Context GapFill

Shakespeare moved to London from his home town of   TelfordStratfordDeptfordStretford and established himself as a prominent playwright and   actordirectorsingercomedian. His career was briefly interrupted in 1593 by the   warplaguefaminefloods of that year, but a year later he became partner in a theatre company that would build their own theatre in 1599 called the   HubLyceumGlobeTub. Shakespeare's total number of surviving works include 39 plays, 154   sonnetsballadsmonologuesodes and three narrative poems. 

The source material for Othello is drawn from a collection of   FrenchSpanishItalianGreek short stories by Cinthio. Although the play was first performed in 1604, it may have been written as much as three years earlier, at the time when King   HenryJohnGeorgeJames was succeeding the first Queen Elizabeth, a time of political instability. The other large political factor at play during the time was the expanse of the   RomanBritishGermanOttoman Empire at the time, which had come to occupy one   quarterfifththirdsixth of the globe. An English audience would have been sympathetic to the plight of   VeniceGreeceRomeTurkey at the time. This was despite the fact that the coronation of James I had made the country more staunchly   CatholicAgnosticChristianProtestant and the   CannonBonfireGunpowderGelignite Plot of 1605 had seen Roman Catholicism fall out of favour. Despite being a period of renewed artistry and political ambition, King James' monarchy was beset by financial problems and a Parliament called to address this was a failure, becoming known by the derisory name of the   RiddledPuddledMuddledAddled Parliament. James' main success was establishing peace between Scotland and England and rejecting a warmongering alliance with the   DutchSpanishGermansFrench that his predecessor had established. His literary abilities and education also earned him the nickname 'wisest   teachermanclownfool in Christendom'.