Othello Group

Question:


xxxboxxx
Student

Why does Shakespeare choose Venice for the opening scenes of Othello?

Rate question:
 

Posted by xxxboxxx on Friday January 26, 2007 at 2:15 PM and tagged with othello, scene, shakespeare, venice.


Answers:


  1. blacksheepunite Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    Ha! Great question!

    To call a woman a Venetian was akin to calling a man a senator: both were considered prostitutes of sorts.

    In Shakespeare's time, Venice was considered the pleasure capital of Europe, and Venetians were known for their sexual licentiousness. The most talented courtesans were reputed to have lived in Venice. What is more, Venetian courtesans did not dress as we would picture prostitutes dressing. Instead, they were virtually indestinguishable from the average well (expensively) dressed woman.

    Here is where it gets interesting. Desdemona is a virtuous woman (she finds it unthinkable that women would consider cheating on their husbands)and yet she is a Venetian by background. Everyone knows that all venetian women are...sluts. Iago alludes to this repeatedly, and uses it to his advantage.

    Part of the reason that this play works so well is that we are so busy looking at the racism directed towards Othello, we are almost blind-sided by the prejudice against Desdemona. The saddest part is that Othello is as blind as all the rest.

    Arden Shakespeare. A.J. Honingmann ed. 2007

    Rate answer:
     

    Posted by blacksheepunite on Wednesday May 23, 2007 at 4:27 PM

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.