Racism In Shakespeare's Othello

There are many conflicts in the world that stem from judging a person based on something that they have no control over. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and many other world issues are based on a belief of inequality. People are treated poorly because they are believed to be “less than” other people because of their race, gender, and sexual orientation. Although these are external qualities, people judge others as if people have control over something determined when they were born. The issue of inequality stemming from pre-determined characteristics is shown throughout history.

The author August Wilson is known for writing ten plays based on each decade about the way African Americans were treated in the 20th century. Him being half African American was able to relate and was vivid to the way they were treated. Although, slavery was abolished but discrimination and racism continued which did not made them free and did not obtained the respect that they so much seek. In this essay I will discuss what effects does slavery still have on the characters in Gem of the Ocean, some forty years after its abolition? Why is this important?

Racism. A word that people either shy away from or express in their every day lives. Predominately, the South is stigmatized as being a very racist and confederate region of America. Throughout history there have been many incidents and events that have explicably revolved around the color of your skin. The Civil War was a war based off of opposing opinions to have slaves or not between the North and the South of the United States.

In the real world everyone makes mistakes that cannot be fixed. In William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet both the Capulets and the Montagues make several mistakes, but there is one person most responsible. Juliet 's father, Lord Capulet, is most to blame for the events that occurred and for his daughter 's death. Romeo would have never met Juliet if Lord Capulet had kicked him out of the party. In scene 5 of act 1 Tybalt recognized Romeo and instead of dueling him, Lord Capulet said to leave Romeo alone.

Prior to this passage, Hamlet seems to be primarily driven by the need for revenge against Claudius. However, in this passage, Shakespeare uses a metaphor to reveal that Hamlet’s hate is directed not only at Claudius, but at all of humanity. When Ophelia tells Hamlet that he loved her, he says she should not have trusted him because “virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock”. This metaphor involves plant grafting, a practice in which the upper part of one plant, the scion, is joined to the lower part of another, the stock. Hamlet argues that humans, which are the stock, cannot gain virtue, which is represented by the scion to be inoculated onto the stock.

We still live in an era in where the color of your skin defines you, where people feel discriminated, ostracized, and judged because of their race, religion, or sexual orientation. Thus, our generation is not post racial. Evidently, our generation is not a place in where post-racial exists since discrimination still occurs today. According to Aaron Blake’s article from the Washington Post titled “The most discriminated-against people in America? It’s people like you, of course,” explains social groups such as Hispanics, evangelical christians, Catholics, and African Americans, saw themselves among the most discriminated

His ultimate choice is choosing between trusting Desdemona or Iago. Iago’s influence on Othello is so great that he is transformed into a man that no one recognizes. His jealousy is terrifying because of the noble way he originally held himself. Othello does not even recognize the man he becomes and refers to himself as “he that was Othello” (“Othello.” Shakespeare A-Z 471). Othello’s jealous spirit drives him to murder his wife; he cannot stop his obsession with the alleged affair until she is harmed (“Othello.” Shakespeare for Students 663).

By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack and fie for shame, Young men will do 't, if they come to 't; By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. ' So would I 'a done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed (4.5.63-71). Hamlet looks down on the female gender with severe disdain when he asserts "Frailty, thy name is woman" which leads the reader to deduce that women are looked down upon as feeble and subordinate. Even though she begins to show signs of becoming her own person by beginning a relationship with Hamlet, unapproved by her father, eventually Ophelia is driven insane, and then later to her grave because of her inability to handle her father 's death and Hamlet 's colic treatment towards her. With her brother away in Paris, Hamlet rejecting their love, and the passing of her father, Ophelia 's frail mindedness leaves her incapable of existing on her own.

Lear, in Monmouth’s work, laments the lack of a male heir and in admission of age, resolves to divide his kingdom amongst his daughters: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. When his youngest and most beloved Cordelia fails to please him, however, Lear promptly banishes her in rage. Similarly, Shakespeare’s King Lear depicts an identical scene in which Lear furiously declares “Here I disclaim all my paternal care” (1.1.125). Lear’s decision to disown Cordelia in haste exhibits lack of patience and foresight. The significant resemblance between the two works provide insight of Lear’s inability to consider, which eventually leads to his downfall.

What role could Ophelia possibly have in his “grand plan”? However, to ignore the significance of such an interaction with such a connected person as Ophelia would be highly superficial. Indeed, all those he is seen to act crazily around possess the ability to notify the king of his strangeness. She, the daughter of Polonius, adviser of the king, is no exception. In disturbing Ophelia, Hamlet’s madness reaches the ears of her highly influential father, who says to her, “Come, we go to the King” (2.1.