GENERAL CONTEXT

Question 1

When was Othello written?

Answer 1

• Between 1601 and 1604 - across both the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras
• This mixture of contextual influences may explain the unusual nature of the play itself
• • e.g. Desdemona’s non-stereotypical portrayal as a strong-willed woman, able to match Iago’s witty banter.

Question 2

What was the status of women in the Elizabethan era?

Answer 2

• Husband was head of the household - men were deemed physcially and mentally stronger due to perception that women needed constant supervision and care.
• Women were not permitted to have jobs - they would keep the household and perform domestic duties.
  Morality rates high - pressure on woman to have a large family once married.
• Not permitted to inherit money or titles in the event of the death of their father or husband - all was passed to closest male heir.

Question 3

What was a woman’s education like?

Answer 3

• Only girls brought up in upper class families were educated via a private tutor - girls of other classes taught domestic duties in prep for married life.
• All girls taught to obey male members of family - obedience was closely linked to religion - disobedience treated as a crime against God.

Question 4

The links between women and cuckoldry

Answer 4

• Women were distrusted simply as they were women, and all women were believed to cheat on their husbands due to their lack of mental strength.
• A man would demonstrate his own abundance of strenght by effectively controlling his wife and preventing her from cheating.

Question 5

What message did the Common book of prayer propound on women?

Answer 5

• '’Ye women, submit yourselves onto your husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the wife’s head, even as Christ is the head of the Church, and he is the saviour of the whole body.
• Therefore as the Church in congregation is subject onto Christ - so likewise let the wives be in subjection unto their own husbands in all things.”

Question 6

What dates did the Elizabethan era range from?

Answer 6

• 1580-1603

Question 7

What was the Elizabethan era like?

Answer 7

• Saw country flourish - Shakespeare wrote most of his comedies during this era.
• Elizabeth was a powerful and long running monarch - had a hard act to follow after her father split the Catholic church from England - many Europeans tried to kill Elizabeth and they planned to get Mary on the thrown, but Elizabeth kills Mary.

Question 8

What is the chain of being?

Answer 8

• The hierarchical chain of being is an Elizabethan belief inherited from medieval theology - everything from God through to man and woman, vegetavle and mineral appear in an ordained position - this provides an explanation for why there was no objection to male superioirty, as it was believed
• God had positioned men as above women - Iago’s actions in the play threaten the establshed hierarchy, which is already percieved to be under threat since there is a black outsider at the top.

Question 9

What religious beliefs were present in Shakespeare’s day?

Answer 9

• Reason is a religious notion relevant to the play
  The Elizabethans blamed Adam and Eve for the failure of reason - believed any characters who could not control their emotions were heading for a fall - Thus, they would come to this conclusion upon seeing Othello in his heightened state of jealousy and passion.
• Fear of damnation and hell itself was prevalent at the time & Elizabethans also believed in witches and that the Devil could appear in human form at any time.
  Any form of deception was seen as a sin - links deceiver with Satan when he deceived Adam and Eve.
  Any form of chaos at all was feared - meant destruction of God’s creation.
• Attending church in the Elizabethan era was mandatory - non-attenders were fined.

Question 10

What new kind of political power was emerging during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras?

Answer 10

• The Machiavellian manipulator/politician.
• Bowen’s critical perspective sees the play as more about Robert Cecil, advisor to Elizabeth and James - a new type of political influencer was being discovered, the advisor, who could plant ideas and not do the dirty work for himself (like Iago).
• Chivalric gentlemen were in charge, their code however became outdated because Machiavellian influences came into power, and Shakespeare is perhaps suggesting that these men need to become more aware of subtle techniques of gaining/maintaining/using power.

Question 11

What are the origins of the story of Othello?

Answer 11

• Shakespeare created Othello using a short story by an Italian writer named Cinthio - entitled ‘Un Captiano Moro’, written in 1565.
• Moral of this story is that European women should not marry foreigners - Shakespeare conveyed this in his play.

Question 12

What were Shakespeare’s adaptations of Cinthio’s tale?

Answer 12

• He added many characters, such as Brabantio and Roderigo.
  Roderigo now loves Desdemona, not Iago.
• Manner of Desdemona’s death changes - not beaten to death with sand bag but is suffocated by Othello - also only kills his wife alone (not with Iago).
• Shakespeare includes Iago’s motives for revenge that he has been passed over for a promotion, rather than just mere sexual jealousy.
  EMilia is not aware of Iago’s plot throughout.
• Othello takes his own life as opposed to being murdered by Desdemona’s relatives.
• Iago will still be tortured like in the original, but in Shakespeare’s he lives.
• Desdemona is notably a stronger character than her counterpart in Cinthio’s tale and all the characters are extended by Shakespeare into interesting individuals, rather than purely serving as plot devices or stereotypes in the original story.

Question 13

What were the military positions in the Venetian army?

Answer 13

• General
• Lieutenant
• Ancient

Question 14

What was involved in the role of the General?

Answer 14

• Highest rank
• Commanded a large number of troops and gives orders to a number of lower ranking officers.
• Would plan operations of the army rather than being a big part of the battle itself.
• Logical, brave, trustworthy and courageous.
• Othello is the general.

Question 15

What was involved in the role of the Lieutenant?

Answer 15

• Position assigned by the General.
• Iago covets this position but Cassio has been promoted to this rank at the very beginning of the play.
• Expected to ensure the general’s orders are carried out.
• In charge of roughly 20-50 soldiers.
• Essentially 2nd in command to the general and is in charge when the general is absent - hence the name ‘lieutenant’, meaning place-holder.
• Iago believes Cassio lacks tthe age and military experience to be lieutenant.

Question 16

What is involved in the role of the Ancient?

Answer 16

• Responsible for carrying the flags on the battlefield used to identify the locations of the army.
• Essentially 3rd in command.
• Needs to be a man of great courage - expected to maintain his position on the battlefield, even in the face of death.
• Position held by Iago, often referred to as the ensign.

Question 17

Information surrounding the Venetian army.

Answer 17

• During 16th Century, because of Venice’s geographical position, the population had to establish armed forces to protect them from invasions from the hostile surrounding nations.
  Venice renowned for its strong naval force, but it also had an effective army - several characters from Othello belonged to said army.
• Venetian soldiers would be promoted by their superior for proving himself through hard work and success in battle.
• At times of emergency every male between 17-60 was registered by the army, along with their weapon, in case they needed to be called to fight.

Question 18

Was being in the army an attractive prospect to Venetian men?

Answer 18

• Being a Venetian solider had social perks: they were viewed as among the most heroic and courageous men in society - often would use their tales of various battles to woo women - we see Othello admit to this with Desdemona.
• Being a soldier is what most men wanted - it provided a sense of immortality as their name would be remembered throughout history.
• To be removed from a rank or discredited while in service was the ultimate embarrassment for a soldier.

Question 19

Authorship of Shakespeare’s works

Answer 19

• Common belief that Shakespeare did not write these plays - some argue that a man who led such a mundane life would not have had the experience or intellect to write such sophisticated works.
• Many of his plays appear to contain multiple distinct voices.
• Regardless of the authorship debate - seminal influence of plays cannot be disputed.

Question 20

Rules for courtship and marriage

Answer 20

• Little choice for women during the renaissance period over whom they could marry.
• Marriages arranged by fathers & usually the choice of partner would benefit the family in some way. - perhaps through acquiring wealth or status - some people did marry for love, however.
• Given these social rules, Brabantio’s anger is more understandable when he learns his daughter has married Othello without his knowledge, especially since he had allowed her to reject Roderigo’s proposal.
• Common for a woman to meet her husband the day before, or day of, the wedding.
  All women were expected to marry - as they could not work it was all they had.
• Law gave husbands full ownership of their wives - she would become his property and would be expected to run the household and bear children.
  With parental permission, boys could marry at 14 and girls at 12 - relatively unheard of for couple to marry so young - usually men would marry when they reached the age of 21.
• Although men were the head of the marriage this did not mean they were tyrannical toward their wives - however, the wife was expected to obey her husband entirely.

Question 21

Divorce and Courtship

Answer 21

• Divorce did not exist - expectation that a couple would remain married until death.
• Women who chose not to marry were viewed with suspicion by members of society - often accused of witchcraft.

Question 22

what was the purpose of courtship like

Answer 22

• Linked with traditions of courtly love and, as with marriage, there were various rules about courtship.
  A suitor could seek to woo a lady by various means - he would still require paternal permission of the lady to try and court her.
• Expected that the man courting the lady would be of honour and have a good reputation - traditional masculine strength & the ability to express his love and emotions openly was necessary also.
• Courting primarily involved the presentation of poetry and other gifts or the telling of exciting stories of e.g.
• travelling abroad or of themes relating to magic & superstition - Roderigo seeks Desdemona using the former, but Othello’s use of the latter proves to win her affections.

Question 23

Venice

Answer 23

• State in Northern Italy.
  Natural choice as Venice was viewed as an exciting place by Elizabethan audiences.
• Many of Shakespeare’s contemporaries created Italian characters of their own, who were stereotypically wicked & often caused problems for the English characters.
• Shakespearian audiences viewed Italy as a place of loose morality, sin and crime. In Venice, women would have been stereotypically viewed as very beautiful and sexually tolerant while men were flamboyant, aggressive, jealous and quick-tempered.
• At the time of writing was a state of great wealth - gained primarily through trading with the Turks - also viewed as a place of great culture and extravegance.
• Due to trade links w/ Africa, Venice had many foreign inhabitants & visitors - Only the setting for the first act.

Question 24

Who were the Turks?

Answer 24

• The Turks were the Venetians’ main rivals as they controlled a huge empire (including Egypt and Greece) & the Venetians and Turks were almost constantly at war during 16th century.
• Wars were mainly to acquire land but there was also a religious motive - Venetians were Christians while Turks were Muslim - conflict would have been one seen as ‘civilisation’ vs ‘barbarism’ - closely echoes theme of the ‘outsider’ (seen throughout Othello).

Question 25

What do the 2 settings of Othello represent?

Answer 25

• Shakespeare chooses Venice and Cyprus due to the stereotypes associated with both places - the settings themselves can be seen as representing Othello’s changing attitudes and temperament as the play progresses.
• While Othello remains in Venice he maintains both his reputation and sanity - in essence his civility - much like Cyprus itself, Othello becomes vulnerable to attack; both Othello and Cyprus itself are isolated and under threat.
• Only when in Cyprus that Othello embraces the Moorish and barbaric side of his character.
• No one is sent back to Venice from Cyprus, perhaps suggesting what has been lost - e.g. virtue, reputation & trust will never return (Venetian qualities).
• Despite the threat of the Turks being destroyed, plenty conflict remains on the streets of Cyprus (murder, fights, prostitution) which all makes for a chaotic environment - again, reflecting Othello’s internal conflict.

Question 26

How does Shakespeare alter history in the writing of Othello?

Answer 26

• When the audience hears that the entire Turkish fleet (planning to attack Cyprus) has been destroyed, history is not reflected, rather a wish of many Western Europeans at the time.
• In reality, Cyprus was conquered by the Turks in 1571 after a 150 year war - Therefore, Cyprus represents the very real conflict of the 16th century & also symbolically embodies Othello’s own conflict and position &conflict between civilised and barbaric personalities

Question 27

When did women finally play women, and when did black men finally play Othello?

Answer 27

• It was not until around 1660, the Restoration era, that women began playing the female roles.
• Margaret Hughes is credited as the first woman to play the role of Desdemona (in 1660), as well as being the first woman in history to take any acting role to the stage.
  Was not until the early 20th century that the first black actor, James Robeson, played the role.
• Notable actors such as Lawrence Olivier and Richard Burton played Othello - there was criticism for allowing a white actor to play the role in dark make-up.

Question 28

How was the audience in Shakespeare’s day structured?

Answer 28

Shakespeare’s audiences would have been made up of all classes (groundlings would pay 1 penny to stand and watch the play), through the middle classes and all the way up to the monarchy.

Question 29

What could the references to goats in the play mean?

Answer 29

• Interesting to consider the references to sheep and goats, often symbols used to describe the saved and the unsaved (elect or the damned)
• Protestantism was split between Lutheranism and Calvinism - the first believes there is room for everyone tog go to heaven, whereas the second sates that god has decided before birth, whether you are elect or damned
• the sheep are the elect, the goats are the damned - both Iago and Othello discuss goats, and so it relates to a bigger question - was Othello bound to fall, or could he have survived - is Othello easily jealous or not - does Iago push him over the edge - this ALL links to the ideas of election and damnation -does Othello have a genuine choice or was he always going to fall.

Question 30

What is the significance of shakespeare naming Iago, Iago?

Answer 30

• Iago shares his name with the patron saint of Spain, Santiago - Shakespeare should have known this as the play was seemingly written in 1604, the same year that there was a peace treaty negotiated with Spain - which Shakespeare would know - often actors would be paid on court occasions to stand around and look good, as they had lots of nice costumes.
• Santiago Matamoros (epithet of Santiago) - Iago essentially is this, he kills Othello, a moor.
• Historically, Spain is the enemy of England, and so his depiction of Iago as the bad guy, el matador de los moros
• perhaps conveys Shakespeare’s attitude of said peace treaties - he may not have liked King James for wanting to become allies with Spain, and so it may not be a coincidence that Iago is the Spanish equivalent of James, and it may not be a coincidence that a few years later he gives the Italian version of James to another villain - hard to be rude about the King in English, but in another language it is much more acceptable.