Othello context
- Created by: miaagrace
- Created on: 05-05-16 14:34
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- Othello context
- Women
- Patriarchy
- Othello internalised the 'masculine fear' of femininity in order to be accepted into Venetian society
- Female sexuality
- Rejects female sexuality
- Elizabethan women were defined by their sexual activity & relationships to men
- Shakespeare was concerned by 'unregulated female sexuality', a common male insecurity in Elizabethan England
- The passion between Othello and Desdemona is based on lust
- Venetian women were seen as promiscuous
- Othello fears female sexuality, saying that Desdemona devoured his stories
- Othello finds Desdemona's sexuality worrying because it goes against the obedience expected of women
- Patriarchy
- Political
- Cyprus
- Highly prized island due to military significance
- Located in middle of Turkish empire - useful for attacking the Turks
- Venetian outpost attacked by the Turks & conquered the next year
- Due to it being a military camp, Desdemona has lost her support system in Venice - vulnerable to violence associated with men & military
- Venice
- One of the wealthiest sovereign states
- Mostly white - a Moor would stand out
- Othello was a noble figure of authority, respected and admired by the duke and senate of Venice
- Cyprus
- Racism
- Othello is 'heroic and tragic', whilst other black characters were portrayed as 'villains of low status'
- Othello transforms from being accepted in a white Venetian society to being an outsider - his marriage isolates him since it goes against social norms
- Elizabethan society viewed black people as the 'other' & rejected different races
- Elizabethen society viewed Moors as violent savages, and were portrayed in literature at the time as lustful, dangerous villains
- At the beginning of the play Othello is noble & self-controlled and goes against all stereotypes
- Religion
- Othello's conversion to Christianity 'Christian shame'
- Desdemona is 'divine' and associated with innocence
- Othello is guilty of many sins - commits suicide and murder
- Othello starts to associate himself with 'a turbanned Turk'
- Marriage
- Interracial marriage seen as 'nature, erring from itself' - scandalous and unusual in Elizabethan England
- Women were financially dependent on first their father, then their husband when they marry
- Women were expected to be virgins until marriage, and a man's honour was closely tied to his wife's (and daughter's) reputation
- Desdemona's marriage challenges Brabantio's authority and social convention
- Desdemona is also traditional, since she recognises that she has a duty to her father and husband
- Her decision to marry a black man is portrayed as 'heroic rather than demonic', and challenged traditional views of interracial marriage at the time
- Desdemona's marriage was an attempt to gain power in a society where she is ruled by men
- Women
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