What did the city of Venice symbolize to members of the Elizabethan audience? What was the reputation of Venetian women?

It is important to note that, in Shakespeare's plays, the further away from England, the more chaotic things got. Queen Elizabeth didn't want to see England disparaged so Shakespeare set his tragedies away from home. Elizabethans thought that the Italians were living lives of sin and treachery. Venetian women were supposed to be beautiful and promiscuous while men were hot-tempered, aggressive, and jealous.