Othello is an outsider who is intelligent and confident in military matters but socially insecure. Othello is set in Venice, presumably sometime in the latter half of the sixteenth-century. By Michael Flachmann The concept of geography plays a major role in Shakespeare's Othello, as it does in many of his plays. Yet from its first staging to the present, Othello has also been among the few Shakespearean plays to be repeatedly staged to enthusiastic … Power in Othello The Power of Speech Persuasion is a very powerful ability that, when used properly, one can efficiently control another’s thoughts and actions. In nearly every case, the prejudiced characters use terms that describe Othello as an animal or beast. In the second part I am going to focus on the part religion plays in Othello, the opposition of Christianity against Islam, the influence religion, the bible and the other character’s religious affiliations play in Othello and of course Othello ’s own religious denomination. Example The power of speech is evident In Shakespeare’s day, before the expansion of the transatlantic slave trade, what was most risqué about Othello was not race but religion. He leads an intense life, swinging between triumph and dread. In the very first scene, Roderigo and Iago disparage Othello in explicitly racial terms, calling him, among other things, "Barbary horse" and "thick lips." Show More. Iago possesses the ability to successfully manipulate others through speech. Shakespeare uses Othello in order to convey the difficulties individuals face when interpreting the teachings of religion. Religious Conflict In Othello; Religious Conflict In Othello. 1262 Words 6 Pages. Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1603.. It is the story of Othello, a Moor (or North African) who becomes an army general in … (4.2.97–99) This is an allusion to Saint Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve apostles, who is traditionally portrayed as the gatekeeper of heaven. Religious You, mistress, That have the office opposite to Saint Peter And keep the gate of hell! More recently, R. N. Watson, "Othello as Protestant propaganda," in Religion and Culture in Renaissance England, eds C. McEachern and D. Shuger, Cambridge, 1997, 234-57, argues for a view of the play as a reformation attack on catholicism. The most prominent form of prejudice on display in Othello is racial prejudice. Othello is a Christian, it’s true, but he is descended from Muslims. Shakespeare’s subtitle The Moor of Venice would have suggested Islam as well as blackness. These ingrained thoughts form the basis of Othello’s behaviour, thus enabling Iago to use varying elements of deception, Shakespeare utilising Iago as a catalyst thus furthering the plot of the play. Othello was crafted at the dawn of the 17th century, shaped by complex social and geopolitical issues that new historicist critics, who seek to place literary works within a historical framework, have recently sought to unravel. He has just married Desdemona, a beautiful … The story revolves around two characters, Othello and Iago.Othello is a Moorish general in the Venetian army charged with the generalship of Venice on the eve of war with the Ottoman Turks over the island of Cyprus. He is different from those around him, due to his origins and his life history, but he shares their religion, values, and patriotism to Venice. Venice was at war with the Ottoman empire between 1570 and 1573, so the play’s reference to the threat of an attack on Cyprus could reflect a setting sometime during this period. Othello and Allusion. Caught between the two markedly different locales of Venice and Cyprus, the events of the script give proof to the old adage that "people change places, and places change people." 2 Race and the Moor in Elizabethan England Shakespeare's play Othello was written and first performed around 1603. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a Shakespearean play first performed in 1604, during the Elizabethan era.