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Should contemporary performances of Othello reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time of
Analysis of othello characters
Analysis of characters of othello
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Othello was written by William Shakespeare in the year 1603. It tells the story of Othello, a native of Northern Africa and commander of the Venetian army, whose life and marriage are ruined when Iago, his friend and a soldier under his command, betrays him. Because of Othello’s race, he experiences constant racism from the other characters in the play. Othello is one of the first literary works to deal with the issue of race and racism in society, and is also known as one of Shakespeare’s most controversial works. Race plays a major role in the downfall of Othello, in part because many of the characters do not feel like they can fully trust Othello, but also because Othello himself gradually accepts the prevalent racist beliefs of Europe in the 1600s. …show more content…
Upon this discovery, Brabantio calls Othello to the Senate to accuse him of tricking his daughter into marrying him, for Brabantio believes there is no way she would willingly marry a Moor like Othello. When the issue of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage is brought before the Senate, Brabantio’s objections all have to do with Othello’s nationality. Brabantio cannot fathom why his daughter would consent to the marriage to a man of Othello’s nationality, unless in some way under a spell. Brabantio explains to the Senate that Othello must have charmed his daughter with witchcraft, in which he cries
Brabantio, with just cause, takes the affairs of Othello and Desdemona to the Duke’s court in order to receive a just trial. Brabantio accuses Othello of witchcraft because Brabantio believes that his pure, fair Desdemona would never betray him on purpose easily:
Brabantio then puts forward his deep concern over Othello marrying his daughter, he suggests spells and medicines have corrupted her. thoughts. I will be able to do so. This is the first time that their love for one another is suggested as wrong. When the duke is told what the problem is he is outraged and is already thinking of the punishment for the offender.
William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Othello” shows how a manipulative villain can create chaos within a society. The play was written around the year 1603 and takes place in Venice Italy before it is repositioned to Cyprus. This Shakespearean tragedy shows the effects of jealousy, love, desire, betrayal and passion in a society with an imbalance of power in a race, gender, and social position.
‘Othello’, also known as ‘The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice’ is a play written by William Shakespeare, somewhere between 1601 and 1604. It is a tragedy set in Venice and Cyprus, with a strong and respected soldier, Othello, playing the protagonist; although some critics argue that the play should have been named ‘Iago’ after the treacherous villain whose role is at least as important as the protagonist’s. The play is the heart-rending tale of a black Venetian soldier, who is excellent at his occupation, but would still collect negative sentiments towards him due to his colour, and African ancestry (which is constant throughout the play with terms like, ‘Moor’, and ‘Devil’ being used to describe him and his characteristics, somewhat ironically as Iago is the true devil of the play). This grand soldier marries the lady whom he wooed with stories of his triumphs, Desdemona, despite the negative scrutiny the marriage would of received at that time. Iago tells Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, and he is furious – so much so that he takes the matter to the duke, as it is his belief that Othello tricked his daughter, with black magic and love spells. The duke sides with Othello, and the action soon moves to Cyprus where a war was supposedly breaking out. Whilst in Cyprus Iago, with the help of his ‘Goon’ Roderigo, stirs rumours and deceives the others to the extent of forcing the once respectable soldier to murdering his new wife. As well as tricking and manipulating many other characters along the way. The most disturbing truth about Iago’s wrong doings is the fact that he seemed to take pleasure in torturing his ‘Friends’ (probably better described as puppets, or tools), even his own wife, Emilia.
Consequently, Brabantio is extremely upset when he learns that they have eloped. Brabantio's anger at Othello's "thievery" leads him to entreat the Duke and Senate to annul the marriage. It is also true that the scene involving Iago and Roderigo telling Brabantio of his daughter's eloping does much to develop the character of Iago as a meddling weasel early in the book. The scene in which Othello and Brabantio argue their cases before the Duke is the culmination of the underlying conflict between Desdemona and Brabantio. Desdemona's direct part in the saga is less important than the effects of this conflict on Othello, who emerges an honorable and lawfully wedded man after his appearance before the Senate.
In the middle of the night, Iago and Roderigo stand outside of Desdemona’s father’s house and wake him up with their shouts. They then mention about Desdemona and Othello’s marriage using lewd expressions. Brabantio at first is not able to believe that his daughter married without letting him know, but later when he figures that out he gets even angrier that his daughter married to Othello (African black skinned person) rather than a white guy. At that point, he pulls out his weapons and goes towards Othello accusing him of kidnapping his daughter through magic. Later Brabantio goes before the Duke and discusses this matter in front of him.
Orkin, Martin. “Othello and the “plain face” Of Racism.” 2nd ed. Vol. 38. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 166-88. Shakespeare Quarterly. Folger Shakespeare Library in Association with George Washington University, Summer 1987. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. .
Within both Titus Andronicus and Othello both by William Shakespeare the reader is introduced to the concept of a black man within a white society. Stigmas and stereotypes are attached to the black characters of Aaron and Othello. Although each black character has a similar stigma, the characters are very different from one another. Aaron is portrayed as evil, conniving and malevolent, while Othello has none of these traits. Othello's fault lies in the fact that he is very gullible and easily led.
Have you ever thought about how much Othello’s race and the racism around him affected his life? Othello struggled a lot during the play because of his dark skin color. He was called several racist names like “the Moor,” “old black ram,” “Barbary horse,” and “thick lips” (Shakespeare 1.1.40; 1.1.88; 1.1.111; 1.1.66).The term “racism” has been around for several years; it started in the twentieth century (Bartels 433). By the way the Elizabethan era viewed black people was similar to how racism is today with all of the racial comments, and stereotypes. Being a black person in a mostly white ethnicity area at that time had to be challenging based on Othello’s experience. Othello was the black sheep crowded around a herd of white sheep, he was an outcast. Racist comments were made by many of the characters like Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Emilia. If there was an award for most used racial comment towards Othello, Iago would win. Racism in Othello had a tremendous impact on Othello. He was judged by the color of his skin and not his personality. Othello’s race and the racism around him affected his life by ruining his marriage with Desdemona, alienating him from everybody in Venice, and by making him an easy target to be manipulated by Iago.
Othello, a play written by William Shakespeare in 1603 is a tragedy that deals with love, death, betrayal, and racism. Othello is about an interracial couple that snuck off and got married. People found out and decided to tell her family. They wanted him dead and did everything in their power to break them up, including making it seem like the wife had an affair. That thought alone led the husband to kill his wife. Othello has a lot of different themes throughout its course, racism is the theme that stuck out to me the most, because it was ridiculous and unfair.
As Othello is known in the play as the Moor, he often faces discrimination that his peers did not face. When Brabantio finds out that Othello married his daughter, he claims that Othello must have “enchanted her” (1.2.64) and that his daughter “…t’incur[ed] a general mock,” (1.2.70) by “run[ning] from her guardage to the sooty bosom.” (1.2.71) In other words, Brabantio is saying that he is in disbelief as to why Desdemona would marry a Moor when her socioeconomic status was so much higher. As a result of being treated as an inferior due to skin colour, Othello puts more weight on honour and reputation. Since his high ranking position in the army set him apart from other Moors, he uses it as compensation towards many aspects of his life such as marriage. For example, Othello associates the “…services which [he] has done the seignniory” (1.2.17) to Brabantio’s criticisms about him. Othello knows that his position holds power, and he is able to confidently articulate why he is suitable candidate to marry Desdemona. Unfortunately, Othello’s confidence does not last later in the play when his honour is suddenly threatened by presumptions that Desdemona is engaged in unfaithful acts. Soon thereafter, he loses his
Although some try to avoid it, most people’s opinions of others are sadly regarded based on race. These ethnic groups cause people to think of others as superior or inferior to them, sometimes becoming so extreme that people start to doubt themselves. These ideas are incorporated in Shakespeare’s play, Othello, a tragedy about a black war general named Othello, who is often referred to by many racial names, such as “the Moor.” He has recently married a young woman named Desdemona, a character completely opposite in race and status. Their relationship causes much outrage, especially from Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. However, Othello soon faces more trouble after Venetians named Iago and Roderigo conspire together to ruin Desdemona and Othello’s
Othello: The Moor of Venice is probably Shakespeare's most controversial play. Throughout this work, there is a clear theme of racism, a racism that has become commonplace in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as anathema. The text expresses racism throughout the play within the language transaction of the dialogue to question the societal ethos established by Othello, thereby making him nothing less than a cultural "other." Furthermore, the character of Desdemona is displayed as mad, or out of her wits, for marrying such an "other," and the audience sees her slip from an angelic state of purity to that of a tainted character. Also, the menacing Iago, a mastermind of deviant rhetoric, is able to play Othello and Desdemona against one another until their marriage fails, while at the same time destroying his adversary and friend, Cassio. Thus Iago has a specific agenda, not only to get back at Othello for choosing Cassio instead of him, but also to make Cassio the victim of his plan to destroy the forbidden marriage referred to by Brabantio as a "treason of the blood" (1.2.166-167). Essentially, Iago is a representative of the white race, a pre-Nazi figure who tries to inform the public of the impurity of Othello and Desdemona's marriage. He demonstrates how this miscegenation is threatening to the existing social order. Thus, through analysis of racism, the play represents the hatred possessed by mankind -- a hate so strong that society sees the mixing with an "other" to be a curse to humanity and a terrible threat to Aryan culture.
This essay will look at the role of race in Othello’s conflicts using the text by Michael Neill and Kim F. Hall as well as the concept of race and literary studies in Murfin and Ray. While there’s no doubt that race plays a role in Othello, as the main character is often referred to as “The Moor”, this essay will argue that although race does have a role in the play that jealousy and pursuit of power are the more prominent themes of the play and that race is secondary and used as a way to show the protagonists hatred towards Othello. This essay will argue that race is not as central to the play’s conflicts as the authors of the secondary texts say, but rather that race is used as a tool to discredit Othello so Iago can gain power and out of
In the tragedy Othello, Shakespeare creates a mood that challenges the way a person sees his or her self and the world. Subjects like racism, sexism, love, hate, jealously, pride, and trickery are thoroughly developed in the play of Othello to enable the audience to view the characters and also themselves. The Shakespearean tragedy of Othello was written in a time of great racial tensions in England. According to Eldred Jones, in 1600 just three years before Othello was written, Queen Elizabeth proclaimed an Edict for the Transportation of all "negars and blackmoores" out of the country ("Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays 39). It is in this atmosphere that Shakespeare began the masterpiece of Othello, a drama about a noble black Arab general, Othello, who falls in love with and marries, Desdemona, a young white daughter of a senator. From the above knowledge one may conclude that Shakespeare wrote Othello to express that all people, of all ethnicity, are basically the same in human nature. Shakespeare borrowed the idea of Othello from an Italian love story by Giraldi Cinthio. However, Shakespeare focuses more on the differences in color and age between Othello and Desdemona than Cinthio. Shakespeare does this to escalate Othello’s isolation from the rest of Venetian society and to display Othello’s vulnerability due to his color. In the tragedy not only is Othello susceptible to weaknesses but so is every major character . The tragedy reminds humans that even one’s good nature can be taken advantage of for the worse. The drama Othello expresses, through relationships and emotional attitudes, a theme that all humans are vulnerable to destruction even if they are in positions of power and glory.