William Shakespeare's Othello was written around the early 1600s in England at the end of the Elizabethan Era. The Elizabethan Era was known for the English Renaissance, and the famous works of English literature and poetry. William Shakespeare was known for his creative plays that he created and would perform. During this period, there were very limited rights of the people in England. Women were not allowed to do anything other than be a housewife or mother. Women were not allowed to get an education, work, or have any type of voice. During this period, the "women" that were seen in plays, just like Othello, were young white boys, who were slim and had more of a feminine figure. The Elizabethan people were also very racist and only allowed white people to star in plays. In Othello, the play drapes a black cloth over the person playing Othello to show that he is black. The play takes place in two places, Venice, and later on in Cyprus. The setting starts during the religious war between Christian Venice and the Muslim Turkish Empire. In the play, Shakespeare depicts Venice as the winner of the war; in reality, it was the opposite. With the prejudiced people of England, Shakespeare dons a mask on the characters of the play. Shakespeare uses reverse psychology to make the Elizabethan or white men, who are often seen as good, the polar opposite, and turn the women and colored people into the approved population.