‘Othello’ Context

  • Rumoured to have been written/performed in 1603

Aristotle’s Poetics (tragic terms)

  • Hamartia: a tragic flaw- drives them to their end

  • Hubris: overweening and hyperbolic pride, often a tragic flaw

  • Peripeteia: point of no return, the tragedy is always going to to happen (is there a turning point in Othello)?

  • Anagnorisis: realisation of mistake/lies told→hero reflects on own guilt (Emilia reveals Iago’s manipulation at the end, leaving Othello to end his life)

  • Catharsis: emotional release of tension at the end of the play; revelation made for the characters and audience (equality of knowing) - no full catharsis at the end of ‘Othello’ - Iago never reveals true reasons; assumptions can only be made

Cinthio’s ‘Un Capitano Moro’:

Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ believed to have been based on a 1565 Italian short story by Cinthio (‘A Moorish Captain’)

  • Cinthio drew a moral that European women are unwise to marry the temperamental males of other nations

  • ‘The Moor’- took inspiration from Moorish delegations in Morocco

  • Desdemona is the only named character in ‘Othello’

  • Other characters in ‘Othello’ not mentioned

  • ‘The Moor’ - Othello

  • ‘The squadron leader’ - Cassio

  • ‘The Ensign’ - Iago

  • ‘The Ensign’s Wife’ -Emilia

Main differences between the two:

  • Emilia doesn’t engage in the handkerchief scene & there is no “willow scene”

  • Iago lusts after Desdemona, spurred to revenge when she rejects him

  • Othello commissions Iago to bludgeon Desdemona to death (with a sand-filled stocking), each blow graphically described → Othello & Iago’s place her body on the bed, smash her skull, causing the ceiling and bed to collapse on her as a cover up of her death

  • Othello & Iago escape → Othello comes to loathe the sight of Iago, associating him with missing Desdemona, and demotes him. Iago tells Cassio about Desdemona’s death and Othello’s involvement. He is then denounced to Venetian seigniors→arrested, tortured and exiled.

  • Desdemona’s family find him and kill him

  • Iago is arrested, dies after torture

  • Emilia goes on to tell the story

There is a sense of catharsis in Cinthio’s story; we know Iago’s motive but in ‘Othello,’ there is a more rounded plot, yet there is no cathartic feeling as there are multiple possible motives.

Production History:

  • Shakespeares plays enjoyed by high society (eg the monarch), but also watched & loved by the working class. At the Globe Theatre- those who couldn’t afford a seat, paid a penny to stand (known as the ‘Groundlings’). We now see his plays from a critical & academic perspective, its important that the plays were primarily written to be watched/enjoyed by all.

  • His plays often feature a comedic subplot (bawdy/crude jokes), intended to entertain the groundlings and the lesser-educated audience members. Scenes can also mimic & undermine the main plot and provide some comic relief from the main plots intensity. BUT, Othello remains sombre throughout, with an intense focus on Iago’s evil manipulations & Othello’s subsequent breakdown.