Prominence of Racism in Othello “When Othello committed atrocious crimes because of his unfounded jealousy, those who had previously believed him to be admirable and good condemned him, not by criticizing his character, but by criticizing his distinguishing racial characteristic: his color” (Speaks 1). The play Othello, by the one and only William Shakespeare, is chocked full of tragedy, trickery, and frequent racist slurs. This play was written in the early sixteen hundred, when interatrial marriage was almost unheard of and greatly frowned upon. Othello (a black, high ranking, soldier), was meant to shock the audience; possibly make people reconsider the barbarous preconceived notion of a black man in those times. The play revolves around …show more content…
Shakespeare introduces the Moor in the second scene as calm and in control of himself, along with control of the situation unraveling around him. This was quite the contrary to what one may have expected in those days. Through this calm introduction, the author brilliantly makes the Moor stand out from any other character. According to an article by Cambridge University, “In the writings of the day, the Moors were described as, ‘stubborn’, ‘bestial’ and intolerant” (Hendricks, et al 3). So, it is easy to see the contrast between the character and the expectations of the audience. The author plays with the idea that when white and black mix, there can be nothing but chaos; and this idea becomes prevalent throughout the play. At the beginning, the Moor and Desdemona (his white wife) are a loving and peaceful couple, but they soon are in absolute chaos as the Moor’s character is torn to shreds. Thus, the author turns Othello’s character into the stereotypical black man of the times. Is this racist of Shakespeare? Possibly, but keep in mind in those times almost everyone had this barbarous view of the black race. Shakespeare set race as the focal point of the play, and through the character’s dialogue we see just how prominent race is in the …show more content…
Roderigo, a gulled gentleman, starts the play off by speaking ill of Othello with racist remarks, “What a full fortune does thick-lips have” (McMahan, et al 733). Implying that Othello couldn’t have won the heart of Desdemona unless by luck, because he is black. Iago, the plays antagonist, uses numerous racial slurs throughout the play to paint a picture of Othello as a lesser man than he is. Just one of Iago’s insults states, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (734). In which Iago is playing on Elizabethan notions that the black man has sexual animal like, hyper sexuality; in order to manipulate Brabantio’s (Desdemona’s father) fears of a black man’s sexual appetite. Iago continually uses race as a scapegoat to provoke each character to distrust and hate Othello; even Othello’s view of himself is affected by everyone’s, mostly Iago’s, racial remarks. In Act III of the play, Othello gives us an insight of how he sees himself, “Her name, that was as fresh as Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black as mine own face” (778-779). He is acknowledging his skin color and comparing it to something bad, like a dirtied name. At the end of the play, after Emilia finds that Othello has murdered his own wife, she results to condemning his race, “O, the more angel she, and you the blacker
Many people make racist comments towards him behind his back. I have chosen an article Of Othello in shakespeare. “Black” Spaces is the topic of the article. This article is Talking about Othello's Racial and cultural Oterness. The article mainly describes Othello, and how being black effected him so much, and how it brought him to an
The tragedy that unfolds in Shakespeare's Othello (1604) is caused by societal prejudice that triggers Othello's inherent naivety and susceptibility to jealousy. The Jacobean era's newfound creative nature influenced Shakespeare to include certain religious ideologies such as The Great Chain of Being. Through consistent racial prejudice directed towards Othello, we witness the belief that those of African descent are low class. Through prejudice, Othello gains a reverence for social status, which manifests into jealousy that allows him to be easily manipulated. The nature of Venetian society made it exceptionally difficult for Othello to gain social status.
white have created conflict between the members of the play. Since the 16th century dictates that black people, or Moors, are inferior to white people, Othello is stuck in the darkness as an outsider; thus suggesting that interlopers are alone, not part of a community. Within these contrasting worlds, outsiders, like Othello, try to integrate into society, but can’t. For instance, this ingrained mindset portraying the inferiority of black people is further shown when Othello exclaims, “Her name, that was as fresh as Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black / As mine own face.”
The moment Othello kills Desdemona, those who used to look up to him, now use his race against him, since they see no other explanation to why he would commit such a crime. Emilia, for instance, calls him a “blacker devil” (5.2.145). Although it was in mention to the fact that Desdemona was innocent, and noble in defending him even in her murder. The phrase itself is what is seen more as a racist phrase, as it refers
These texts were all set in past times except for Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) which had components of the story that were set in today’s time. We are going to explore the similarities of discrimination between these three texts and how they are in fact all very racist and sexist. The central theme of Othello is Race. Racism is extremely prominent and causes a multitude amount of problems for many characters.
When comparing his own skin to that of his wife’s, Othello says, “begrimed and black/ as mine own face.” (3.3.441-442) He again makes the reference that being black is being unclean and tainted. A few lines later he
Annotated Bibliography Butcher, Philip. " Othello's Racial Identity." Shakespeare Quarterly 3.3 (1952): 243-247. file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Article%204.pdf The article discusses the race of Shakespeare's Othello that has been debated since the publication of Joseph Hunter's New Illustrations of Shakespeare in 1845.
Within the playbook, ‘Othello’, authored by William Shakespeare, there are many different prejudice and bias examples; but today I will only be focusing on the one I feel is the most prevalent and disastrous in the story. The racial bias Iago holds against Othello for having more than he does even though he is a person of color proves to be detrimental throughout the play. The main thing Iago is envious of Othello for is his rank as general. Iago goes to great lengths to try to revoke Othello’s power, even going as far as to jeopardize the relationships of everyone within the main cast. Othello can be described as a tall 34 year old protagonist who turns out to be very gullible to Iago’s manipulation and secomes to violent anger by the end
This extent of hostility and aggression coming from several other sources in the play was enough to ruin Othello. Thus, Othello’s downfall was more of a result of his race being that the main underlying motive behind the characters’ efforts to destroy him was racism. It is inadequate to bypass the sociology behind racism, the concept of race, prior to defining what racism actually is. The common understanding of race suggests the division of groups based upon the color of one’s skin, hair, eyes, etc. “Although biologically meaningless when applied to humans – physical differences such as skin color have no natural association with group differences in ability or behavior – race nevertheless has tremendous significance in structuring social reality” (Clair).
When people of one race believe themselves to be superior to those of another, only catastrophe can result. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, racism was extremely prevalent, and white supremacy was much more pronounced. In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, both covert and overt racism, assimilation, and jealous dispositions all foreshadow the untimely death of Desdemona and Othello. Most characters in Othello display both covert racism and overt racism towards Othello.
Manipulation of the African Race in Othello In William Shakespeare’s Othello, racism is a principal theme that drives the plot of the entire play. An outlier in Venice, Othello the moor or African, is targeted by his ensign Iago because Cassio who seems to be unqualified, was promoted to a lieutenant before he was. Iago is driven by envy and jealousy and creates a confusing and elaborate plan to deprive Cassio of his position. Iago also shares these envious motives with Roderigo, a man lusting over Othello’s wife.
We find both racial attitudes towards Othello even though he is a man that works hard to get what he wants. The racial attitude is only because of the era that they live in, the Elizabethan era in
According to Kader Mutlu in “Racism in Othello,” Othello “has a harmony of racism. This harmony is provided by the tireless verbalization of ‘otherness’ in the words of ‘Moor’ and ‘Black’” (Mutlu 136). In addition to
He questioned “Why did I marry?” and then replies “Haply, for I am black”. This self-question and reply infront of Iago, his most trusted man, peels of his exterior self and gives the audience the insight of Othello’s honest inner thought. This self-doubt, significantly points out to the audience and confirms that Othello has accepted the fact that he is different, and conforms to the stereotype placed on him and admits that his difference causes it. Shakespeare used this scene, to voice out the doubts and his surrender to the battle of being accepted for who he is in the Venetician Society.
Endorsement of Racism in Othello In Shakespeare’s Othello, the remarks made by pivotal characters throughout the play suggests that Othello is of inferior color and culture. Through Othello’s own words and his counterparts’ descriptions, the play endorses racism and gives a clear perspective on how a highly regarded individual is still looked down upon in society.