Effective use of context | Starter Quiz | Oak National Academy

What genre of play is 'Othello'?

• comedy

• tragedy

• history

Answer explanation

'Othello' is a tragedy, it meets the conventions for an Aristotelian tragedy such as: a tragic hero with hamartia, hubris as well as peripeteia and anagnorisis occurring.

What is true of some views on race in the Elizabethan/Jacobean era?

• darker skinned people were considered morally deviant

• all people were considered equal

• Jacobeans often feared 'outsiders'

Answer explanation

In the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, darker skinned people were considered morally deviant by some and some Jacobeans also often feared 'outsiders'. This meant their beliefs and treatment of darker skinned people was prejudiced.

What is true of some views on gender in the Elizabethan/Jacobean era?

• men and women were considered as equals

• women had more power than men

• women were considered as subordinates to men

Answer explanation

In the Jacobean/Elizabethan era, women were seen as subordinate to men. Women were expected to obey their fathers and husbands.

In 'Othello', how does Desdemona subvert gender stereotypes of the Jacobean era?

• she elopes with Othello, without her father's knowledge

• she is not listened to when she protests that she is faithful

• she sings the willow song and succumbs to her suffering

Answer explanation

Desdemona subverts gender stereotypes when she elopes with Othello without her father's knowledge, this shows her as disobeying her father which was uncommon for Jacobean women.

In Shakespeare's 'Othello', how does Othello's character contradict racial stereotypes of the Jacobean era?

• he is a military general

• he is introduced as a noble Moor: eloquent, humble, virtuous

• he succumbs to jealousy

Answer explanation

Othello's character contradicts racial stereotypes of the Jacobean era as he is introduced as a noble Moor: eloquent, humble, virtuous. This subverts beliefs that dark skin is equated with moral impurity.