cyprus. Why is this tragically ironic?
as a once great soldier should die for love in a war zone
Why was Venice known for sin?
because of the number of courtesans
Venice was known for sin because of the number of courtesans, Shakespeares audience would have therefore been familiar with the stereotpe of the sexually decadent italian female. Why is this important?
as In Othello, the perceived immorality of italian women is neatly encapsulated in Emilia’s description of adultery as a ‘small vice’ in Act 4 Scene 3
Iago convinces othello that he knows the ‘country disposition’ and thus it is to be expected that his wife should stray, in what act?
Act 3 scene 3
Why convincing Othello that he knows the “country disposition” what is he implying?
that Desdemona is sexually corrupt and is likely to commit adultery without bad conscience
In what act and scene does Othello begin to doubt himself as a lover when he suggests she has strayed because he is “black”?
Act 3 scene 3
Why does Othello’s death give some catharisis?
as it is deeply magic and degrading that a military hero should kill himself in his wife’s bedchamber
Where else has Shakespeare portrayed a pair of doomed lovers?
Romeo and Juliet
In both Romeo and Juliet and Othello, what does Shakespeare explore?
the tragic consequences of intense love
Brabantio and which father from Romeo and Juliet expects his daughter to make a socially acceptable marriage and is angered when she does not?
Capulet
There are a number of malcontent and Machiavellian villains in Renaissance drama who share Iago’s cynicism and abuse others to get what they want, such as which villain in which other Shakespearen tragedy?
King Lear, the illegitimate son Edmund who plots against his brother and father for land and titles
What has coleridge at the beginning of the 19th century argued in his view of Iago?
that he was ‘A being next to the devil’ and operated without adequate motivation; he is bad because he is bad
Who argued that Iago wasA being next to the devil’ and operated without adequate motivation; he is bad because he is bad?
Coleridge at the beginning of the 19th century
At the end of the 19th century who argued that othello must be seen as “the noblest man of man’s making”?
Swinburne
How does Swinburne describe Othello at the end of the 19th century?
as “the noblest man of man’s making”?
What does A.C Bradley say about Othello?
that he was blameless and “the most romantic figure among Shakespearean hero”
Who said that othello was blameless and “the most romantic figure among Shakespearean hero”
A.C Bradley
Who believes that in the denouement Othello is guilty of trying to cheer himself up and evade reality and the speech is a “terrible exposure of human weakness?
T.S Elliot
What does T.S Elliot say about Othello/
that in the denouement Othello is guilty of trying to cheer himself up and evade reality and the speech is a “terrible exposure of human weakness?
Why do some critics suggest that othello affirms a morality that is consistent with Christianity>
as the play presents a positive view of love and faith and shows us that venegeance is wicked and pride dangerous
Feminist readers of the play explore the gender politics of Othello. What have many feminist critics noted about how female characters in Jacobean tragedies are portrayed?
they are portrayed a victims who have limited power and punished fro their sexulaity
Desdemona accepts her culture’s dictum that she must be obedient to males and is self denying in the extreme when she dies. Who said this?
French
What has french, feminist critic said about Desdemona?
that she accepts her culture’s dictum that she must be obedient to males and is self denying in the extreme when she dies.
What do New Historicist critics seek to consider in Othello?
Othello in relation to its social and historical context, looking at the play in relation to the ideology and beliefs of Shakespearen society
What are New Historicist critics particularly interested in?
in whether or not Othello reinforces or subverts the values of Shakespearen society
Who describes Desdemona as the embodiment of power when she appears in Act I and defends her right to choose her own husband?
Tennenhouse
What does Tennenhouse suggest about Desdemonas power?
that she is the embodiment of power when she appears in Act I and defends her right to choose her own husband
What was Jacobean society anxious about?
about the ‘other’ and the plotting against authority figures
Why can Othello not hold on to his authority with any confidence or security?
because he is different from the Venetians
What does Othellos love for Desdemona have strong overtones of?
medieval courtly love where the woman’s purity is worshipped and idolized
What does a post-colonial critique of the play consider?
the way in which Othello’s race is portrayed and considers the hero’s outsider status in a white world
What has post-colonial critic Loomba suggested about the central conflict in Othello?
that women and black people existed as the other, with Othello’s marriage to Desdemona rupturing his precarious (not secure) entry into a white world
How does Shakespeares play challenge the racist, sexist and colonialist views of his society?
by making the black Othello a hero, and by making Desdemonas love for Othello sympathetic
