Since the 1900s, Shakespeare’s plays have been taught and read in high school literature classes. In his plays you can see a trend of tragedy, romance, and racism, which are almost always analyzed within the classrooms. Some argue Shakespeare should no longer be taught in classrooms due to how eurocentric is writing is, other argue his use of language is rich and just about all of his themes still resonate today. All of his plays consist of the same type of cast, white males and females and if there is a person who is anything other then white and catholic, they would be the “antagonist” throughout the book. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, Othello is happily married and a greatly respected general in the Venetian army, even though he is his …show more content…
The society he lived in at the time was all united, everyone was Christian, white, and mainly shared the same values. Anyone that was different was automatically inferior. Shakespeare never included persons of other color or religion in positive lights in his plays. It’s clear he viewed black skin (people) as sinful, evil, and associates with the devil. According to author Cram from the Gale database, Shakespeare did have a negative view on black people that was shared with his own society at the time. Cram wrote “In his plays there we no Jews, no Hispanics, no Muslims or Africans either. And if there was they would only connote to negativity. The allegation of Shakespeare being a racist is further confirmed after reading Othello. An English Drama journal that publishes scholarly research, including essays, studies, and reviews all by William Shakespeare analyzed Shakespeare’s writing on Othello “While a desire to exorcise 'collective psychological demons'" might well be at work in the texts Daileader studies” that Shakespeare deposits that Anglo-American culture's obsession with sex between black men and white women. It old realities of imperialism and slave culture, it has less to do with race per se than with an imaginative appropriation of black men to control women, both black and white”. Another source with an unknown artist from Gale touches on …show more content…
When Iago runs to tell he discovered about Brabantio about Desdemona he says with disgust “Brabantio I am one sir, that cares to tell you your daughter and the moor are now making a beast” (1.1.199). A beast is referring to a mixed race baby, which is very insulting to say to black people because historically black people are referred to as animals. This signifies how it was wrong to mix races, especially between a white and black person. Moreover Iago earlier said “even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white eve/ Arise, arise! Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, or else the devil will make a grandsire of you” (1.1.97-101). Iago continues his revenge over Othello by manipulating Roderigo, who wanted to marry Desdemona himself. Roderigo displays his jealousy and envy by calling Othello racial slurs: “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe/If he can carry ‘t thus!” (I.i.65-66). Both Iago and Roderigo plan to bring Othello and Desdemona’s marriage by telling Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, that Othello kidnapped her. Iago says to Brabantio, “An old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe” (I.i.87-88). Iago and Roderigo allude to Othello and Desdemona’s future child will be half-breeds who will become the disfrace of society and bring a great deal of shame upon Brabantio. They persist, “You’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary/Horse; you’ll have your nephews neigh to you; you’ll
Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of
The power dynamic is highlighted by the fact that, despite the circulating rumors about Hero's alleged affair are coming from an untrustworthy source, they are nonetheless considered true due to the speaker’s gender. Misunderstanding leads to separation and public humiliation rather than the intended union of marriage, sustaining a divided urge stemming from the misguided following of male loyalty. These themes remain relevant today, as modern debates about feminism and gender equality continue to gain prominence, especially with the rise of social media and infamous creators promoting misogynistic beliefs to impressionable young men. Even in the modern era we still see new laws and policies that seek to oppress women and minority groups coming from overpowering male voices. In this context, Shakespeare portrays the effect of male insecurities and how that can lead to violence and hate speech specifically toward people they see as less than.
A Modern View of Feminist Criticism William Shakespeare 's "Othello” can be analyzed from a feminist perspective. This criticism focuses on relationships between genders, like the patterns of thoughts, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and power in relations between and within sexes. A feminist examination of the play enables us to judge the distinctive social esteems and status of women and proposes that the male-female power connections that become an integral factor in scenes of Othello impact its comprehension. I believe that the critical lens that provides modern society with the most compelling view of literature is Feminist Criticism because it analyzes distrust and disloyalty among relationships, women being treated as possessions
Iago tells Roderigo to pack up all his things and go to Cyprus because Desdemona will son lose feelings for Othello and she will go to Roderigo, he says “i could never better stead thee than now. Put money in thy purse. Follow thou the wars, defeat thy favor with an usurped beard. I say, put money in thy purse.
The correlation between relationships and experiences are co-existing functions that assist in operating societies. Since ancient times, social classes have existed within all communities and cultures; a sense of belonging is often determined by one’s position in the social hierarchy. Shakespeare’s Othello highlights determinants including race and gender that affect one’s standing in the hierarchy. An excerpt of Act 1, Scene 1 (Lines 110-112) explores this concept when Iago exclaims “Because we come to do you service and you think we are ruffians, you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse, you’ll have your nephews neigh to you.” Shakespeare cleverly incorporates animalistic imagery to showcase the role that race has in a society
A wise philosopher once stated, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man — the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason” (Schwartsz). It is no revelation that racism often manifests hatred towards minorities. This concept has been widespread throughout the world for centuries. Racism has prevailed through several works of literature including “Othello” by William Shakespeare. In this particular play, the character, Othello, is allegedly a black man who experiences several accounts of racism from other characters, which eventually leads to his downfall.
Roderigo, is a young and rich man. He becomes furious when he finds out that Othello marries Desdemona. Once again we see how emotions take over the characters and commit foolish decisions. Roderigo is so in love with Desdemona that he gives all of his money to Iago because Iago promised him that he would help him win Desdemona’s love. Iago once again betrays another one of his victim.
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.
Using the character of Roderigo, Iago manipulates him into doing everything he wants. At the beginning of the tragedy, Iago and Roderigo are talking poorly about Othello. Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona, is upset due to hearing that Othello and Desdemona have recently married. Iago, who just found out Othello did not give him
The exploitation of Othello’s race leads to the manipulation Roderigo, Cassio, Brabantio, the Venetians, and the audience to see Othello as inferior although, the only difference between him and the Venetians is his lineage. In the first act of the play, Iago and Roderigo go to Brabantio’s house to rile him out of his sleep. This is seen as the first step of defaming Othello’s character. The two
For Shakespeare’s plays to contain enduring ideas, it must illustrate concepts that still remain relevant today, in modern society. Shakespeare utilises his tragic play Othello, to make an important social commentary on the common gender stereotypes. During early modern England, Shakespeare had to comply to the strict social expectations where women were viewed as tools, platonic and mellow, and where men were displayed as masculine, powerful, tempered, violent and manipulative. As distinct as this context is to the 21st century, the play exposes how women were victimised by the men who hold primary power in the community in which they compelled women to conform to the ideal world of a perfect wife or confront an appalling destiny for challenging the system. Moreover, Shakespeare utilises the main antagonist, Iago, to portray how men are desperate to achieve what they want and to indirectly fulfil the stereotype of masculinity and power through manipulation.
When Brabantio recognizes Roderigo, he reminds him that he has prohibited Roderigo from pursuing Desdemona as a suitor. Moments later, Brabantio first reveals his racial prejudice when he tells Roderigo, ' 'O would you had had her! / Some one way, some another" (I.i.175-76). He would prefer anyone to Othello as his daughter 's husband, even the unsavory Roderigo. Brabantio cannot believe Desdemona has freely selected Othello.
In the opening act of the play, Iago and Roderigo wake Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, from his sleep, informing him of his daughter’s marriage to the Moor, Othello. Knowing of Brabantio’s prejudice towards Othello because of his race, Iago says, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” (1.1.94-95). Iago feeds anger into Brabantio’s mind using
Throughout the play, Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio display covert or overt racism towards Othello. At the beginning of the play, Iago, Othello’s ensign, and Roderigo, a wealthy man in love with Desdemona, discuss Othello’s marriage and their hatred for Othello. During their dialogue, the first references made of Othello are “his Moorship” and “the Moor,” which is how most of the characters refer to Othello (Shakespeare 687). Rather than referring to Othello nominally, they refer to him by his ethnicity, showing their inherent racism.
Also, each relationship in Othello provokes jealousy in one partner. In a typical Venetian society, a woman was considered to be a man’s property, so if a woman was disobedient, it negatively impacted the man, while also questioning his masculinity. The hyperbolic soliloquy as Othello expressed he would “rather be a toad” than “keep a corner of the thing I love” is Othello’s justification of killing his wife, as her untrustworthiness challenged his masculinity and reputation. Referring to Desdemona as a “thing” emphasises the idea of women being property. Iago’s jealousy of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is emphasised through the degrading comment of Othello, “an old black ram” “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe”.