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. These two villains slander Othello to the point of eradicating any pity the audience could have developed towards Othello. The Venetians also have a hidden fascination for Othello and his foreign qualities but, they mask feelings with negative slurs. The audience also affected by the portrayal of Othello, and are persuaded to feel pity for him because of his circumstances; being betrayed by his ensign and being looked down upon because of his Moorish descent. Shakespeare also uses racism as a creative apparatus to generate a metaphor between Desdemona and Othello. 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
His sinister and cunning acts are a perpetration of his character and can be demonstrated thus; when confessing to Roderigo his plans to betray Othello he declares ‘I follow him to serve any term upon him... I am not what I am’ (Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 42-46). Furthermore, Iago elucidates his strategy to the audience which is typified through the quotes ‘After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear’, (Act 1, Scene 3, Line 389) and ‘The Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so’ (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 393-394). These lines are noticeably omitted form the film due to the time constraints, and their exclusion has been perceived as the catalyst for the contrasted themes of the play. Other notable attempts by Iago to manipulate his peers include; his advice to Cassio to put his case to Desdemona regarding his disposition as Lieutenant, which can be seen in the lines ‘...turn her virtue into pitch, and out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all’ (Act 2, Scene 3, Lines 350-353).
First consider Othello’s inspiration, Cinthio’s “A Moorish Captain.” Though Shakespeare’s take on Cinthio’s story is not in itself a critique, what he added or subtracted from the material can suggest his intent. Some changes suggest racist motivations while others are neutral. Among the The most significant changes is Iago’s motive and Desdemona’s own doubts and those surrounding her (Coleridge). In Cinthio’s story, Iago’s motivation is his lust for Desdemona.
Since Othello utters that since he is with Desdemona, her reputation “is now begrimed and black,” it presents how a black man can tarnish the “fresh” identity of a white women. Since Othello is accepted and praised as a war hero, but not accepted as lover, love becomes a barrier that leads to a tragedy. Societal expectations push people to the point where they try to surpass society’s norms. Though, when they reach this tipping point, tragedy will
Internalised societal prejudices allow their flaws to overpower their love. Othello’s experience with racial prejudice and Desdamona’s with misogyny make their relationship susceptible to distrust and selfishness. Othello’s view of Desdemona as an accomplishment is demonstrated in Act 5 scene 2, when Emilia exclaims “O, the more angel she, And you the blacker devil!” Emelia’s description of Desdemona and Othello is an oxymoron that forces them to oppose each other, where Othello is viewed as a demonic creature, and Desdemona as angelic.
When Roderigo and Iago visit his home to warn the senator of Othello’s marriage, Bribantio only reacts because Iago vividly describes Othello as a “Barbary horse” (Shakespeare, 1.1.125) covering his “white ewe” (Shakespeare, 1.1.98). Iago’s emphasis of Othello’s blackness indicates how Bribantio despises blacks, not foreigners: were the senator’s hatred of all foreigners as strong, then Iago would have made a heavier emphasis on Othello’s birthplace rather than his skin color. Bribantio proceeds to gather an angry mob and confronts Othello, expressing his dislike of blacks by referring to Othello as a “thing” with a “sooty bosom” (Shakespeare, 1.2.89-90). In doing so, Bribantio not only dehumanizes blacks, but also implies that they are as dirty and undesirable as
Thus, “Alabaster” can be assumed as his true attitude towards her. Along with the doomed relationship between the main characters, another main theme in the play is the unsuspected weakness and deficiency in Othello’s character due to his racial character. This is because of the fact that he is a Moor. He is presented as half-civilized and not well adapted for life in cultured Venice.
Othello with focusing on trying to please other characters but his cultural beliefs and understanding prevented him from being successful and lead him down a destructive path. Othello tried his best to make everyone like him but with him trying to marry the Senator 's daughter which nobody liked. With him being new and already having a bad first impression people aren 't going to want him here for long. This being Cultural criticism he 's just trying to please everyone as much as he can. People start to call him racist names and making fun of his
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 and its effect on an individual’s social standing. Iago uses his relationships to manipulate those around him and convey his dehumanisation of Othello, expressing his true perception of him and exhibiting his hatred towards him, as it shows what lengths he will go to in order to take revenge on Othello. His belief that he is entitled to Othello’s promotion angers him when he finds out that he is not the promoted one; rather it is Cassio, as he reflects on the military experience he has in comparison. Though Othello is a general that serves Venice, Iago disrespects him and refers him to derogatory terms such as “The Moor” because of his race.
However, this relationship clashes by a lot of challenges because of racial prejudice and prepare Othello`s to accept this racist view. In fact, these perceptions of racism destroy him psychologically. This play was written in 1604 by Shakespeare. So was the fact that in that period in Venice, which is a center of European civilization in that period. In fact , this was a civilization is not equal among the people.
In the first act of the play, after Roderigo finds out that Othello married Desdemona, he carries out a dialogue with Iago about Iago’s discontentment with Othello, Roderigo comments, “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe,/ If he can carry it thus!” With this, Roderigo shows his feelings of jealousy for Othello, basically stating that luck was on Othello’s side in getting Desdemona, but it will probably not last very long. In addition to this, Roderigo gives Brabantio large sums of money to Iago in order to try to get Desdemona from Othello. In addition to Roderigo’s jealousy, Iago’s jealousy of Cassio cascades to the point where he begins to manipulate Othello to want to kill Cassio, which ends up leading to the death of Desdemona. In the beginning, Iago details how he was passed up for a promotion by Othello.
Othello challenges consistent prejudice from different characters, particularly when he weds Desdemona, a favored
In the play Othello, William Shakespeare creates an elaborate tragedy with various in depth characters, enhancing the story with powerful characterization. Iago, the main antagonist of Othello, exemplifies Shakespeare’s use of characterization to create in depth and complex characters. Using his manipulative nature, intellectual mind, egotistical attitude, and dishonesty, Iago controls the other characters in order to achieve his goal, leading Othello to succumb to an overwhelming jealousy causing his downfall. In order for Iago to gain control of the characters in the play, he manipulates Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, and more to believe false information and turn on one another.
In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, an African general named Othello is tricked by one of his officers, Iago, into thinking that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with his lieutenant, Cassio. Iago continues to insert jealous and distrustful thoughts about Desdemona in Othello’s mind, ultimately leading to Othello murdering his wife. Because blacks during Shakespeare’s time were viewed as being quick to anger and jealous, many people believe that Othello’s somewhat sudden acceptance of Iago’s claims and jealousy towards Desdemona and Cassio was due to Shakespeare making Othello a stereotypical black man. Michael Hays, in his article Othello is Not About Race, argues that race does not play any major role in Othello’s demise; instead, he argues that the courtly love system made Othello suspicious of Cassio.
Shakespeare continues to compare his two characters to present two categories of people those that are hungry for love and those that thirst for power; nevertheless, Shakespeare reminds us that one group of people will always be torn down by the other. When Othello regales the readers with a tale of his childhood he recounts “Of moving ancients by flood and field/ of hairbreadth scapes i’th ‘imminent deadly breach,/ of being taken by the insolent foe/ and sold to slavery, of my redemption thence.” (1.3.137-140) By being a black Muslim, Othello has lived an arduous life filled with death and brutality. One simple act of kindness would stand out against everything Othello has ever known, so when Iago pretends to be Othello’s friend he is drawn to him and seeks affection.
The Venetian society was by far predominantly white and for Othello, he was exposed to the pressures of being an extreme minority in a time where current civil issues were not much of a discussion. Othello would have inherently faced opposition in an overwhelming fashion and in turn would have the negative self-perception and depressive symptoms that Sanchez and Lambert discovered. In the beginning of the play Othello seemed very confident in himself as all men should be. However, as the play manifested itself, Iago was able to produce holes in the veil of confidence that Othello produced and in turn reveal his instability and insecurities as seen with Desdemona, his early wife. “For nought I did in hate, but all in honor” (5.2.295) said Othello in response to killing his wife Desdemona.