OTHELLO - Context

Question 1

What is a shakspearean tragedy and its relevance to Othello

Answer 1

A tragic play where the protagonist suffers a downfall due to a fatal flaw (hamartia).

Relevance: Othello’s jealousy and gullibility lead to his tragic demise.

Question 2

What is an Aristotelian Tragedy

Answer 2

Othello is a noble hero with a fatal flaw (peripeteia & anagnorisis).

Question 3

what is catharsis

Answer 3

The audience experiences pity and fear.

Question 4

KEY CONTEXT: Race + Otherness

Answer 4

• Othello as an outsider: A Black Moor in a predominantly white Venetian society.
• Elizabethan Attism was common; Moors were often stereotyped as lustful or violent.
• “Blackness” & Evil: Iago weaponizes Othello’s race against him (e.g., “the thick lips”).
• Contextual Relevance: Shakespeare challenges racist stereotypes by making Othello noble and articulate.

Question 5

KEY CONTEXT: Gender & Patriarchy

Answer 5

• Women’s Roles: Women were seen as property, expected to be obedient and chaste.
• Desdemona’s Defiance: Marries Othello against her father’s will.
• Emilia’s Feminism: Challenges male dominance (“They are all but stomachs, and we all but food”).
• Tragedy & Misogyny: Desdemona is punished for her independence, reinforcing patriarchal structures.

Question 6

KEY CONTEXT: The Renaissance Period

Answer 6

• Shakespeare was writing during the English Renaissance period,
• The Renaissance was a cultural movement which saw the
  flourishing of Latin and Ancient Greek philosophies and knowledge in Western Europe.

Question 7

What was Shakespeare’s sources for Othello?

Answer 7

• The main story of Othello comes from Gli Hecatommithi by Cinthio, a collection of short stories written in Italian and first published in 1565. - similar story

Question 8

What is the significance of the setting in Venice?

Answer 8

• Venice had a reputation as a cosmopolitan and diverse city, full of wealth and political stability.
• contemporary republican government
• Venice was also known for the diversity of its population: it was home to people from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including those like Othello who had immigrated and adopted
  Venetian (and Christian) values.