cultural context of othello
Othello was written during a period of time whereby European construction was changing from a medieval to a modern paradigm. This involved a shift from religion to race and color as the key signifiers of difference. In other words Othello was written at a time when modern racial ideologies were being formed. Despite the slight shift away from religion into a more racial structure the renaissance era was still a period of dignified religion. The people of Venice believed in the great chain of being which details a strict, religious hierarchical structure of all matter and life, believed to have been decreed by God. The chain starts from God and progresses downward to angels, demons, stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles, men, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals, and other minerals.