shakespeares-othello-debuts

On November 1, 1604, William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first presented. From the article:

"On this day in 1604, the court of King James I gathered in London’s Whitehall Palace to watch the first performance of Shakespeare’s Othello. The play was performed six years later at The Globe and published in 1622 as Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice.

Othello was written during the period in which Shakespeare produced his great tragedies, including Hamlet (1600), Macbeth (1606) and Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607). Shakespeare had already solidified his success during the 1590s with the publication of his poetry and well-received plays, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Richard II. When James I ascended to the throne in 1603, he became the royal patron of Shakespeare’s acting group, known as The King’s Men.

The play is based on a 16th century story by an Italian writer named Cinthio whose work also provided the plot for Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, written at the same time as Othello. The tragedy is set during the great wars between Venice and Turkey of the previous generations. In 1603 Richard Knolles’ work The History of the Turks was published, likely providing the source of Shakespeare’s knowledge of these conflicts.

The play opens on a street in Venice where the great villain, Iago, Othello‘s ensign, and Rodrigo, a wealthy man in love with the beautiful senator’s daughter Desdemona, are arguing about the Moor. The two are beset with jealousy, one of pride and the other of love. The tragedy unfolds as one malicious act turns to another, and concludes with Othello believing Iago’s lies, murdering Desdemona and upon learning of her innocence, killing himself.

Beyond the tragedy of the play, the question of Othello’s race has been cause for scholarly debate for years. At the time the play was written, the term “”Moor”” was used broadly to include Arabic North Africans as well as black Africans from the south. Further complicating matters is that Elizabethans frequently referred to brunettes or those with darker complexions as black.

Regardless of the intended race of Shakespeare’s original Othello, he has been portrayed by actors of all races. The first known black man to play Othello on stage was British actor Ira Aldridge in 1833 in London, and onscreen, Laurence Fishburne played the part in 1995. Other actors honoured with the role were Anthony Hopkins, Orson Welles, James Earl Jones, and Patrick Stewart.”