Shakespeare, 'Othello' and Domestic Tragedy [Paperback]

Often set in domestic environments and built around protagonists of more modest status than traditional tragic subjects, 'domestic tragedy' was a genre that flourished on the Renaissance stage from 1580-1620.Shakespeare, 'Othello', and Domestic Tragedyis the first book to examine Shakespeare's relationship to the genre by way of the King's and Chamberlain's Men's ownership and production of many of the domestic tragedies, and of the genre's extensive influence on Shakespeare's own tragedy,Othello.

Drawing in part upon recent scholarship that identifies Shakespeare as a co-author ofArden of Faversham, Sean Benson demonstrates the extensive - even uncanny - ties betweenOthelloand the domestic tragedies. Benson argues that just asHamletemploys and adapts the conventions of revenge tragedy, soOthellocan only be fully understood in terms of its exploitation of the tropes and conventions of domestic tragedy. This book explores not only the contexts and workings of this popular sub-genre of Renaissance drama but alsoOthello's secure place within it as the quintessential example of the form.

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