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Stereotypes In Othello

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Throughout the course of history, Hispanic males tend to be stereotyped for certain reasons, similar to Othello in his society. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the title character is a 16th century Moorish general of the Venetian army who, because of the cultural and historical background of the play’s setting, the playwright, and the original intended audience, is portrayed as both well-respected for his military prowess and disparaged for his race. Similarly, because of the history in America of undocumented immigrants tending to work blue-collared jobs, hispanic males in today’s society are praised for being hard working men and yet are often seen as misogynist for having stay at home wives. In Venice, Othello has proven to high powered individuals that he has a stronger contribution to the results of wars. Othello is aware that any threat he has would be overlooked because he is a high priority to the Duke of Venice. In Act 1 Scene 2, Othello mentions to Iago “My services which I have done the signiory shall out-tongue his complaints”. This was lead by the comment which Iago stated related to the pursuing of Desdemona that brabantio is up to. This is a source to the stereotypical “ As a moor, Othello should succeed as officer in the military. This is actually scene moreso as a positive stereotype for Othello because he gains …show more content…

Being a Moor is a strong contribution of Iago’s scheme to ruin Othello. One way Iago tries to get Othello in trouble is by snitching on his marriage with Brabantio’s daughter. Iago comments “... An old black ram is tupping your white ewe,” and “... the devil will make a grandsire of you,” when informing Brabantio of the marriage situation between Othello and Desdemona. The negative stereotype of Othello being sexually permissive comes from the society in Venice which sees Black males to have a strong need to be sexually

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