Theatrical culture in Othello's time

This text is of interest to a reader of Othello because of the way in which it portrays the practice of literary critique during the 17th century. Reading Thomas Rymer's words, it is clear that the hallmarks of a good play today are extremely different than they were when Othello was first performed, some four centuries ago. One of Rymer's angles of attack is his close exploration of the backgrounds of the play's characters, and his lengthy criticism of their unrealistic nature. For example, he claims that the Venetian State wouldn't let "a Negro to be their general or trust a moor to defend them against the Turk." His reasoning, overall, is that "Nothing is more odious in nature than an improbable lie; and, certainly, never was any play fraught, like this of Othello, with improbabilities." To compare, it has now become common practice to ignore the discrepancies within a play (such as the temporal impossibilities regarding the journey between Venice and Cyprus in Othello), seeing as a majority of modern-day analyses or appreciations of the play are based off concepts such as symbolism, meaning, and cultural or social resonance. The way in which it appears that Rymer assumes that an audience member of the play would likely become engrossed in the minute details in the play and its characters might be an indication of the importance of theatre to the general public during the Shakespearean era.

Rymer concludes his critique with a strange summary of the play's tragic and comic elements. He gives praise (albeit very little) to the burlesk, humour, comical wit, and mimickry that "diverts the spectators", yet refers to the tragical element as a "Bloody Farce." This indicates the difference in appreciations of the play over time, and hints that a play's ability to entertain the audience was considered far more important that it is now, perhaps due to the difference in the demographic of theatre attendees.

So, reading this text provides a modern-day reader with valuable insight into the theatrical culture at the time the play was written, and highlights the differences between the appreciations of theatre now and during Shakespeare's era.

NOTE: I inadvertently deleted the photos I took of the book during our in-class meeting at the library, thinking they were of another text that I didn't plan on using. By the time I realized my error, it was too late to request an appointment at the library to see the text again. I therefore needed to use a screenshot from the EEBO page as my image.