Shakespeare and Othello's Raging Motions

These extracts, taken from the same text, provide a viewpoint into an interesting mentality at the time Othello was published. The author of the book claims that plays are not only immoral, but inherently unlawful if they include (among many other things) the "womans part" or any "putting on of Womans apparel", which evidently refers to the Shakespearean tradition of crossdressing. The reasons given for these bold claim of illegality are based exclusively on religious principles, and the Prynne very clearly establishes stage performance as an antithesis of religion ("[people] almost crowd one another to death ... choosing rather to fill the Theatre than the Church"). This provides valuable insight into the political climate at the time the play was written, and that the separation between church and state in 17th century England was practically non-existent.

However, what is perhaps the most interesting quality that the texts author considers to be illegal is "lustfull ." One of the major themes in the play is sexuality, and Shakespeare constructs Othello largely as a sexual being. In fact, one of the most resonant quotes in the play, spoken by Iago, refers directly to this idea: "We have reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts - whereof I take this that you call love to be a sect, or scion." (1.3.372) In light of Prynne's text, this quote accomplishes two things. Firstly, it establishes Iago, with his contempt of all that is sexual, as a possible symbol of the antiquated mindset that prevailed within England in the 17th century. Finally, its very presence reveals the discrepancy between the themes within Othello and the social and cultural paradigms at the time, and the backlash that Shakespeare likely faced for publishing such an audacious and revolutionary work.