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Racist Undertones In Shakespeare's Othello

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Racist undertones are commonly evident in works of literature that have been written during all eras. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, many of the characters are prejudice towards Othello, and it comes through in the way they speak to and talk about him throughout the play. Shakespeare uses diction, imagery, and various figures of speech to reinforce the theme of racism in Elizabethan society.
The words used to describe the character of Othello are mostly negative, degrading, and insensitive, save for a few exceptions. Others describe him as if he is less than human behind his back, using words such as “thick lips” (I, i, 67) and “sooty bosom” (I, ii, 70), which also act to define him by the colour of his skin. When speaking about him, Roderigo and Iago …show more content…

The animal comparison is present when Iago uses a horse metaphor to tell Brabantio about Othello and Desdemona; “you’ll have your daughter/ covered with a Barbary horse, you’ll have your nephews/ neigh to you, you’ll have coursers for cousins, and/ jennets for germans” (I, i, 111-114). Not only is Othello being compared to a horse, the horse is specifically a Barbary horse, which is an African stallion. Using this type of horse automatically confirms that the metaphor is prompted by race, and that it is not truly the reality of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Iago even goes as far as to straight out call Othello “the devil” (I, i, 92) when talking to Brabantio. In this case, the comparison doesn’t make Othello appear bestial, but rather cruel. The devil is not a person, but the embodiment of evil and sin. In some cultures, the devil is even depicted as being black, which may be a cause for this comparison. Iago clearly doesn’t think of Othello as a moral human, and wants Brabantio to think the same, which he does by using harsh metaphors to describe

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