social and political values of Jacobean Society Flashcards
marriages
Elizabethans were against mixed marriages and viewed Negroes and “blackamoors” with suspicion. Many of the racist views we considered now were common during those times, and many believed that black people were fit only to be slaves.
religion
Othello has converted to Christianity, and the play’s preoccupation with good and evil suggests its religious context.
Temptation in Othello
Central figures of many of Shakespeare’s plays are frequently individuals beset by temptation and the lure of evil. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are haunted by their consciences, they agonise over their actions as they follow what can be understood as spiritual progress toward heaven or hell. (shown in the tormented conscience before and after Othello kills his wife)
“Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip? Some bloody passion shakes your very frame?”
The Great Chain Of Being
Elizabethan society was based upon a fixed social order. The whole universe was perceived as governed by a divine will and all beings were placed in a social hierarchy. This was called The Great Chain of Being.
Venice’s class structure
much more rigid than England when Othello was written. The nobility and common people were very distinct from one another. As a man who had risen in society himself, Shakespeare would have understood Iago’s resentment
judgemental nature of Shakespearean society
During the Renaissance, people believed that it is possible to identify good and evil by observing outward appearance. (physical defects such as birthmarks could be proof of villainy) because Iago looks honest, he is able to conceal his villainy.
importance of reputation
Cassio’s misery when he fears he has lost his good name reminds us how important reputation was to a man’s conception of his honour.
Elizabethan society was patriarchal and hierarchical
Fathers expected to control their daughters and marry them off to their own social or financial advantage. Marriage was a means by which men controlled and passed on their property, and women were seen as possessions.
religious context
Russell Brown reminds us of the Christian context in the seventeenth century “an audience that believed in devils might see Iago as someone working in close allegiance to an evil power that is greater than any human force.”
Reputation was important in Jacobean society and had a large influence over how people were treated and respected. This is likely why Cassio gets so upset when he loses his position under Othello.
Shakespeare perhaps suggests that morality should be regarded with greater importance than a reputation as Iago is wrongly treated as ‘honest’ for most of the play and manages to gain Othello’s trust, securing a position close to him
reactions of Jacobean audience
A Jacobean audience would likely have been shocked when Cassio lost his reputation, even more so when Iago’s skyrocketed and Othello’s waned dramatically, making the events of the play all the more tragic.
The Great Chain Of Being is a popular idea related to Christianity (God on top), which assigned a divine hierarchy to western (Jacobean) society.
In Othello, Iago undermines the Great Chain of Being, which would have highlighted his deviousness.
Instead he seems inclined towards Machiavellian ideals, manipulating Roderigo and Cassio by suggesting that a person can surpass their position in society and use any means to do so.
reactions from Jacobean audience
A Jacobean audience would perhaps have expected the play to descend into chaos following the disruption of the Great Chain of Being, and therefore the early events in the play have another layer of foreshadowing
ending providing a sense of relief
This restoration of order would have satisfied a contemporary audience as it suggests that their would be a return to this hierarchy; a small relief following the devastating turmoil of the play
witchcraft and superstition
King James VI was repulsed by witchcraft, it was expected members of the public also shared his superstitions.
-Shakespeare further encourages this problematic conception by attributing Othello and his handkerchief with enchantment and superstition
-Though Desdemona’s virtue in stressed throughout the play, there is something about Othello’s adamant belief in her betrayal despite never discussing it with her which is reminiscent of witch hunting practices, which mainly targeted women
