Thae Sources That Inspired Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’

“Othello” by William Shakespeare is one of Shakespeare’s star plays and it covers a variety of themes. Regarding the geographical context, this work was set in the city of Venice, Italy and written in 1604. Shakespeare did not hesitate to collect fragments from sources such as ‘A Geographical Historie of Africa’ by John Leo, ‘GLI HECATOMMITHI’, by Cinthio, ‘The Commonwealth and Government of Venice’, by Sir Lewis Lewkenor and ‘Pliny, History of the World, or Natural History ‘by Philemon Holland. These were the main textual sources from which Shakespeare was inspired to shape Othello.

Regarding the social, cultural and historical context in which the famous work of Shakespeare is governed, we emphasize that it is from the time of the English theater that at that time took place during the power of Queen Elizabeth. In that period, both Venice and Turkey were at war and there were many altercations that took place around the end of the century.

Cyprus stands out, which is where most of the disputes between the Turks and the inhabitants of Venice take place.

So, this novel takes place in the middle of a great religious conflict in which both Venice and the Turkish Muslim empire are immersed. So, Othello is oriented right in the middle of the so-called Cyprus War, which was a major war led by Venice. As for the image, it is quite related to Othello, we are talking about Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, who was a Moroccan ambassador who held a position in the courts of Elizabeth I.

This ambassador is shown in historical context, since some Africans are They settled in England for several months at the time in which the conflicts arose, so this individual breaks with the prejudices that they had about him and appears reflected as a Moroccan nobleman who defends the interests of Venice. So, it is a speculation that Shakespeare was inspired by the ambassador as the character of the hero Othello that later we will give more details of his characteristics. Othello analysis Othello, without a doubt and as the name of the novel indicates, is one of the most important characters. He comes from Africa and becomes a Moorish nobleman who claims to serve the state of Venice. He has not had a particularly happy past since among other things he was a slave, but he ends up married to Dedemona, and is respected by all citizens for his tremendous nobility, bravery and courage, he is even admired by the Senate.

In other words, he appears as a great hero for Venetian society. Although he is integrated into society on the one hand, on the other he suffers a bit from the consequences of racism since his wife’s father does not trust him because of his race. Despite the stereotypes that could arise from their marriage of two different races, Dedémona and Othello, they were happily married. Until the novel takes a turn and Othello begins to distrust his fiancée, since Iago, also a quite notorious character, manipulates him by making him believe that his wife is not in love with him and is being unfaithful to him. So here lies the otherness that Othello suffers in the play, how the manipulation that Iago does over him is so great, he goes from being an honoured and beloved Moorish nobleman to a sickly, angry and evil husband. A being so evil that he ends up killing his beloved wife So, at the end of the play, he realizes his big mistake and what he had become, the opposite of what he started out being, and ends up committing suicide.