Othello
An Introduction to Shakespeare and
the Play
Background
There have been numerous movies made that
feature Shakespeare’s works!
The Elizabethan Era
• The Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen
Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603) and is often considered to be
the golden age in English history. It was the height of the
English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry,
music and literature.
Othello Background
Othello was first performed by the King’s Men at the court of King James I
on November 1, 1604. Written during Shakespeare’s great tragic period,
which also included the composition of Hamlet (1600), King Lear (1604–5),
Macbeth (1606), and Antony and Cleopatra (1606–7), Othello is set against
the backdrop of the wars between Venice and Turkey that raged in the
latter part of the sixteenth century.
Cyprus, which is the setting for most of the action, was a
Venetian outpost attacked by the Turks in 1570 and conquered
the following year.
The Turks
• Shakespeare’s information on the Venetian-Turkish conflict
probably derives from The History of the Turks by Richard
Knolles, which was published in England in the autumn of
1603.
Battle of Lepanto on 7 October
1571
Turkish Empire, drawn by Hondius,
just at the end of the Long War,
1606
Details
• The story of Othello is also derived from
another source—an Italian prose tale written
in 1565 by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinzio
(usually referred to as Cinthio). The original
story contains the bare bones of
Shakespeare’s plot: a Moorish general is
deceived by his ensign into believing his wife
is unfaithful.
Characters
- The play’s protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and
general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and
physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him.
- The daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio.
Desdemona and Othello are secretly married before the play
begins.
- Othello’s ensign (a job also known as an ancient or
standard-bearer), and the villain of the play.
- Othello’s lieutenant. Cassio is a young and
inexperienced soldier, whose high position is much resented by
Iago.
- Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant.
- A jealous suitor of Desdemona.
- A courtesan, or prostitute, in Cyprus.
- Desdemona’s father
- Othello’s servant.
Tragedy
Tragedy is kind of drama that presents a serious subject
matter about human suffering and corresponding terrible
events in a dignified manner.
Aristotle defines Tragedy in his famous work “Poetics” as:
“Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete (composed of an
introduction, a middle part and an ending), and possesses magnitude; in language made
pleasurable, each of its species separated in different parts; performed by actors, not
through narration; effecting through pity and fear the purification of such emotions.”
From the above definition, we can understand the objective of the Greek tragedies i.e.
“…purification of such emotions” also called “catharsis”.
Catharsis is a release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming
experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit.
Tragic Flaw
A tragic hero is a person of noble birth with heroic or
potentially heroic qualities.
This person is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural
force to doom and destruction or at least to great suffering.
But the hero struggles mightly against this fate and this cosmic
conflict wins our admiration.
Because the tragic hero simply cannot accept a diminished
view of the self and because of some personality flaw, the
hero fails in this epic struggle against fate.
Othello’s Tragic Flaw
• Jealousy!
• Othello is consumed with jealousy and he
knows it, but can do nothing about it.
• Othello requires little evidence and only
persuasion by Iago who himself is shocked to
see how swiftly his plan works.
Iago’s ‘Evidence’
1. Tells Othello that Desdemona is too close to Cassio
2. Tells Othello that Cassio dreams of Desdemona
3. Lets Othello believe that Cassio has the handkerchief,
without Othello ever seeing it with his own eyes.
4. Overhears a conversation about the hankerchief with
Cassio and Bianca
5. Tells Othello that Cassio confessed to him to having
been with Desdemona
Lets Look At Some Of Iago’s Evidence
• Turn to A3S3 L37, 41 - 43
Iago: Ha, I like not that.
Iago: Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it
That he would steal away so guiltylike,
Seeing your coming.
A3S3L475 - 482
• Iago:
In sleep I heard him say “Sweet Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our loves.”
And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand
Cry “O sweet creature!” then kiss me hard,
As if he plucked up kisses my the roots
That grew upon my lips; (then) laid his leg
O’er my thigh, and (sighed,) and (kissed,) and then
(Cried) “Cursed fate that gave thee to he Moor!”
A4S1 L166 - 167
• Bianca:
Let the devil and his dam haunt you! What did
You mean by that same handkerchief you gave me
even now?
The Scientific Method
Shakespeare is commenting on the rise of the Scientific
Method at this time.
She Deceived her
Father when
marrying Othello
Iago says that Cassio
dreams of Desdemona
and that he saw him
with the handkerchief
Othello tells
Desdemona she is
cheating and kills
her
Is Desdemona Faithful
Desdemona was with
Cassio
Iago has Othello
listen to Cassio talk
about what he
thinks is
Desdemona and
the handkerchief
with Bianca
What This All Means
• Shakespeare is warning people of his time and
today, that you cannot believe only in science
because your senses (Othello’s, eyes, ears,
est.) can deceive you as they have deceived
Othello.