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The Tragedy Of Othello The Moor Of Venice Essay

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‘Without setting, characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care.’ The setting gives place for a narrative to begin and evolve from, without a strong setting some texts may be difficult to interpret without extra contextual and historical knowledge of the time period of which it was written. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice written 1603 was set in Italy, in the Venetian Republic . This setting was gaining popularity with Elizabethan writers, maybe as a form of escapism, to have a crypto - catholic approach, as this country was the largest and still is the largest Catholic country. Or a more general form of escapism from the society at that time. Writing for a predominantly working class audience, Shakespeare’s work is an escapism from the audiences hardship of life.

The play is set in two principle locations, Cyprus and Venice. ‘Renaissance Venice was both a city and a world’ (David McPherson Shakespeare, Jonson and the Myth of Venice). Italy is the world’s largest Catholic country, It has been hinted that William Shakespeare was a Crypto - Catholic.(Clare Asquith 's, Shadowplay) Some believe that he spent time in Italy studying abroad, as he disappeared from the local parish role (which is how the Government kept track of the people that lived in the country). He reappeared on the parish role when Elizabeth stated that every English person should return to England. Which explains why

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