Explores the pros and cons of different kinds of love, especially within marriage.
How does Shakespeare adapt Cinthio's tale in Othello?
- Shakespeare’s Ensign, Iago is not driven by lust for Desdemona, so his motives are more ambiguous.
- Shakespeare introduces new characters, the credulous Roderigo and Desdemona’s father Brabantio.
- He also refers directly to the war between the Muslim Turks and the Christian Venetians, giving the play more political resonance for an early modern audience.
Post colonialism
What is post colonialism?
Postcolonialism or postcolonial studies is an academic discipline that analyzes, explains, and responds to the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Postcolonialism speaks about the human consequences of external control and economic exploitation of a native people and its lands.
What do post colonial readings focus on in the play?
Postcolonial readings focus on the play’s representation of Ottoman Turks.
What real life event was the inspiration for the plays rising action?
the context of Venice’s struggle during the 1570s with the Ottoman Empire for control of Cyprus
How does the play undercut the Christian/Turkish binary?
by making the play’s most villainous character a Venetian and its hero an outsider.
What are Brabantio and Desdemona fascinated by and why?
by his strange stories of cannibals and anthropophagi
New historicist reading: ‘far more fair than black’
What debate are new historicist critics currently having?
whether or not race was a factor in early modern representations of non-English peoples.
What evidence is there that Othello was held in high esteem by other characters?
‘far more fair than black’ and Montano’s claim that ‘the man commands / Like a full soldier’ (2.1.36–37)
What references establish his liminal position in society?
references to Othello as black and a Moor, as well as his lack of understanding of Venetian customs, establish his liminal position in Venetian society.
Feminist reading: ‘a maiden never bold’
What is endogamous marriage?
the practice of marrying within a local community or ethnic group
What has changed in the audiences reading of the character of Desdemona since the plays original performances and the 20th century?
From the play’s earliest performances, audiences responded sympathetically to Desdemona’s plight. After a 1610 production at Oxford, Henry Jackson recalled that Desdemona ‘entreated the pity of the spectators by her very countenance’. That changed in the late 20th century
What is the current feminist perspective on the play?
early modern England’s preoccupation with cuckoldry demonstrates a basic male insecurity about women’s sexuality.
Marxist reading: ‘’Tis the curse of service’
what are the marxist critics concerned with?
Marxist critics are concerned with the economic and psychological impact of early modern England’s hierarchical social system.
What is the hierarchy in the play?
The Duke and aristocratic members of the Venetian Senate give orders to Othello, who in turn commands his Lieutenant Cassio. Ensign Iago is subordinate to both. All three ostensibly serve out of loyalty to the state and for the status their military position brings, but they can be dismissed at the pleasure of their superiors. Iago resents Cassio, a man with ‘a daily beauty in his life’ (5.1.19), hates being tied to Othello’s service and yearns for preferment.
what have feudal obligations of service been replaced with?
a new economic model
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