1.5 SIDES OF A4
This resource contains the cultural and historical context of Othello. It is intended to be a SUMMARY, perfect for saving time during a busy revision period. It discusses Biblical references in Othello, the chain of being, treatment of women, the emergence of Moslems in Europe etc....
Othello Context Summary
Cultural context
Chain of being- Hierarchical chain on which every creature appeared in its ordained
position on a ladder descending from God through angel, king, man and woman (in that
order) to animal, vegetable and finally mineral.
Two contradictory aspects of human nature: the benign and harmonious vs. malign and
violent.
External appearance was believed by many in Shakespeare’s time to be an indicator of
what lay within e.g. goodness or evil. Because Iago looks honest, Othello assumes him to
be incapable of villainy.
Black was traditionally the colour of evil and of the devil, according to both Biblical and
mythological sources. In Genesis, God declares ‘let there be light’ to replace primeval
darkness and bring truth and beauty into the world.
The failure of reason was considered to be the cause of the Fall of Man, and
Elizabethans therefore believed that it was dangerous to let reason be dominated by
passion.
Evil spirits were believed to be ever within ear-shot and on the watch for an opportunity
to corrupt and snatch a human soul from the pathway of righteousness.
Telling lies was a form of deception considered to be a much more serious offence then
than nowadays. It was a diabolical trick because Satan told lies to Eve in the Garden of
Eden. A gentleman’s word was assumed to be the truth unless there was good reason to
believe otherwise- which in Iago’s case there is not- and it was a grave insult to call
someone a liar.
Iago’s moral relativism allows him to use any means to change the social order because
the end justifies the means.
Romance was the genre of courtly love. By definition the courtly love had to be a
member of high society and concerned above all with the notions of honour and
reputation.
Cuckoldry, becoming a horned beast, was a prevalent male fear at the time, as it meant
not only being an object of ridicule as a man who could not control his wife, and who
married a woman with unnatural social appetite, but was related to the wider issues of
primogeniture and succession.
Historical context
The Venetian empire- The Northern part of Italy was unique in being organised into
autonomous ‘city states.’
The Turkish threat- The Christian world (Europe, north Africa, the Levant and Asia Minor)
began to be threatened by Islam almost immediately after its creation in the 17 th
century. Moslems rapidly conquered all the non-European areas, and struck deep into
Europe before they were defeated in France. The Christians launched a campaign to win
back the holy places of Jerusalem from the Moslems in 1097 and achieved temporary
successes. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus of 1570-71, when Othello is set, consolidated
Ottoman control of the region and they henceforth dominated the eastern
Mediterranean.
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