Context (Grade 12 NSC Matric English HL): Revision Notes

Context

What is context and why does it matter?

Understanding context means grasping the background circumstances that shaped how Shakespeare wrote Othello and how audiences received it. This knowledge accounts for approximately 24% of your literature marks, so it's definitely worth your attention! Examiners want to see that you understand how the ideas in the text connect to the world in which Shakespeare was writing.

Context includes several key areas that all work together to help us understand the play more deeply. These include details about Shakespeare's own life and experiences, the historical period in which he lived and wrote, how the play was first received by audiences, and the literary traditions he was working within. You'll also need to consider how different audiences through the centuries have interpreted the play, especially since Othello deals with themes that remain relevant today.

Shakespeare's life and background

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as England's greatest playwright and poet, though surprisingly little is known about his personal life. He was born in April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon to John Shakespeare, a glove-maker, and his wife Mary. Shakespeare would have attended the local grammar school, where he would have studied Latin and read classical writers such as Virgil and Ovid. We can see the influence of these classical authors throughout his plays and poetry.

At eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, a woman from a nearby village. At some point, he travelled to London and established himself in the theatre world. By 1592, he had gained a reputation as a playwright and was writing for the acting company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later renamed the King's Men when King James I became their patron). He remained with this company for nearly twenty years, writing approximately 37 plays.

The first recorded performance of Othello was in 1604, and scholars believe it was written around 1603. Shakespeare died in 1616, also in April, aged 52.

The renaissance period

Shakespeare was writing during the English Renaissance, a cultural movement that lasted from the 15th through to the mid-17th century. The Renaissance represented a "rebirth" of interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophies, art, and literature. This period saw an extraordinary flourishing of learning, creativity, and cultural development across Western Europe.

The Renaissance had a profound impact on Shakespeare's work. He drew extensively on Greek and Roman classical writing, using traditional genres and exploring the psychology of his characters in great depth. This psychological complexity was typical of Renaissance literature. The period also saw remarkable development in the English language itself - many words and phrases appear in written form for the first time in Shakespeare's works, demonstrating the expansion and enrichment of vocabulary during this era.

Shakespeare's sources for Othello

Despite his fame as an original playwright, Shakespeare often drew inspiration from existing stories and sources. The main plot of Othello comes from a collection of Italian short stories called Gli Hecatommithi, written by Cinthio and first published in 1565. This collection tells the story of Disdemona and a Moor captain, providing the basic framework that Shakespeare would transform.

However, Shakespeare made significant changes to Cinthio's original tale. In the source material, the Moor's Ensign (equivalent to Iago) falls in love with Disdemona and, when she rejects him, plots to convince the Moor that she has been unfaithful. Shakespeare's adaptation makes Iago far more complex and morally ambiguous, giving him multiple possible motives rather than simple unrequited love.

These changes show Shakespeare's dramatic instincts at work - he transforms a relatively simple tale of jealousy into a complex exploration of race, manipulation, and the destruction of innocence.

Performance and textual history

The first recorded performance of Othello took place in 1604 at the Banqueting House, which was part of James I's London palace. The play would also have been performed at the famous Globe Theatre, Shakespeare's home venue. There's a record of the play being performed by the King's Men in 1612 at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, indicating its popularity and success.

As was typical in Shakespeare's time, all roles were played by male actors, including the female characters, which were performed by young boys. The role of Othello was almost certainly first played by Richard Burbage, the leading actor in Shakespeare's company. Burbage would have performed in blackface makeup, as would all subsequent white actors who took on the role for the next several centuries.

The casting history of Othello reflects changing attitudes towards race and representation. Only in the 20th century did black actors commonly begin playing the title role, and this change has brought new depths and perspectives to the character's portrayal.

Setting: Venice and Cyprus

Othello begins in Venice but moves to Cyprus by Act II, and both locations are crucial to understanding the play's themes. To Shakespeare's English audience, Venice represented a fascinating mix of the familiar and the exotic. It was a wealthy, cosmopolitan city known for its diverse population and republican government - a form of government that intrigued the English, who lived under monarchy.

Venice was famous for its cultural and ethnic diversity, with people from various backgrounds living and working together. This made it a believable setting for someone like Othello, who had immigrated and adopted Venetian values while maintaining his distinct identity. The city was also known for trade and commercial success, creating opportunities for social mobility that might not exist elsewhere.

However, Venice also had a reputation as a place of moral ambiguity and sexual freedom, which plays into the male characters' quick assumptions about their wives' faithfulness. The stereotypes about Venetian women contribute to how easily Othello and others believe Desdemona might be unfaithful.

Race and otherness

The question of race is central to understanding Othello and its context. Othello is repeatedly described as "the Moor" throughout the play, most often by Iago. To Shakespeare's audience, this term indicated someone of North African or Arab origin, though the exact meaning was somewhat flexible and could refer to people from various parts of Africa or the Islamic world.

There were some people of African descent living in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though they formed a very small minority and their stories are largely undocumented. We cannot be certain about Othello's specific racial background, and in some ways, this precision matters less than the fact that his difference from white European society is what sets him apart and makes him vulnerable to manipulation.

Iago's references to Othello's race are loaded with both physical descriptions and moral implications. He calls Othello evil while simultaneously describing his physical appearance, suggesting that the two are connected. The Duke of Venice, however, defends Othello by saying he is "far more fair than black", implying that goodness can overcome the negative associations of blackness.

Dramatic context: Moors on the Elizabethan stage

To fully appreciate Shakespeare's characterisation of Othello, we need to understand how Moors were typically portrayed in Elizabethan drama. The conventional dramatic representation showed Moors as villainous characters intent on destruction and evil. When they appeared on stage, they were generally seen as threats to the moral, social, and political order.

Othello's character represents a striking departure from this convention. He is the play's protagonist and is initially presented as noble and honourable. In many ways, Shakespeare's characterisation of Othello deliberately challenges the stereotypical depiction, though we can still see echoes of the conventional portrayal when Othello succumbs to jealous rage and ultimately murders his innocent wife.

This creates a fascinating tension in the play - is Othello a noble man who is tragically led astray by manipulation, or does he fall too easily into jealousy because Shakespeare is partly following the typical characterisation of Moors? This ambiguity allows for multiple interpretations and makes the play particularly rich for analysis.

Religion: Christianity and Islam

Othello explores the relationship between Christians and Muslims against the backdrop of real historical conflicts in the late 16th century. The play is set during the ongoing wars between the Christian Republic of Venice and the Muslim Ottoman Empire, which raged throughout the 16th century and formed an important background for a play whose protagonist is a convert from Islam to Christianity.

Shakespeare's original source material was set in Florence rather than Venice, so his decision to relocate the action to Venice during these religious wars was deliberate. This religious conflict provides a subtle but important backdrop to understanding Othello's position in Venetian society. Although his military service demonstrates his dedication to Christianity and Venice, his Muslim background remains another source of difference and potential suspicion.

This religious hierarchy helps explain why Iago perceives Moors as "less than human" and why his manipulation plays on fears about Othello's fundamental nature and worthiness.

Women and marriage

Understanding the position of women in 16th and 17th-century society is crucial for interpreting the female characters in Othello. Women were legally and socially subordinate to men, and when they married, everything they owned became their husband's property. Women themselves were often considered possessions that could be transferred from father to husband.

This context explains Brabantio's expectation that he should choose Desdemona's husband, and his accusation that Othello has stolen his property by marrying her without permission. Desdemona herself acknowledges this social structure when she says she is "bound" to both her husband and father and owes them both "duty."

Emilia presents a more complex example of women's positions - she is oppressed by multiple figures (her husband, her mistress, and to some extent Othello), yet she grows stronger throughout the play and ultimately speaks truth to power, even at the cost of her life.

Venice's reputation as a city of sexual freedom also influences how the male characters view their wives. They are quick to believe that Venetian women are naturally unfaithful, making them susceptible to Iago's manipulations about both Desdemona and Emilia.