Analyses of Race and Gender Issues in Othello
The discussion of race in Shakespeare's Othello has received a great deal of critical attention. Virginia Mason Vaughn, in her book Othello: A Contextual History, surveys this critical history, beginning with Marvin Rosenberg's 1961 book The Masks of Othello (a book documenting the nineteenth-century tendency toward representing Othello as light-skinned), and continuing through to Jack D'Amico's 1991 book The Moor in English Renaissance Drama. According to Vaughan herself, "The effect of Othello depends . . . on the essential fact of the hero's darkness, the visual signifier of his Otherness" (51). Arthur L. Little, Jr., in his article "'An essence that's not seen': The Primal Scene of Racism in Othello," claims that "The three crucial structural elements of Shakespeare's play are Othello's blackness, his marriage to the white Desdemona, and his killing of her" (306, emphasis added) as if there were no other "crucial structural elements." It is not my intention to undercut or undervalue the attention that has been given to the discourse of race, the opposition of black and white, in Othello; however, I contend that an exclusive focus on this discourse radically reduces and simplifies the play, and I wish to focus on a different discourse, a different opposition in the play-the discourse of honesty and whoredom, the opposition of falseness and loyalty.
Dympna Callaghan, in her book Women and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy, makes the point that "Mysogynistic discourse . . . leads, directly or indirectly, to the death of the female tragic transgressor [among whose number in Renaissance drama she counts Shakespeare's Desdemona and Cordelia, and John Webster's Duche...
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Shakespeare’s fictional character Othello, General of the Venetian Army, has an eminently respectable reputation as a result of his plentiful exploits in battle and because of his notoriety to command “Like a full soldier”. Nevertheless, the rough-and-ready commandant is not as emotionally callous as, not only his war-time resume would suggest, but also how Iago and Roderigo portray his as a character in Act 1, Scene 1. Despite his triumphs, numerous characters throughout Othello do not shy away from the casual racist jab towards their black-skinned General. Exposure to repetitive, often overt, verbal-degradation leads Othello to believe that he is racially inferior as the play progresses – this infectious discrimination of Elizabethan racists
The Manipulation of Gender Roles in Shakespeare’s Othello. Of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, the story of the rise and fall of the Moor of Venice arguably elicits the most intensely personal and emotional responses from its English-speaking audiences over the centuries. Treating the subject of personal human relationships, the tragedy, which should have been a love story, speaks to both reading and viewing audiences by exploring the archetypal dramatic values of love and betrayal. The final source of the tragic action in Shakespeare’s
William Shakespeare’s Othello gains fame for its thematic conflict between appearance and reality, Iago’s motiveless malignity, and the downfall of Othello when he naively believes Desdemona’s without any substantial proof. While all these factors are important, the historical aspects of Othello are even more important because they are the foundation of the more complex concepts the play explores. The context in which the play is written has underlying distinctions between races. Race plays a huge role in Othello because it sets boundaries that cause the tragic hero’s downfall. The introduction to racism occurs when Brabnatio finds out about the marriage of Desdemon and the Moor.
F. R. Leavis discusses the breakdown of sympathy for Othello, arguing that ‘Othello is too stupid to be regarded as a tragic hero’. Other critics also argue that Shakespeare ‘fully exploits the unique cultural opportunity to develop a more complex and sympathetic representation of black experience’ [The Noble Moor – Othello and Race in Elizabethan London, Roger Lees], implying that the sympathy that a contemporary audience would have felt for Othello was based oncultural context, given that the audience were predominantly white. However, it could be argued that it cannot just be the cultural context to Shakespeare’s audiences that has allowed Othello to become one of his most renowned tragedies; if this were the case, the play would have lost all critical interest by the 18th Century. It is Shakespeare’s use of the conventions of tragedy in attributing Othello with hubris that, although making it hard to empathise with at times, in the...
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In the book “Gender Trouble” (1990), feminist theorist Judith Butler explains “gender is not only a social construct, but also a kind of performance such as a show we put on, a costume or disguise we wear” (Butler). In other words, gender is a performance, an act, and costumes, not the main aspect of essential identity. By understanding this theory of gender as an act, performance, we can see how gender has greatly impacted the outcome of the play in William Shakespeare’s Othello. From a careful analysis of the story, tragedy in Othello is result of violating expected gender roles, gender performance by Desdemona and Othello, and the result of Iago’s inability to tolerate these violations.
Statement of intent: The role of women in William Shakespeare’s play Othello is portrayed through the behaviors and actions of Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. William Shakespeare integrates his Elizabethan society to create the patriarchal Venetian society in the play. Women in his society were seen as inferior to the men. The three women play a significant role in different social stratification. How are women submissive, possessions, bold, and degraded to sex objects and whores? How have they displayed unconventional acts and boldness?
Little, Arthur L. “’An Essence that's Not Seen’: The Primal Scene of Racism in Othello.” Shakespeare Quarterly 44.3 (1993): 304-24. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Shakespeare’s Othello features racism throughout the play. The overwhelming evidence of racism brings attention to all of the characters immorality. In Othello, the audience’s knowledge of the tragic hero depends on Iago’s and Roderigo’s description of him. For the first scene, the audience only knows that the Moor does something to enrage Iago. The audience understands what kind of person Iago is with his racializing report to Brabantio referring to Othello as, “an old black ram”. Through the primal scene, the structural elements of the play, and the racist ideology visible in Venice the racism in Othello is clear.
This novel cannot be easily summarized; it is a trilogy composed of 1031 pages, not including the numerous appendices, maps, and the index. This fantasy is one of the most detailed in existence with various other works. The Lord of The Rings is the tale of a courageous journey taken on by an unlikely fellowship and focused around one unexpected and tragic hero. This tragic hero is Frodo Baggins, a hobbit who has lived in paradise his entire life. The pleasant, laid-back life of Frodo abruptly comes to a close when his dear friend, Bilbo Baggins, disappears at his own birthday party. Frodo is then left with all of Bilbo’s extravagant belongings which included Bilbo’s most ‘precious’ possession; a golden ring. Gandalf, a humble wizard as well as a close companion to the Baggins, reveals to Frodo the truth about this seemingly meaningless ring.
The trilogy is about a hobbit named Frodo Baggins that has to go on a quest to destroy an evil ring known as “One Ring.” The reason for destroying the ring is because it is consumed with evil, it was formed so that the Dark Lord, Sauron, could put his life force to it. To destroy the ring the hobbits have to bring the ring to the place where the ring was created, The Lord of the Ring trilogy is broken up into three movies, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The Fellowship of the Ring gives the background of the story and introduces the each character. The Two Towers continues with the plot of Frodo destroying the ring, and on the way meets new companions. In the final film, The Return of King, Sauron launches his final stages for conquest. His army is strong so the people who are trying to defend the world are losing, so it is up to Frodo to destroy the ring (Wikipedia, 2014).
One of the major issues in Shakespeare's Othello is the impact of the race of the main character, Othello. His skin color is non-white, usually portrayed as African although some productions portray him as an Arabian. Othello is referred to by his name only seventeen times in the play. He is referred to as "The Moor" fifty-eight times. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) states that a Moor is "Any individual of the swarthy races of Africa or Asia which have adopted the Mohammedan religion. In Spanish history the terms Moo, Saracens, and Arabs are synonymous." This indicates that Othello is constantly being degraded and set up as an evil person throughout the play. What this really means is that Othello is being judged by his skin color rather than the person under the skin. The view that whites and non-whites are equal is a relatively new concept in our society. In institutionalized racism, such as American slavery, those of a different color were often viewed as inferior. As Shakespeare wrote Othello, this idea was becoming quite prominent as England entered the African slave trade. One can look at the racial issues from the perspective of color, slavery, and society.
The chosen character Frodo is entrusted to be given the ring and go to the Cracks of Doom and destroy due to it’s hideous power. It is by the influence and curiosity that he wears the ring and is exposed to it’s heinous power. Frodo becomes addicted to the evil that Sauron has corrupted him with by the ring, and he cannot help but succumb to it. He hurts those that are close to him, including his greatest and longest friend Samwise. By the end of the novel the ring has corrupted Frodo so much that it’s Samwise that completes the mission and destroys the ring of power. But though he does this, Frodo’s focus of character and his influence does not end there.
R. R. Tolkien. The books are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The novels and films take the audience through Frodo Baggins and his companions’ journey to destroy the One Ring. Long before the trilogy sets off, nineteen rings of power were forged by the elves. Three of these rings went to the elves, seven went to the dwarves, and the remaining nine rings went to the race of men. One additional ring was forged by the Dark Lord, Sauron, in the pits of Mount Doom. This ring, known as the One Ring, was forged to put those who wore the other nineteen rings of power under Sauron’s control. Sauron failed to deceive the elves and the dwarves but succeeded in deceiving the nine men who bore the rings. Thousands of years after these events is when the Lord of the Rings trilogy takes place. Frodo Baggins, the trilogy’s main protagonist, is passed down a ring from his guardian, Bilbo Baggins. After thorough research and inspection, a great wizard, Gandalf the Grey, finds out that this ring belongs to Sauron, the trilogy’s main antagonist. Hobbit Frodo and his good friend, Samwise Gamgee, are given the task to destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom, where it was forged. Shortly into the two hobbits’ journey, they meet some faces willing to help. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and Boromir all make up the Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship’s main goal