Class as a dominant feature in Othello, utilises the hierarchal structure of Venetian society at the time of the play’s setting, providing a rigid framework within the play to explore cultural and societal values. At the time of Shakespeare writing Othello (1604), England was experiencing political and social unrest as a result of tensions between the monarchy and land owners. There was widespread poverty with the average man not having the right to vote and women possessing no rights at all.1 Shakespeare appropriated the existent political climate and contextualises the piece within an exotic and similarly hierarchal setting. Othello, to the everyman, represents a rare glimpse into the upper echelons of a society in which he has not been born
