Othello context
Cards (8)
- Context - the code of chivalry
- List of values that Jacobean society believed characters should follow
- Include: fair play, nobility, valour, honour, courtesy and loyalty
- Iago and Othello both go against these
- Context - Venice
- Multicultural and multifaith
- Still very patriarchal, despite its diversity
- Values hierarchy, rank and status
- A place of commerce, which breads corruption
- Known for its sexual freedom which is why venetian women were seen as promiscuous
- Context - cuckoldry
- Was a mans greatest fear as it showed they couldn't control their wife and had married someone with an unnatural sexual appetite
- Young beautiful wives would have captivated their husbands but were also seen as a target of other men
- Context - renaissance
- Was written during a classical arts renaissance
- Was an artistic and intellectual 'rebirth' which challenged old traditions
- Influence seen with the black Othello being noble and the white Iago being immoral
- Context - gender roles
- Women were financially dependent on their fathers and then their husbands after marriage
- Expected to be virgins until marriage
- A man's honour was closely linked to his wife and daughter's reputation
- Queen had no husband, independence likely inspired Emilia
- Context - hierarchical chain of being
- God, angel, king, man, woman, animal, vegetable, mineral
- Moral sensibility was believed to be a product of social class
- For example, 'villain' derives from medieval times and means peasant
- Context - religion
- Many believed black people couldn't be Christian as they were 'not aligned with God'
- Believed women were untrustworthy due to Eve's role in the origin of sin
- The seven deadly sins were the foundation of morality and would be applied to characters to illustrate their faults; Iago is envy, Othello is wrath
- Racial
- Pre 16th centenary dictionary described black people were "deeply stained with dirt"
- Queen Elizabeth I complained about the amount of black people