October 22, 2007

Dominick Heugas 10/22/07




Who were the venetians?
During the late 1500’s and early 1600’s, the Venetians were a wealthy and therefore powerful people. This wealth was due Venice’s canals which made it an ideal place for trade. The wealth and power of this city did two important things in consideration of the plot of Othello. They made Venice a city of high importance to military and political officials and also gave the natives a great pride in their background.

How were the Moors/Venetians regarded in Shakespeare's day?
Moors were characterized in Elizabethan England as being alternately or even simultaneously noble or monstrous, civil or savage. Being a different race meant, primarily, being an Other, non-English, as well as non-Christian (Braxton 8). The term Moor, as I have noted before, was fairly vague in definition. Bartels points out that in common usage, the word was used many times interchangeably with "similarly ambiguous terms as 'African,' 'Ethiopian,' 'Negro,' and even 'Indian'" (434). The convention of Christian art to represent Satan or other devils as being black or dark-skinned also lent another connotation to the reader, viewer, or performer of Shakespeare's plays. The Moor's increasing visibility in print most likely paralleled an increasing visibility in actual English society and/or knowledge (Bartels 434). There are three possible branches that most likely gave birth to the confused Elizabethan image of who and what a Moor was. This would be the Spanish Morisco, the North African Berber/Arab, and the Negro.

With politics of the late 1500s and early 1600s, not much had changed in terms of enmity. International trade and politics of the Elizabethan era also lent a hand in Shakespeare's depiction of the Moor. Although the Spanish interpretation of the Arab/Berber/Negro was most likely a factor in the Elizabethan image, extensive trading contracts and international diplomacy had a fair hand in offsetting the negative stereotype while at the same time perpetuating it. Both England and what we will call Morocco had a great anti-Catholic, anti-Spanish sentiment that bound their relationship further (D'Amico 7). Although Africa was considered a continent of infidels and pagans by many, the political danger of an invasion by Catholic Spain prompted England to forgo the stigma of trading in munitions with Morocco. The Moor in English Renaissance Drama by Jack D'Amico chronicles the international trading carried on in North Africa and the Ivory and Gold Coasts further south. Continuous trade was believed to have begun in the mid sixteenth century (D'Amico 8). Blacks from Africa were also first present in England during this time. Although mostly documented as slaves, before the triangular slave trade became institutionalized, there were also many free blacks who came and went throughout Europe.

During the late 1500’s and early 1600’s, the Venetians were a wealthy and therefore powerful people. This wealth was due Venice’s canals which made it an ideal place for trade. The wealth and power of this city did two important things in consideration of the plot of Othello. They made Venice a city of high importance to military and political officials and also gave the natives a great pride in their background.


What were the military duties of ranked officers?
General- The leader of the army in whatever city/state they serve. It usually is someone who has been in the army since a young age. They are powerful figures in society and are well respected. Generals are in charge of giving out promotions to their fellow soldiers. And control the actions of the entire army.

Lieutenant- A powerful position, is assigned by the General. Can give orders to other soldiers that have lesser ranks then him. This rank does not come with much social status but it is often used as a place to work from to reach higher ranks.

What was the military hierarchy?
The military hierarchy of ancient Greece could in retrospect be viewed as running parallel to its social hierarchy. The aristocratic class were the wealthiest and most politically powerful individuals of the populace. Their social position gave them an identical stature in the military hierarchy, for they assumed complete authority as trierarchs of both land and sea forces. Not only did they instigate wars but they also led them on the battle fields. Cavalry members were quite wealthy but were subordinates to the first census class. They supplied chariots and horses and equipped themselves handsomely with armaments; often they were commanders of small units. The hoplite soldiers who formed the phalanx were composed of third class members, and were capable of attaining the necessary skills and equipment to become heavy-infantry soldiers. The lowest class was conscripted into the light-infantry in which they were massed together under the leadership of the generals and commanders. Although the military hierarchy was imbued with the same social hierarchy as in their city states the military was much more than an obligatory service. It was a unifying patriotic force that was shared between all social classes on the battle field where each citizen saw himself as a soldier equal to any other.

What was the role of women?
Prior to the 16th century society viewed women with the Christian and Aristotelian views which looked at them as sinful and imperfect. Writers such as Shakespeare challenged these views with their works and they were slowly changed. Women were mostly silent, they did not speak out much at all about their opinions, especially in public. Some women wrote, but mostly all they wrote about was prayer and meditation. The only real chance they got to write about their feelings was in poems. Women were beginning to get some power, the ruler of England at the time was Elizabeth who was the most powerful woman of her time. Nobel women had much easier lives while poorer women had to work hard to keep their husbands and families happy.

What was expected of a daughter?
Daughters were seen as property to control by their fathers. They were expected to obey their father’s wishes and to marry by the age of thirteen. Daughters were objects to always be guarded and watched over, too tender and gentle to fend for themselves in a dangerous world. They were expected to preserve their chastity until marriage, and provide a dowry when they finally did marry.

What was expected of a bride?
In the Renaissance times a Renaissance Woman was supposed to marry well, be loyal to her husband and give birth to boys. Many women did not fit the mold of what they called a "Renaissance Woman." Many of them would fit in as more of a "Renaissance Man" or what we would call a "Renaissance Woman" in our day and age.

Girls were married for alliances between their families, not for love. Women were married with doweries that their family provided and they prepared household possesions to contribute to the new home. Brides were supposed to be virgins before marriage. Women were supposed had to be faithful and respect their fathers and the family over their wants and needs.

Women got involved in disputes about marriage, inheritance and property. In all these matters they had contact with officialdom, so they enter the record. What is particularly noticeable is that many women were familiar enough with the processes involved to use them constructively to their best advantage. It's no accident that women appear far more often in cases tried in the church courts (where even married women had a separate legal identity) than in the common law courts (where married women could not bring cases on their own account).

What rules for getting married existed at the time of the play?

The institution of marriage in the Renaissance Period was both secular and sacred. Secularly, it served as a union of two parties interested in acquiring property, money or political alliances. Marriage was also sacred in that it bound the love of a man and woman and sought procreation. William Shakespeare's work vividly displays the sacredness of love and marriage. Popular critics of his time considered Shakespeare the greatest love poet of all time. It was once said "he represented in an inimitable and masterly manner all the phenomena and manifestations of love." A working knowledge of both marriage and inheritance procedures in the Renaissance Period affords a better understanding of Shakespeare's works.

What were the rules of courtship?
The institution of marriage in the Renaissance Period was both secular and sacred. Secularly, it served as a union of two parties interested in acquiring property, money or political alliances. Marriage was also sacred in that it bound the love of a man and woman and sought procreation. William Shakespeare's work vividly displays the sacredness of love and marriage. Popular critics of his time considered Shakespeare the greatest love poet of all time. It was once said "he represented in an inimitable and masterly manner all the phenomena and manifestations of love." A working knowledge of both marriage and inheritance procedures in the Renaissance Period affords a better understanding of Shakespeare's works.



What do you think is a scene in a play?
A division of a play or of an act of a play, usually representing what passes between certain of the actors in one place.