When Othello gets the letter from Lodovico and he reads it, I think Lodovico assumes that Othello is distracted because of the contents of the letter because he has to return back to Venice, when actually it is about Cassio and Desdemona

Authors Avatar

Mahmoud Elsherif  In What ways does this extract illustrate the importance of Venice and the role played its representative, Lodovico?             31/10/07

      Othello is a play set in Venice- Venice was a republic, which had a good reputation for its religious and political tolerance.  It was very successful in business and had contacts, with countries around the Mediterranean Sea, such as Crete, Cyprus and many more.  In Italy, Italian people were shrewd and calculating.  Furthermore, the women were erudite; also they were very renowned, for being prostitutes.  Finally the law were very reasonable and it was a place of stability and honesty.  However, in Shakespeare’s time which was the sixteenth century, there was major war between the Turks and Venice, because the Ottoman Empire, wanted to gain more power, because they controlled half of the East Empire, and they wanted to gain total control of the East of Europe.  Also Venice was in between the western part of Europe and the eastern part of Europe. Furthermore, if the Turks invaded that, then they can reach the western part of Europe; which would assure them victory over the western part of Europe, if they conquered Venice.

Join now!

     When Othello gets the letter from Lodovico and he reads it, I think Lodovico assumes that Othello is distracted because of the contents of the letter because he has to return back to Venice, when actually it is about Cassio and Desdemona who are about to betray Othello.  When we see Othello getting angry and he yells at Desdemona, by saying “Fire and brimstone!” We the audience show no respect for Othello because how he treats her and we feel sympathetic for Desdemona for being innocent and truthful.  In my opinion when Othello is yelling at her, I think ...

This is a preview of the whole essay