Love through the ages: Shakespeare & Poetry (7721)
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Summary Struggling with Shakespeare? A breakdown of Othello
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Love through the ages: Shakespeare & Poetry (7721)
Institution
AQA
An overview of Othello, including points relating to context, themes and an overview of the play itself (a very simple scene by scene breakdown).
I went on to achieve an A* in this exam, and this document provides my method of thinking and great points to use and consider for your exam.
Love through the ages: Shakespeare & Poetry (7721)
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OTHELLO REVISION
Othello’s Enduring Appeal
Had a successful stage history since first performance
Sanders ‘relentless emotional grip’ – the character of Othello’s psychological complexity & Desdemona
Machiavellian Villain Iago – critics debated characterisation for centuries (motives for evil)
17th century theatre attendee – Italianate setting of Othello intriguing
It’s success lies in its emphasis and endearing angle on a universal theme – love
The play exerts a hold on our emotions because of the intensity of the central couples emotions
Popularity lies with the ‘noble moor’ – the traditional and yet unique tragic hero
Shakespeare & writing Othello:
Wrote 37 plays & helped other dramatists
2 actors, put 36 together – published as The First Folio, 1623
Othello based on an Italian prose tale – Cinthio’s un capitano moro
BUT, Shakespeare compresses timescale (heighten emotional impact), introduces new characters, uses 2
locations (and war backdrop) & makes Iago jealous
Shakespeare’s Theatre:
Moved to their own theatre, The Globe in 1599
Performances were in the day in open air
Communal experience – array of social classes (galleries VS groundlings)
Female roles played by boys
No intervals, little in the way of props & scenery
Shakespearean Tragedy:
1601 – 1608 – His most admired tragedies
“Tragic Hero” – noble man enjoys status, possesses some moral weakness which leads to his downfall
Linked to Aristotle’s percept about tragedy
(Protagonist – admired but flawed, sympathise)
- Ordered society than move to chaos - Good people destroyed by own ego or ill fate
- Chaotic change reflected in the natural word - Eventually accepts consequences at end
- Train of bad decisions
Context:
1. Historical context
The Renaissance: “rebirth” Confidence in human potential – Classical
- Revival of artistic & intellectual endeavour texts rediscovered….
- Began in Italy – 14th century
- Spread across Europe, England 16th century (Wyatt) ‘The Golden Age’ of literature began …
- Keynote – curiosity in thought, challenged old traditions Shakespeare apart of
, Shakespeare’s Drama & the Renaissance
- Innovative & challenging in exactly the way of the Renaissance
- Questions beliefs & politics which founds Elizabethan society
- Subversion of traditional vales – black hero, assertive young heroine
- Iago’s voice – critical/rebellious – to discredit subversive views? Giving a voice to them? Shakespeare
conservative or revolutionary?
- Censorship means any criticisms or questions Shakespeare was trying to make are muted (direct criticism of the
monarchy not tolerated) Perhaps why they are set abroad
Nationalism and Xenophobia
An awareness of the attitude towards foreigners, long credited as a “double image”
On one hand, On the other hand,
Land of refinement and romance, a Italy associated with decadence, villainy & vice
model civilisation
Venice itself “a racial and religious melting pot”
Venice, Europe’s centre of capitalism, a
free state Elizabethans against mixed marriages, viewing blacks with suspicion
– Elizabeth I demanded their removal, considered an ‘annoyance’
By 21st century standards – heavily racist views BUT these were
common
Religion in Shakespeare’s England
Nationalism of English Renaissance reinforced by Protestantism
- Shakespeare’s time – independent protestant church (Henry VII broke with Rome)
- Preoccupation with good & evil suggests religious context
Characters beset by temptation / hero have the preoccupation with self & introspective tendencies –
encouraged by Protestantism
- Tragic heroes haunted by their consciences – follow their actions, spiritual progress to heaven or hell
Female Subordination
Questions were being asked about social hierarchy BUT woman still in subordinate roles
- Ruled by men (fathers then husbands), few legal rights
- Deemed as property (objectification)
- Intellectually inferior – incapable of rational thought (rarely receiving a proper education)
- Assertive/argumentative women punished – threat to hierarchy SO subject to torture – ducking stool, scold’s
bridle or carting
BUT, European visitors commented on the freedom of English women in comparison.
Shakespeare’s audiences had women / his plays had strong-minded females, his wife managed property
Shakespeare’s Theatre
Derived from inn yards & animal baiting rings
Circular wooden buildings, paved courtyard, open sky, Thrust staging
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