William Shakespeare and ‘Othello’

Question 1

Why is Othello one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays?

Answer 1

• About a respected black general in the Venetian army who murders his wife after being convinced she’s unfaithful
• Can be seen as a domestic tragedy - it focuses on 1 man’s life rather than the issues of kingship or the fate of a country
• The play’s themes of love, jealousy & betrayal are still relevant to audiences today
• Popular with critics as it explores & undermines Elizabethan stereotypes about race & gender

Question 2

When was Shakespeare born & when did he die?

Answer 2

April 1564 - April 1616

Question 3

Who does Shakespeare marry?

Answer 3

Anne Hathaway at 18 in November 1582

Question 4

What are the names of Shakespeare’s children?

Answer 4

1583 - Susanna
1585 - twins Hamnet (son) & Judith (daughter)

Question 5

When did Shakespeare write his first plays and what were they?

Answer 5

Early 1590s
Richard III and Henry VI, parts 1-3

Question 6

When was Shakespeare’s playing company established and what was it called?

Answer 6

1594 ‘The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’

Question 7

When was Romeo and Juliet first performed?

Answer 7

1594/1595

Question 8

When does his son, Hamlet, die and when is the play, Hamlet, performed?

Answer 8

1596 he died
1600/1601 Hamlet first performed

Question 9

When was the Globe built?

Answer 9

1599

Question 10

When does Shakespeare write Othello & when is it first performed?

Answer 10

1603 - writes
1604 - first performed

Question 11

What happens to ‘The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’ when James I takes the throne?

Answer 11

change their name to ‘The King’s Men’

Question 12

How did Elizabethan literature tend to present other races and how did Shakespeare challenge these traditional values?

Answer 12

elizabethan literature tended to present other races using negative stereotypes. Even Shakespeare used stereotypes eg Aaron in Titus Andronicus is a black man who is a villain.
The character of Othello was the first betrayal of a noble black protagonist in English literature

Question 13

How did Shakespeare challenge traditional values about gender?

Answer 13

Woman were expected to be chaste quiet and subservient to their father and husband
- Desdemona is outspoken and assertive at the start of the play. she was “half the wooer” (1.3.174) in her relationship with Othello

Question 14

How did Shakespeare challenge traditional values about marriage?

Answer 14

marriages were often arranged by a woman’s father woman were expected to marry someone of the same class and race
- Othello and Desdemona’s marriage went against societies expectations. interracial marriages were seen as “unnatural” (3.3.231)