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Racism and ethnicity in othello
Racism in othello
Racism in othello
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Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was destined to be unsuccessful. There are plenty of reasons that made their marriage disastrous: the racial nature between Othello and Desdemona, his lack of a constant home, and Othello’s improper method of his courting. The main intention from Othello, he labels his wife, Desdemona who is superior to himself which prevents him from considering her a human. Othello makes himself believes that his skin color and race brands him as a contaminated person. The vision Othello perceives that Desdemona is a God. Her beauty, sex, race, and status makes her a Goddess in his vision. Othello’s delusion causes him to contemplate that Desdemona is an “Alabaster” (5.2.5) who will never respond to his affection towards her. …show more content…
The Alabaster’s surface is smooth and white which can illustrate the racial inferiority he feels towards the pure Desdemona. In the play, race plays a major role in Othello’s relationship with Desdemona. Shakespeare refers to Othello that is an upstanding citizen and loyal soldier who is still unfit to marry due to his race and physical appearance. There are several themes which reoccur when the characters in Othello who refer the Moor as a great black beast. He has been called racial slurs such as “Old black ram” (1.1.87) and a “Barbary Horse” (1.1.110). It gives a sense to the reader that Othello is animalistic, even though at the start of the play he is represented as sophisticated and civilized. The nasty talk towards Othello is a black-handed reminder that a Moor will always be a Moor. Shakespeare was moved towards in Aristotle’s definition of tragedy and molded a classical tragedy of Othello, even marking him as a black stranger (Bevington 63). Even with the rank and success, he had in his battles the constant inference of being called a beast could have caused him to believe it himself. It is obvious to Othello that Desdemona could not love an ugly black man like himself. With the constant doubt, it puts her
Othello, from the onset, is shown to us a play of love and jealousy. There is however more to this play than just love and jealousy; there is underlying racism, hate, deception, pride, and even sexism between these pages. Othello is a transcendent play, one that will survive the perils of time simply because it is still relevant. Even today, over 400 years later, there are still issues of racism and sexism. Hate is as natural as love in humans and Othello gets right to the root of that. We witness this from the very first scene, “…you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse/ you’ll have your nephews neigh to you” (I.i.112-14); to the very last, “Moor she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor” (V.ii.258). Moor however is used as an insult all throughout the play; not so much the word itself but the feel of the word. Between these pages we see many different ways as to how the cultural differences between Othello and the other characters.
The director uses specific language and tone to stress the issue of race in Othello. The controversy of racial relationships is expressed through Brabantio's negative attitudes and words. He refers Othello to a 'foul thief, implying that his daughter could never love a man of a different colour, and that therefore Othello has stolen her from him. Brabantio compares Othello to someone that no one would want and he is disgusted that Desdemona would "run from her guardage to the sooty bosom". Thus implying that Othello is dirty and undesirable. The choice of language from the director highlights the other characters pessimistic and disrespectful attitudes towards Othello due to his skin colour.
William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy about revenge through jealousy and deception. Throughout the play, Iago is constantly pitting characters against each other in order to satiate his anger from being denied the promotion to lieutenant that Cassio was granted. As a catalyst for all the conflicts that arise during the play, Iago merely uncovers the underlying insecurities characters such as Othello, a notable war general in Venice, are struggling with. Animal imagery as well as the use of light and dark to differentiate between race is very prominent and is used to drive a wedge between the newlyweds, Othello and Desdemona. Although Othello is a highly accomplished and well respected war hero, the notion that Venetians, including Desdemona, are a superior race, prevents him from ever feeling truly secure in his marriage, ultimately leading to the demise of several people close to him, and finally himself.
Othello is a man of romantic nature. He fell in love with the beautiful Desdemona. He was accused of stealing her away from her father. Othello was of a different race and did not fit in with her family. Othello makes a plea for Desdemona and tells his story which wooed her to begin with. Othello tells of the love that her father showed him since his boyish days. This was like a match made in heaven that overcame many obstacles which got in their way. Othello could not understand why he was good enough to work and fight alongside of her father, but was not good enough for his daughter.
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.
...I,iii,507) Before he kills Desdemona, he notes how white her skin is, describing it as "that whiter skin of hers than snow / and smooth as monumental alabaster." (V,ii,4-5) Othello, we know, has been driven to kill Desdemona by his jealousy. However, it is clear that his jealousy is inspired by the racial prejudice that is prevalent throughout the play.
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.
At the beginning of the play, the audience is made aware that Othello is a Moor working in the service of Venice. During the time the play was written, racism was strong. Despite Othello’s carefully built up life in which he managed to rise from being very poor to a powerful general, he still experienced racism from characters such as Roderigo and Brabantio. In Act One Scene One, Brabantio is appalled at the idea of his delicate daughter Desdemona secretly marrying a black man without his consent. He openly insults Othello, oblivious to Othello’s power: “That thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals.” Brabantio is accusing Othello of witchcraft and trickery, and suggesting that no one could ever love him without the influence of his evil witchcraft. The audience feels pity for Othello because they know that Othello loves Desdemona and that he is a kind man, and is receiving these insults because of his race. The audience realises that he is already at a ...
...imes. Fifty eight times he is referred to as “The Moor”. Black and white is juxtaposed frequently, with white the image of goodness and purity and black the colour of evil. Bianca describes Othello as a “black devil” while Iago plans to turn “[Desdemona’s] name, that was as fresh as Dian’s visage…begrimed and black”. These racial slurs correspond with the social context of the Elizabethan era, when black residents negatively viewed. Although much has changed, this is still applicable to present society, where prejudices remain. Nonetheless in Shakespeare’s play, the hero is a black man and the villain a base, amoral white man with crude language.
Additionally, as a daughter, Desedmona was required to ask permission to be married, and because she did not, she turned away from society’s expectations. However, by saying that she is now loyal to her husband more than to her father, Desdemona sticks with society’s expectations. But the shock of her marrying without permission was enough to anger and sadden Brabantio, the symbol for society at the beginning of the play. Once Iago has poisoned Othello’s mind with lies about an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, Othello becomes suspicious and distrusting of Desdemona. He is convinced that his wife is a whore, but never speaks to her about his suspicions.
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.
A society consists of different cultures with people of diverse looks, values, and beliefs. In a world with one predominant culture, those perceived as different from the norm are associated with negative images, treated inferior to the superior culture. The negative images associated with color, specifically blackness, has a detrimental effect on the victims who are racially stereotyped. The character of Othello is a unique character in English literature, because unlike the other members of society, Othello was an outsider in Venice, a black man living in a white world, marrying a white woman, and leading white men as a soldier. Othello is persuaded that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him leading him to
“The Moor” is a reference to his black skin color, features, and represents the people from North Africa (Bartels 434). Most of the characters, including Desdemona called Othello a Moor. Othello’s blackness, his marriage with Desdemona, and the murder of her are all three important structural elements of Othello and are a... ... middle of paper ... ...ate a plan to bring Othello down. Iago literally regulated Othello throughout the play like a puppet.
He believes that he isn’t beautiful which leads to him question if Desdemona truly love shim. When Iago hints at cheating, Othello immediately buys it and this leads to his downfall. Throughout the play the protagonist, Othello, is insulted because he is black and an outsider to Venetian society. He is called a “Moor” which is a word to describe people with a darker skin complexion but the context the word is used in the play is meant to insult Othello.
The society in which Othello takes place is a patriarchal one, where men had complete control over women. They were seen as possessions rather than being just as equally human and capable of duties performed by men. All women of the Elizabethan were to obey all men, fathers, brothers, husbands, etc. Which leads me to the most reliable and trustworthy character of Desdemona, whom goes through many trials just to satisfy her love. Shakespeare brings the thought of Desdemona into the play by Barbantio, her father, “It is too true an evil. Gone she is....Oh, she deceives me Past thought! …” (1.1.163)(1.1.168-169), whom has just found she has taken off with Othello and firstly suspects they have been hitched. Shakespeare gives reader the impression Desdemona is a devious imp full of disrespect towards her father. However, surpassing normal tradition of asking of her fathers’ permission to wed, Desdemona ran off and did marry the moor. This in a sense was her emancipation of her father’s possessiveness and oblivion of Othello’s dominance over her. Othello replies to Barbantio’s accusation, sedating or using black magic on his daughter, by saying, “My very noble and approved good masters, That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter. It is most true.” (1.3.79-81), which brings me to the claim that Desdemona’s character in this tragedy, was only to become and to serve as Othello’s private possession rather than a typical beloved daughter or wife as in modern time. Shakespeare bases this tragedy on the foundation of Desdemona’s character by the symbol of the discrimination of women in the Shakespearean time era. Desdemona even for the first and only time within the play stands up and challenges her inferiority under her father’s aut...