Miscegenation Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello

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Recommended: Compare and contrast iago and othello

Othello is a piece of literature ahead of its time as Shakespeare presents "others" or Moors in a positive light as a protagonist but creates a negative stereotype of interracial marriages for centuries to follow. During the first distribution of Othello non-European people were uncommon in the UK, therefore the assumptions of people from Africa like Othello were not yet enlisted as overly inferior. The idea was merely played within the play to create stereotypical norms and invisible borders between whites and Moors. The ideas of the negatives of miscegenation in Othello expressed through the foreigner's lust/love directed at the upper-class white woman (Desdemona) created a rubric for people like Iago in real life as a reason to justify their …show more content…

The roles portrayed by these strong men include a Senator (Brabanzio), Army General (Othello), army officials (Iago & Cassio) and a wealthy male (Roderigo) while they commit crimes, corrupt their peers, break laws and settle for less in the name "love" or merely in reaction to a lie influenced from the female perspective. The male characters intentions remain obvious from the start (Iago = villain, Othello = protagonist, Roderigo= dumb etc.), but the females' motivations are undetected and could easily be manipulated through a change of tone, display of gratitude towards another or dialog. For example, Desdemona obtains superior control over male characters as she uses their relationships to get ahead or accomplish personal goals. In relations to the Senator, he is at Desdemona's beck-and-call as he nearly will do anything to see his daughter happy; even if happiness included accepting an undercover marriage/ elope to someone of a lower class (Shakespeare, pg. 31, line 184). Desdemona argument base on temporary fascination to an "other" is justified and not looked at a crime in Elizabeth era, whereas hundreds of years later Desdemona and Othello's marriage would have resulted in criminal charges or death. It could be argued, Desdemona is above the law because the amount of influence she has on someone (Brabanzio) in power. Also, Othello and Roderigo minor pawns in Desdemona's act as she uses both influential males to gain further access to more power: Othello authority over the masses and Roderigo's riches that may add to Desdemona's own wealth. This knowledge is proven through Desdemona speech, "Both our loves and comforts should increase" (Shakespeare, pg. 60, line 194) when referring to the weight of herself and Othello's love, these comforts assumed to be her reign of power and heavy influence over others. The dictatorship ideology drawn

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