Shakespeare, 'Othello' and Domestic Tragedy

Often set in domestic environments and built around protagonists of more modest status than the traditional tragic heroes and heroines, 'domestic tragedy' was a genre that briefly flourished on the Renaissance stage between 1580-1620. Shakespeare and Domestic Tragedy is the first book to examine Shakespeare's relationship to the genre, in the form of the involvement of the King's and the Chamberlain's Men in the production of many of these domestic tragedies and, in particular, the genre's influence on Shakespeare's own tragedy, Othello. Sean Benson here argues that, just as Hamlet employs and adapts the conventions of revenge tragedy, so Othello can only be fully understood in terms of its exploitation of the tropes of domestic tragedy. This book explores not only the contexts and workings of this popular sub-genre of Renaissance drama but also Othello's place within it and how it can be seen as the quintessential example of the form.

Acknowledgements \ Introduction:Shakespeare and the Domestic Tragedies \ 1. Genre Theory and the Rise of DomesticTragedy \ 2. A Local Habitation Lends a Name: Thomas Arden'sTragic Stature \ 3. Othello and DomesticTragedy: The Critical Reception \ 4. Othelloas Domestic Tragedy: The Case for Inclusion \ 5. From the Miraculous and Monstrousto the Uncanny \ Conclusion: Tragic Ontology and Spousal Murders \ Bibliography \ Index