The influence of the Turks in Othello In Shakespeare's play Othello the Turks are dark enemies always lurking in the background but never seen. Although invisible in the play, the Turks play a significant role in Othello: references to the Turks and their Islamic/infidel culture illustrate progress and illuminate the themes of the play. The Ottoman Empire was the closest Islamic state to Shakespeare's Europe - and the most dangerous. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked the complete destruction of the old Byzantine Empire and the rise of the new regime of the Ottoman Turks. Straddling Asia Minor and the Hellespont, the new government cut off the Mediterranean's access to the Black Sea and deprived Europe of its land route to India. (The search for a new route led Columbus to discover the New World.) The Ottomans moved steadily up the Balkan Peninsula, conquering Serbia in 1459, Bosnia in 1463, Hungary in 1541. The Turks besieged Vienna in 1529, forced the Habsburg monarchs to pay an annual tribute in 1568, and fought Austria again in Shakespeare's time, 1593 to 1606. Italy and the Ottomans faced each other across the Adriatic, with Venice right at the crux. In 1522, the capitulation to Rhodes of the Knights of the Order of St. John (who later became the Knights of Malta) allowed Turkish control over all Genoese and Venetian trade which was not interrupted until the Ottoman defeat at the naval Battle of Lepanto. in 1571. Even then, in the same year, the Turks conquered Cyprus, another gateway to the markets of the Levant and Arab trade routes to Asia. In 1604, when the first recorded performance of Othello took place, the Ottoman kingdom stretched from Arabia... to the center of the card... akemore Evans. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Mack, Maynard. Everyone is Shakespeare: reflections especially on tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.Shakespeare, William. Othello. In Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No lines nos.Wilson, HS On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. “The Engaging Qualities of Othello.” Readings on tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from the Introduction to the Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. NP: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.