Summary
Summary A Level 'Othello' Key Context Bank
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This context bank contains all the Othello context you will need to achieve an A* in A Level English Literature.
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Shakespearean tragedy conventions5 act structure
Tragic hero, hamartia
Supernatural elements
Good vs evil
External conflict (from antagonist)
Internal conflict (hero's mind)
Destiny and fate
Aristotelian tragedy conventions
Hamartia - a fatal flaw
Peripeteia - a sudden reversal of fortune
Anagnorisis - when a character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or
the true nature of their own circumstances
Pathos - a quality that evokes pity or sadness
Performance and staging
First performed 1604 for King James I
Would've been little use of scenery or props - heavily relied on dialogue, hence why there
are very few stage directions.
Richard Burbage - a white man wearing makeup and a wig - was the first to play Othello.
Venice and Cyprus
Venice: power, high-culture, romance, Venetian women thought to be promiscuous.
Cyprus is the antithesis to peaceful Venice: an isolated island of war-torn chaos and
destruction that places characters in an unfamiliar environment. Ironically it is where
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was born.
.The military base setting is claustrophobic and heightens tensions by intertwining Othello's
public & private lives.
Battle of Lepanto
The General Historie of the Turkes (1603), is a study of Turkish civilization written by an
English writer. It gives dramatic details of the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the largest ever sea
battle in the Mediterranean, in which Christian forces regained control of Cyprus from the
Turks.
These descriptions seem to have influenced Shakespeare when he set parts of Othello in
war-torn Cyprus. The original audiences would probably have been keenly aware of the
notorious battle as their King, James I, had written a poem celebrating the Christian victory.
The poem was republished in 1603 when James came to the English throne, and when
Othello was probably written.
Reason for Othello being set abroad
Questions of those in authority or questions about race and nobility had to be muted. He
couldn't directly criticise the Monarch or the English court.
Description of Venice
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