Othello: The Tragedy of a Black Man in a White World
When William Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Othello around 1603, he was writing from the perspective of an individual living during the historical Elizabethan era. The play was set in Venice, Italy as was a good number of Shakespeare's other works, and later Cyprus became the play's final setting. The characters themselves attested to a Greek system of language, dress, and behavior. However, Othello's several themes and the attitudes of the characters were developed as a reflection of England's golden age of religious reformation and colonial expansion. Shakespeare used Giraldi Cinthio's collection of short stories Hecatommithi (1565) as the inspiration in creating his own tale of war, jealousy, and deception. Yet, Shakespeare drew his underlying themes of race and religion from events that transpired during a period when England's exploration and settling of other lands introduced the nation to cultures and customs......
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Approximate Word Count: 1411
Approximate Pages: 6 (260 words per double-spaced page) |