The year of 1492 marked the beginning of a worldwide revolution that would transform historical ideas contributing to the distinct cultural identities of peoples. Colonialism manifested from 1492 through the 1900s involving foreign empires seizing power of the deemed inferior or weaker empires, dominating their economies and depriving them of their natural resources. Emerging through colonialism was the “white man’s burden,” the philosophy that it was the white man’s duty to improve the quality of their weak colonies by imposing their intellectual achievements on the black North African inhabitants of their colonies. Through this, dominate European countries viewed themselves as superior to that of their colonies. Shakespeare writes his well-acclaimed …show more content…
Due to the political climate in Europe concerning colonialism, Shakespeare has first-hand knowledge on the widely disputed issue of racism in his time. This provides him the grounds to scrutinize the nature of racism and otherness. In his play, the protagonist, Othello, is a Moor – an individual of African descent who dwells in Venice and serves the Venetian army as the lieutenant. The Venetians refer to Othello as “the other” or “the foreigner” by calling him “The Moor.” “Moor,” refers to an outsider; therefore, it is best suited for a stranger who possesses unlike-qualities with the dominant group or individual; however, this discriminatory remark is inappropriate to someone whom you share a relationship or who is of a higher status. Furthermore, Iago, Roderigo, Desdemona, and Brabantio all play controlling roles in the prevailing issue of racism throughout the play. In the Tragedy of Othello, Shakespeare affirms his notion that racism is used as a dividing force among ethnically unlike individuals by using the antagonistic hearts of immediate characters, but also the love from others, as a tool to explore racism in the early …show more content…
This is portrayed by the tragic murder of Desdemona. As mentioned, Iago’s primary wish is to turn Othello’s life into a living hell to divide him a part from both his wife and society; however, he is emblematic of the general Venetian way of thinking, so he is aware of the constant racism that Othello receives. In Act 3, Scene 3, Iago says, “Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; / Wear your eye thus, not jealous nor secure: / I would not have your free and noble nature, / Out of self-bounty, be abused; look to't. (202-205)” Iago attempts to frame Desdemona by hinting at the idea that she is cheating on him with Cassio in hopes to infuriate Othello. Consequently, this makes Othello question his relationship with Desdemona. Desdemona is a jewel in everyone’s eyes; however, the fact that she marries Othello, a black man, bewilders society because customarily women of her social class tend to marry handsome, wealthy Venetian men; however, Desdemona chooses Othello, so Iago constructs this wicked scheme to make Othello kill Desdemona, the women of love and equality. Othello only consolidates society’s racist ideas that black men are uncivilized and inferior beings who are undeserving of true respect. Othello conforms to these societal norms because of his barbaric actions from killing Desdemona. In addition, this faulty deception of cheating in
Throughout Shakespeare's "Othello", one of the most poignant themes is that of race and racial prejudice. Various critics are of the view that "Othello" was written as a social commentary, depicting the discrimination present in formal Venetian society. These ideas of racial prejudice are portrayed through Othello, the protagonist, who is referred to as "the Moor", an African or a black man.
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.
In the Sixteenth century, as we see clearly from Othello and other works of both Shakespeare and Cinthio's original version of Othello, race was a topic of great debate and discussion. Today, in the twenty-first century the debate retains its controversy and passion. However, attitudes towards race have taken a dramatic turn during the last century. In the developed world people are now living in an increasingly cosmopolitan society would undoubtedly be more tolerant and would reject or even be offended by racial discrimination to any person or sections of the community. Openly 'racist' people today are seen as outcasts. Taking this into account, the way a modern audience would react to race and racism in Othello is dependent upon the way in which that modern audience would interpret 'Othello'. This prompts the questions of what sort of message Shakespeare wanted to send to his audience and was Othello the moor portrayed as a tragic hero or did his character eventually come to resemble the prejudices of which he was a victim. Shakespeare also discusses the issue of race with other characters such as the hateful Iago and the prejudices hidden deep in Barbantio.
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: 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.
The verse and prose he spoke in were usually heard from high status characters, but Othello easily coped with this language even to his isolation. This indicates that even if Shakespeare did want to display this racial difference in Othello, he kept the language of high status to indicate that although Othello is black, he is still an accepted Venetian soldier. With all this racial discrimination one would take have to take into consideration that the Elizabethan theatre would have been in a period where Shakespeare was dealing and addressing with the customs of society, such as black people not even being permitted on stage. White characters were painted black to represent the black race. With this in mind Shakespeare would have had to mirror society’s strong beliefs and extreme behaviours against the black race. Shakespeare is presenting the message that whether you are part of the white or black race, society is constantly isolating outsiders in a situation that they never deserve. Cowhig critiqued Othello and said that “It should not be forgotten that Othello was the black noble whose humanity eroded by cunning and racism of whites” (Cowhig 7), he was a black noble man who was seduced by white evil: Iago. The actual black villain here is arguably
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.
Racial prejudice against Othello is introduced early in the play and is present throughout. Iago and Roderigo approach Brabantio with news about his daughter Desdemona. They inform Brabantio his
Othello is driven so mad with jealousy that he completely submits to Iago. When Iago suggests that he should have Cassio killed and kill Desdemona himself, Othello readily agrees. Iago's manipulation of Othello relied much more heavily on jealousy rather than racism. The theme of racism in Othello is clearly very important.
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.
Race influenced Othello’s mind in many ways, making him feel distinctive and disengaged from others and highlights his differentness by making him feel more responsible and accepts that Desdemona might be cheating on him. He starts to get more helpless against the plots of Iago as he later tries to manipulate him and after that he is left to adapt to his issues alone in the light of the fact that he has nobody that he can trust and express his feeling and emotions to.
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.
Racism is just one of the many problems that we have here in the United States today. Racism isn’t as bad as it used to be but it’s still here. In Othello, written by the one and only William Shakespeare, racism is the main theme and focus. England became involved in the slave trade during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Slights 377). Racism started in the twentieth century after this was written but the way the Elizabethan era viewed black people was similar to how racism is today (Bartels 433). 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.”
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
Othello believing Iago of Desdemona’s infidelity so quickly, shows his insecurities. In Act 3, Scene 3 Iago starts planting his plan on Othello to make him believe that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago brings up the fact that Desdemona is very young and many other young men would be happy to be married to her but she decides to marry Othello. When Iago says this Othello begins to wonder “Why did I marry” to himself (3. 3. 283). Othello’s insecurities begin to show when he starts wondering why did Desdemona really married him. Desdemona is young and beautiful so Othello doesn’t understand why she would choose him over a younger man. Othello’s insecurities about his own physical appearance bring suspicion about Desdemona. Later Othello says “Haply, for I am black” (3. 3. 303) suggesting Desdemona may have cheated because he is black. Othello saying this shows that he is self-conscious about being black. He believes that because he is black Desdemona would possibly cheat. Othello insecurities with himself cause him to lose control and fall into Iago’s plan. Othello turns from being successful to murderous due to his insecurities. His constant doubt that Desdemona could actually be in love with him controls his thoughts and he begins to believe that she is cheating. Othello’s insecurities consume him to the point that he makes the ultimate mistake of killing