Othello

In the Shakespearean act Othello, the image of slavery was referred to significantly. This act was written in a period where England became involved in the slave trade. During that period racism and the opposition towards slavery arise. The word slave in this act; however, was not all about slavery. The word “slave” in Othello was not only used to describe a social practice, but it was also used as an insult and it presented subjection in certain scenes.

Initially, the fact that Othello was a slave before joining the Venetian society could define a meaning of the word “slave” used in this act. The character Othello was chosen to be black. Even though in that period slaves were not only black but the idea of Othello being black and a slave has its own significance. Othello knows that he was originally “ sold to slavery" and then was redeemed. "of my redemption thence” he says. However, his position in the act is slightly questionable. Shakespeare illustrated Othello’s role as being an outsider and isolated him from the Venetian society throughout the act. On the other hand he is the main character and he has the higher stature among all other characters. The citizens of Venice refer to Othello as the “Moor” and they hate him for his stature and history. It is noticeable that Othello; however, used his maximum potentials to assist the Venetians and he supervised them. This suggests that the word slave could refer to an insult or a social practise. For example, when Othello marries Desdemona a Venetian who was never a slave. Brabantio, insulted Othello by calling him a slave because he married his daughter. He dislikes the idea of his daughter marrying from the “Moor” who used to be a slave. Brabantio also thinks that this marriag...

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...ve”. Moreover, Cassio is also called a slave. When Othello heard about his wife’s betrayal and after Roderigo’s failure in killing Cassio, he said “O, that the slave had forty thousand lives!”. Although, Cassio was not a slave, Othello pointed him as a slave. This suggests that the word slave has no specific meaning and is not always used for the same reason.

The word “slave” in this act was used frequently due the existence of the slavery trade and racism in the period of Shakespeare. In contrast to many other used words, this word could mean various meanings depending on what the character is referring to. The image of slavery has given the idea of how slaves have affected that period vastly that the word slave turned to be very common in their sentences. This word “slave” seems like a word they use when they do not really know what insult to use instead.