Othello: A Study of Prejudice and Power Imbalance

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William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Othello” shows how a manipulative villain can create chaos within a society. The play was written around the year 1603 and takes place in Venice Italy before it is repositioned to Cyprus. This Shakespearean tragedy shows the effects of jealousy, love, desire, betrayal and passion in a society with an imbalance of power in a race, gender, and social position. Shakespeare does not give specific details of Othello’s background, however, it is apparent Othello is a dark-skinned outsider. The characters in the play call him the Moor. A moor is a member of a northwestern African Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent. He is referred to as black by several characters including himself. Roderigo even calls him thick-lips which is a racial slur towards African Americans. 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 …show more content…

During this time period, the men would work to support their family. Additionally, the woman would stay at home and care for her husband and children. This society thought of women as weaker than men. They were often treated as possessions of their husbands, “This concurs with Othello 's own insight when he describes murderous jealousy as innate in the husband-wife relationship which posits the wife as the exclusive possession of the husband and is thus at odds with the human condition wherein one can never know another person 's inmost thoughts and desires” (Vanita 342).The language Shakespeare uses in the play supports that men seemed freer than women. When Brabantio speaks of his daughter he describes her as obedient. Likewise, Desdemona obeyed Othello’s orders and stated she is indeed obedient to him. When Othello was convinced Desdemona was cheating on him he proceeded to murder

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