othello racism thesis statement essay

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A+ Student Essay

Discuss the role that race plays in Shakespeare’s portrayal of Othello. How do the other characters react to Othello’s skin color or to the fact that he is a Moor? How does Othello see himself?

Othello incurs resentment for many reasons. He is from a land that Venetians consider exotic and mysterious, he has had unique adventures, and his military accomplishments far exceed those of the men around him. The most visible indicator of his outsider status is also the one that provokes the most poisonous responses: Othello is a Black man in white Venice. Whenever characters such as Iago feel jealousy, fear, or simple hatred toward Othello, they give vent to their feelings by using racist slurs. For much of the play, Othello resists, ignores, or seems indifferent to the racism that dogs him. But eventually he internalizes Iago’s and others’ idea that his Blackness makes him barbarous. This belief, as much as his conviction of Desdemona’s guilt, allows Othello to kill his wife. When he turns the race weapon against himself, he dooms both himself and Desdemona.

Among Iago’s many repulsive qualities, his eagerness to hurl racial epithets is perhaps the most shocking. In an attempt to enlist Brabanzio in his anti-Othello cause, Iago refers to the general as “the Moor,” “the devil,” and “a Barbary horse.” These terms reduce Othello to a crude stereotype, turning him into a villain and an animal. When Iago tells Brabanzio that “an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe,” he demeans a passionate and loving relationship between two intelligent adults by characterizing Othello as a mindless rutting animal who has soiled the pure Desdemona with his lust. Iago hopes to disgust Brabanzio with this animal imagery and with the contrast between Othello’s Blackness and Desdemona’s whiteness.

Like Iago, other Venetians resort to racial slurs to deal with their own feelings of inferiority or powerlessness. Roderigo, on the defensive and trying to present himself and Iago as a unified front, casually refers to Othello as “the thick-lips.” This epithet is both an attempt to undermine Othello’s military achievements with a cheap stereotype as well as a way to pit Roderigo and Iago’s physical similarity against Othello’s unfamiliar appearance. Brabanzio, outraged at his daughter’s elopement, expresses disbelief that Desdemona could shun the curly-haired young men of Venice in favor of Othello’s “sooty bosom.” Brabanzio channels his own insecurity about his daughter’s loyalty to him by expressing sneering disgust about Othello’s race, implying that Othello’s Blackness is a dirty coating that threatens to soil Desdemona’s purity.

While Othello is barraged by racism, he manages to resist its pull for some time. But in Act IV, he crumbles. Othello discusses his race throughout the play—usually in response to something a white Venetian says—but here he makes his first negative reference to it, suggesting that perhaps his Blackness is to blame for his lack of conversational ability. It is a quiet moment, but a hugely significant one. It marks a turning point: Othello has fallen victim to the same racist logic (or illogic) that rules the thinking of people such as Iago and Roderigo. Like those men, Othello wants to place the blame for his feelings of inferiority somewhere and winds up laying that blame not where it belongs (in this case, at Iago’s feet), but on his own skin. The floodgates have opened, and now Othello is in danger of believing all of Iago’s racist nonsense. In the next lines, Othello compares himself to a toad living in a dungeon, as if he has begun to suspect that his Blackness makes him a loathsome animal, somehow less than human.

Only when Othello buys into the absurd idea that his race inherently makes him dangerous does he begin to creep toward the possibility of doing violence to his wife. When he sees himself through society’s eyes, as a barbaric interloper, Othello begins to despise himself, and it is that self-hatred that allows him to kill what he loves most.

Read more about the weaponization of race in Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give .

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Racism in Othello, Essay Example

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Given the age and the setting in which Shakespeare’s Othello was written and first performed, racism as a component in the drama is surprisingly less evident than a modern audience would likely expect, at least not in the way racism is thought of today. It is ordinary to think of racist views as far more a product of older and less enlightened days, and Othello’s approximate date of creation as the year 1603 would certainly make an audience of today anticipate powerful racism within it as a matter of course. Moreover, England as a nation was adamantly insular and xenophobic, particularly as the defeat of the Spanish Armada of 1588 was still resounding in living memory. Shakespeare was himself notorious for writing to suit the public taste of his day, as he also tailored plays to please the power bases at court.

The basic reason, however, that racism as such is not a predominant factor in Othello is easily explained by the man who wrote it. Shakespeare’s genius would never have been content to present a mere racial motivation as a pivotal plot device, or even as a defining character trait; his art was too expansive and he knew the complexity of human beings too well to allow that. There is racism in Othello , to be sure. So, too, is racism revealed as an element in Iago’s intense hatred of the Moor. Shakespeare’s vision and presentation, however, is too enormous to rely upon so primitive and ultimately uninteresting a foundation. In exploring Othello’s tragedy and Iago’s evil, Shakespeare goes further to explore how racism itself is never a single, blind trait. In Othello , as in life, various factors collide within men, and “racism” is merely one manifestation of the wider, darker path these may take. “Only a very intelligent and highly imaginative writer could articulate the fusion of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny… in such psychically plausible terms” (Dollimore 132).

The England of Shakespeare’s day was, as stated, fiercely insular. Insularity typically breeds xenophobia, which may be seen as the structure in which racism resides. The ancient feud with France, for example, fueled within the British character a proud disdain of all French people, which led to a widespread and violently racist view of the French as a weak and immoral people. Then, antisemitism was not a hypothetical issue. Rodrigo Lopez, Queen Elizabeth’s personal physician for years, was a Portuguese Jew. When the Earl of Essex, desperate to gain the Queen’s favor in the 1590’s, had Lopez brought to trial on scant evidence of treason, the interrogation centered on the doctor’s Jewishness. As is universally acknowledged, this fueled The Merchant of Venice , simply because “…Lopez was the best-known of the few Jews in England when the play was written” (Afran, Garber 3).

This is essential to note in regarding Othello as a victim of racism, because Shylock and Othello are the greatest representations of racism victims in Shakespeare, if not in all of Western literature, and how Shakespeare dealt with Shylock goes far in explaining why he presents the racism in Othello as he does. Shylock is not rendered as an especially likeable character; Shakespeare knew his audiences would never accept a fully dimensional Jew, and Shylock is presented in a very stereotypical manner. He is relentlessly grasping and he lives to make deals, which is how Jews were generally perceived at the time. Shakespeare, however, is incapable of drawing characters in single dimensions of any kind, and the humanity and pain of Shylock as a man is known to all the world.

With Othello , which is a later, and more subtle, play, Shakespeare does not focus on racism as such. It should be understood, in light of the comparison with Shylock, that the English had a different view of Moors, or people of African descent: “…The Elizabethan social situation was not indisolvably ( sic ) categorical, black versus white. Some Elizabethans knew about and appreciated Moorish culture, which of course relates to Othello’s character” (Kolin 15). To the greater and more cosmopolitan Elizabethan audience, Moors were nearly mythically powerful warriors, and aristocratic in their own traditions. This admiration itself has within it elements of racism, of course, yet it was by no means a simple dismissal of a Black man as a lower order of human. Consequently, Shakespeare was free to more carefully explore the many elements that go into what is often simply assessed as “racism”.

Many critics of Othello disagree, and they have the relentless hatred of Iago on their side. “There’s no denying that racism was the motivation, the means, and the end in Iago’s systematic destruction of Othello” (Robinson 94). This viewpoint overlooks the play’s greatness, as well as the brilliance of Iago’s mystery. To begin with, Iago only occasionally hints at a dislike of Othello because of his race, as he even admits that his hatred is too large to be attributed to one cause. It is simply there, within him, and the intrinsic evil of Iago is a far more fascinating character presentation than that of an angered and envious racist. To say that Iago’s racist disgust at Othello is the driving force of the play is to remove the heart of the play, and to insultingly over-simplify Shakespeare’s art.

Other critics come closer to the mark when they investigate the sexual component in the mixed race relations of Othello and Desdemona, if only because a dread of a supposed greater African potency underlies a good deal of white racism, then and now. To the racist, few things are as horrific as the notion of a Black man taking a white woman, and Shakespeare brings this up again and again, in Othello. If there is racism here, it is sexually-based.

It is not simple, either, for this sort of deep look inside racism reveals the even greater fear: the race will be polluted, and forever. In a discussion of the animalistic references to sex in the play, many of which involve different species having sex, Daileader comments: “These copulative images highlight the idea that inter-racial sex creates a new creature – and not only in the future progeny, but at the very moment of sexual union” (23). This is the overpowering fear at the heart of racism, that something unnatural will result when races combine. It is never directly referred to in Othello , but Shakespeare effectively makes the audience confront the irrational terror possibly in their own hearts.

Another aspect of racism itself, often overlooked and employed within Othello as further evidence of the author’s genius in capturing fully-dimensional characters, is how Othello is himself an active participant in the very racism he must deal with. This is true of any culture; as racist ideas are infused within it, the object of them must in some way share in the bias. Othello makes it very clear, and early in the play, that he is indeed the great hero everyone in Venice sees him as. He is very certain of his accomplishments, as he is of what the city owes him in respect. Any other hero would, then, assume Desdemona’s devotion to be a natural thing. He is a great man and he completely deserves the love of a fair maiden.

Othello, however, knows he is of a different race. “A tawny Moor, a black African, Othello is also the ‘turbanned Turk’ of his own description” (Bloom 126). Consequently, he always marvels at Desdemona’s love, and this is his own racism at play. No hero in Shakespeare is ever this amazed at being loved: “I cannot speak enough of this content/ It stops me here/ It is too much joy” (Shakespeare 22). This wonder is a form of disbelief, and it is this disbelief, born from Othello’s awareness that a Moor warrior does not as a rule have an adoring, white bride, that subtly conveys the sense that Othello views himself as different, if not inferior.

This ties into the sexual component of the drama, for Othello’s uniqueness would not place him in jeopardy if he were not married to a white woman. He has, in a sense, gone too far, and he is aware of it. Iago is as well, because Iago knows he can exploit Othello’s racial insecurities through exactly this avenue. When all is said and done, this mighty warrior is a Black man wed to a woman of a different race, and everyone in the drama, Othello included, knows that this makes him vulnerable.

The most comprehensive criticisms of Othello concede that it is a mistake to view the racism within the play as racism is understood today. In fact, the study of Othello offers vast opportunities for a better understanding of what is a truly complex issue, and it is in any culture’s best interests to seek to explore all the shades of motive within it, from the xenophobic to the sexual. Studying racism is very much a matter of studying humanity, because racism, for good or ill, has always been a reflection of human interaction.

Finally, it must be conceded that Shakespeare’s genius in presenting racism in Othello was to reveal how subtle and universal a force it can be. In a very real sense, everyone is a victim of racism because both object and racist alike live within the same world that allows the racism. This is one of the massive undercurrents in Othello, and it greatly overshadows any concept of a biased Iago as the critical instrument of the drama: “…To say that Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio seek only love and honor in the play is to gloss over the ways in which they are themselves ‘flawed’ by the racial structures: we need to guard against viewing any of them as simple oppositions to a racist Iago” (McDonald 814). Because of the scope and genius of Shakespeare, a brilliant drama revealing the many shades of motive and feeling within racism is always available to be more deeply explored.

Works Cited

Afran, B., and Garber, R. A. Jews on Trial . Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2005. Print.

Bloom, H. William Shakespeare’s Othello . New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2010. Print.

Daileader, C. R. Racism, Misogyny, and the Othello Myth: Inter-Racial Couples from Shakespeare to Spike Lee. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print.

Dollimore, J. Sex, Literature, and Censorship . Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc., 2001. Print.

Kolin, P.C. Othello: New Critical Essays. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002. Print.

McDonald, R. Shakespeare: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory, 1945 – 2000 . Malden, MA: Blackwood Publishing Ltd., 2004. Print.

Robinson, E. L. Shakespeare Attacks Bigotry: A Close Reading of Six Plays . Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2009. Print.

Shakespeare, W. Othello: A Tragedy in Five Acts . New York, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1954. Print.

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The Theme of Race and Racism in Othello, a Play by William Shakespeare

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Throughout the sixteenth century, racial prejudice was prevalent in European Society beginning with slave trade. This issue is reflected in William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello, which deals with race and racism during this timeframe. It portrays the attitude of European society towards those that were different in color and race. Shakespeare’s play took place in Venice, Italy, and at the time, Venice was a predominantly white city. Given so, Othello was judged more severely than others due to his identity and was looked upon as an outsider.

Shakespeare’s play encompasses around three main characters in which all play a role in racial prejudice. Othello, the protagonist, is portrayed as a black Moor man in the Venetian army who constantly faces racial insults due to the color of his skin. Othello is married to a white woman, Desdemona, daughter of senator Brabantio, who rejects the idea of his daughter being married to a black man. The villain, lago, tries desperately to separate her and Othello in spite of his jealousy by accusing Desdemona of being unfaithful throughout the play.

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Through the actions of the characters, we can see how Venetian society frowned upon people of color just like they did with Othello, the Moor”. In this analytical paper, I will be analyzing how the play, Othello reflects the racial prejudices that were occurring in Venetian society during the sixteenth century through the use of textual evidence and the correlation it has with the city’s’ perspectives.

People of color around the world have suffered for years due to discriminatory factors and further began to grow during the sixteenth century in Venice.

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Shakespeare was aware of these racial issues and took on the character of Othello to further show the way they were treated and looked upon. Othello was a part of the Venetian army and was perceived to be a jealous individual, which mirrors the aspects of a perceived Moor during Elizabethan times. Moors took on the courage to fight in wars but were known to be extremely jealous by Elizabethans. Given so, Iago uses Othello’s racial insecurities and utters racial commentary to disprove Othello. From the very first act of the play, Iago begins to call Othello by racial insults degrading him as if he were not human. He also makes it clear to readers that he hates Othello by saying, “…I hate the Moor”(Shakespeare, 1986, 1.3.313-314).

Iago at first pretends to be on his side by telling him to not have jealousy as it is the green-eyed monster”(Shakespeare, 1986, 3.3.171) because it will lead to heartbreak but then later convinces him into thinking his wife is cheating on him. Othello initially states that he would not “make a life of jealousy”(Shakespeare, 1986, 3.3.182) but ends up starting to feel jealous which causes him to ask for proof. It is with all intention that Iago is trying to ruin Othello. Furthermore, Moors during Elizabethan times were considered as animals given their reputation as savages. This is seen numerous times throughout the play as Iago and Brabantio hardly call Othello by his name. They degrade him with racial commentaries such as “Barbary horse”, (Shakespeare, 1986, 1.1.116) “old black ram”(Shakespeare, 1986, 1.1.91) and “thick lips” (Shakespeare, 1986, 1.1.68).

These racist slurs ostracize Othello from society and the depiction of “thick lips” further describes his different physical appearance imposing that he is an outsider of the community. Not only were they seen as animals, Elizabethans also correlated Moors with witchcraft, which can also be seen when Brabantio accuses Othello of using magic. Brabantio states, “Judge me the world, if ’tis not gross in sense/ That thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals/ That weaken motion”(Shakespeare, 1986, 1.2.75-78). He believes Othello has manipulated his daughter into marrying him, which further shows the theme of racism because Brabantio only believes that Desdemona has to be under a spell to get her to marry a black man.

Othello’s skin color leads to him being undermined and contributes to his lack of confidence. His race and his position of power cause Othello to destroy himself because of his fear and doubt with whites like Iago. Another racial issue of Venetian society that can be exemplified through Shakespeare’s Othello is the disproval of interracial marriage. England was under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I who declared that there were too many blacks in the country and ordered that they be deported. They were considered to be a danger to social hierarchy and the alliance between a black man and a white woman was not acceptable. This is reflected through Othello when he marries Desdemona.

Parents were the ones who arranged marriages during this era and individuals had little choice as to who they would marry. Before marriage, Othello was seen as an honorary white due to his military stature. Brabantio always felt kindhearted towards Othello and would even invite him over to talk about his life story. Othello recalls, “Her father loved me,/oft invited me/still questioned me the story of my life”(Shakespeare, 1986, 1.3.130-131). However once married, Brabantio’s attitude began to change towards him and Othello was then considered a black man. He did not welcome the marriage despite Othello’s high stature in the military and adopts a discriminatory attitude.

Brabantio states, Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!/For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,/If she in chains of magic were not bound,/Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy/So opposite to marriage that she shunned/The wealthy curlèd darlings of our nation,/Would ever have, t’incur a general mock,/Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom/Of such a thing as thou to fear, not to delight. (Shakespeare, 1986, 1.2.66-74) He believes his daughter was manipulated into marrying a black man because she was opposed to marriage initially. Conversely, later in the play Desdemona clarifies that she indeed married him for love and was not manipulated into doing so. The independence Desdemona showed from her father was unusual in Elizabethan times and would not be tolerable.

If Othello were white then Brabantio would never be against the union of Othello and Desdemona. This further shows us that blacks were discriminated and interracial marriage was frowned upon in Venetian society in the sixteenth century. As a final point, all of the racial commentaries and insecurities Othello faced led him into believing he was an outsider, which ultimately led him to his own death. There are countless times Iago mistreats Othello. As stated before, Othello is called names pertaining to animals such as “black ram” and is manipulated into believing his own wife is cheating on him. Othello mentions, “For since these arms of mine had seven years pith/ Till now some nine moons wasted/ …in the tented field/ … little of this great world can I speak”(Shakespeare, 1986, 1.3.86-89). Through this we can see that Othello’s life mainly encompasses around battle and he has yet to have a fulfilled life. He also adds in that he was “sold to slavery, of [his] redemption thence/And portance in [his] traveler’s history”(Shakespeare, 1986, 1.3.141-142).

These incongruities set Othello apart from the community thus making him an outsider compared to the higher social hierarchy at the time This realization destroys Othello causing him to kill himself. When he does kill himself he says he is killing the “turbaned Turk” who “beat a Venetian and traduced the state” (Shakespeare, 1986, 5.2.349-350). Here he finalizes his views on himself such that he calls himself a “Turk”. He has fundamentally become someone else because of Iago’s manipulative power. He is killing himself as the “Turk” or the “Moor” as an act of Venetian devotion. Due to racism, Othello becomes more vulnerable to manipulation and is easily tricked by Iago. Racism assures that Othello will remain isolated from his peers while Iago plays with his mind by separating him from his white peers and making him the outsider.

Shakespeare’s play could not have been a tragedy without the negative pressures from racism. To restate, Queen Elizabeth I had ordered blacks to be deported from the country during the sixteenth century, which caused them to feel unwanted and mistreated. Racism was key during this era and blacks never had the opportunity to fit into society just like Othello. They were deprived from many opportunities and had to face the realities of living in a black body. As has been mentioned, racism was a crucial issue occurring during Elizabethan times in the sixteenth century during the publication of William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello

. Shakespeare was mindful of such issues and personified them in his character of Othello. By doing so, readers are able to see how Venetian society in the sixteenth century discriminated against African Americans in such ways of perceiving blacks as animals and savages just like how Othello was perceived, disproving interracial marriage, and ultimately causing blacks to feel like outsiders. Also through the characters’ actions in Shakespeare’s play, we can further interpret how African Americans were mistreated and caused to feel like outsiders.

Reference List

Shakespeare, W. (1986). The Tragedy of Othello The Moore of Venice With New and Updated Critical Essays and a Revised Bibliography (A. B. Kernan & S. Barnet, Eds.). New York, NY: Signet Classics. (Originally published in 1963).

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Racism in Shakespeare’s Othello

“Racism in Shakespeare’s Othello”

In this paper I am going to analyze some episodes involving a prejudicial, racist attitude and try to discuss whether Shakespeare was a racist or not. Even though the play is full of offensive definitions of black Othello, we cannot define it as a racist work since Shakespeare’s black hero is inwardly pure and innocent. He becomes the victim of a seemingly honest white character, Iago in the play. In the play Othello is always under attack due to his ethnic origins.

On the night he runs away Desdemona, Iago and Roderigo alert Desdemona’s father Brabantio yelling: “Zounds, sir you are robbed/For shame put on your gown/Your heart is burst; you have lost half of your soul. ” (I. i. 83-5) Martin Orkin states in his article “Othello and the ‘plain face’ of racism” that: As such scholars as Eldred Jones and Winthrop Jordan have taught us, there is ample evidence of the existence of color prejudice in the England of Shakespeare’s day.

This prejudice may be accounted for in a number of ways, including xenophobia-as one proverb first recorded in the early seventeenth century has it, “Three Moors to a Portuguese; three Portuguese to an Englishman”(167) We see that in the play the colors “black” and “white” are widely used in order to reveal the differences of the two races more. Iago portrays the sexual relationship between Othello and Desdemona by likening Othello to and old ram and Desdemona to a white ewe as if a wild, big animal is attacking to a pure white ewe.

The lines below are a good example of the prejudices based on color. Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is topping your white ewe. Arise, arise; Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you: Arise, I say. (I. i. 86-9) Shakespeare manages to give the general perception of the black in England, at his times. “As long as Brabantio looks at Othello as a professional soldier, he has nothing but admiration and affection for him.

But forced to consider him in a more intimate relationship, he is trapped in the cultural stereotype of the black man as ugly, cruel, lustful and dangerous, near cousin to the devil himself. ”( Salgado 87) The way that Brabantio accused Othello for stealing his daughter’s heart reveals the attitudes of English men towards the Moor. Othello who just runs away with his beloved is accused of robbery. The phrase “old black ram” and the word “devil” make reference in an offensive manner to dark skin color.

Barbara Everett states in her article “‘Spanish’ Othello: the making of Shakespeare’s Moor” that: As Roderigo and Iago talk, it is not simply a ‘black man’ they are setting among ‘the whites’. ‘Moor’ means to Iago and Roderigo a civilized barbarian of fierce if repressed lusts- but to dramatist himself it surely means something very different, a meaning entailed by his choice of names.

The moor is a member of a more interesting and more permanent people: the race of displaced and dispossesed, of Time’s always vulnerable wanderers. (71) Iago’s hatred for Othello and Brabantio’s disapproval of Othello as a son-in-law seems to be caused by his skin color. According to Iago an outsider, a Moor does not deserve to hold a position on the top of the military while there are civilized whites like him. And according to Brabantio a white Venetian who is high born deserves his noble daughter. He can not match really them.

Even though Othello has turned into Christianity and fight against Muslim Ottomans for the sake of Christian country he can not be accepted totally “The Elizabethan awareness of foreigners was closely conditioned by a traditional religious outlook on the world; and that much ‘new knowledge’ lay follow or was treated in a merely superficial manner because of this. ” (Hunter 50) Even though Othello fulfills his duty as a general and he is appreciated by the authorities in Venice and earns a respected position, he is not embraced by the society enough to marry a Venetian girl.

In his article “Othello’s Alienation” Edward Berry says that Shakespeare portrays Othello as a Moor because racial tension and anxiety pervade the atmosphere of Venetian society, and Othello himself, in his aspiration towards assimilation and anxieties about his blackness, internalizes a false dichotomy that can only dehumanize him (330). His otherness caused Venetians to assault him. The reason lies behind this can also be the fear Europeans have for Islam which was the religion of the most powerful empire of that time, the Ottomans, and the territories it controls.

Since many African countries were controlled by the Muslims, Othello is probably coming from an Islamic background. Edward Said stated in his Orientalism: “For Europe, Islam was a lasting trauma. Until the end of the seventeenth century the “Ottoman peril” lurked alongside Europe to represent for the wholeof Christian civilization a constant danger, and in time European civilization incorporated that peril and its lore, its great events, figures, virtues, and vices as something woven into the fabric of life. ” (60) Iago’s defining Othello’s sexual affair as something animalistic brings about another racist criticism argued for decades.

Likening Othello to wild animals, Iago tries to agitate Brabantio. Iago once again turns his invective on Othello, with tough racial epithets: Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not serve God, if the devil bid you. 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; you’ll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans. (I. i. 106-12) The words “devil”, “barbary horse”, and “gennet” are all related to Othello’s race.

His definition of Othello and his comparison of his relatives with animals and Roderigo’s stating that Desdemona has gone “To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor” and “made a gross revolt “are again other examples of harsh attacks towards blacks in Elizabethan time. Even though that night is a night when two lovers rejoin, they define it something so disgusting, animal like. Another obvious offence to Othello’s color comes from Brabantio when he first sees Othello and when they gather in Senate saloon: The wealthy curled darlings of our nation, ould ever have, to incur a general mock, Run from her guard age to the sooty bosom Of such a thing as thou, to fear, not to delight (I. ii. 67-70) In the play there are many scenes Othello is described someone to be feared of because of his physical appearances. Brabantio humiliates Othello with his appearance when he runs away with Desdemona. We do not see any other offense than his race and prejudices based on his race. “To fall in love with what she feared to look on! /It’s judgment maimed and most imperfect. ” (I. iii. 99-100) G. K.

Hunter shows in his article “Elizabethans and foreigners” how the Moors are thought to be with animalistic attachments in Elizabethan times: “Throughout the Elizabethan period, indeed, there seems to be a considerable confusion whether the Moor is a human being or a monster. ” Shakespeare manages to convey this idea in Othello with his racist characters such as Iago and Brabantio yet he proves its being a false idea with his character, Othello, who is portrayed as a honest and innocent man who is turned in to a murderer with Iago’s manipulations.

Brabantio directly attacks Othello’s color defining him as someone to be afraid of. Sooty is synonymous with black, of course. He cannot even think of the possibility of his daughter’s falling in love with Othello. He keeps accusing Othello of magic: Ay, to me; She is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks; For nature so preposterously to err, Being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense, Sans witchcraft could not. (I. iii. 0-5) Magic was something that associated with blacks at those times. Brabantio believes that a black man can only earn the heart of his daughter, Desdemona, by magic since she never indulged young boys of their own race who were longing for her “Othello is simply a black man, with all that stereotype implies, and only witchcraft could account for a beautiful, intelligent and high-born maiden becoming enamored of him” (Salgado 87). Brabantio thinks that it has something to do with Othello’s heritage. Since he is black, he can bewitch.

Magic also reappears when Desdemona’s handkerchief cannot be found; Othello has too much trust in the symbolism and charm of the handkerchief, which is why the object is so significant to him. It was not because he really did magic through the handkerchief but because the handkerchief has a cultural meaning to him. Othello’s defense that he made in front of the Dukes and the Senators is an answer to all attacks that Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio have made so far. I ran it through, even from my boyish days, the very moment that he bade me tell it;

Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field Of hair-breadth scapes i’ the imminent deadly breach, Of being taken by the insolent foe And sold to slavery , of my redemption thence (I. iii. 133-8) Othello simply tells how Desdemona fell in love with him through his life story. Their love story was out of sexuality and it was not Othello who forced Desdemona to run away with him. He shows he does have real magic, in the words he uses and the stories he tells. He draws a real imperturbable character that readers appreciate.

The reader feels even more sympathy towards Othello because of Iago’s hypocritical behavior. As the play goes on Othello speaks of his own color implying negative connotations it has when his faith in his wife is destroyed because of Iago’s manipulations on her faithfulness, the Moor sees that her name has become as black as his face: “Her name, that was as fresh/ As Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black/ As mine own face. (III. iii. 386-88)Othello uses the color “black” in order to liken Desdemona’s so called cheat.

We see how the color issue was widespread among people at those times since even a black person uses his color in order to imply its bad connotations. ” Tragedy, in Chapman’s metaphor, is always ‘black-fac’d’; but Othello’s dark countenance is like an inscription of his tragic destiny for more reasons than the traditional metaphoric associations of blackness with evil and death” (Neill 29). Shakespeare’s creating a character like Othello who gets on well with almost all people in the play –the duke, the senators, and soldiers- is sign of Shakespeare’s not being racist.

Salvago states that : “The general esteem in which he is held , Brabantio’s earlier regard and affection for him and the Duke’s remark on hearing his story, show that this ‘extravagant and wheeling stranger/Of here and everywhere’ has earned himself a respected position in Venetian society” (87). Desdemona has always been loyal to his husband, Othello, till the very end. In the play Desdemona is young Venetian woman of high birth and good breeding that is favored by many white young men yet chooses to marry Othello, to a Moor.

She does not show less respect to her husband than any other white husband in that time. “Captivated by Othello and his traveler’s tales, Desdemona either falls in love him personally or imagines she does, and marries him without the slightest regard for her father’s wishes or feelings. ”(Unwin 159) When Emilia says “But I do think it is their husbands’ faults/ If wives do fall (IV. iii. 88-9). Desdemona’s response is “Good night, good night. Heaven me such usage send. Not o pick bad from bad put by a bad mend” (IV. iii 106-7). Since she never did wrong to her husband, she had nothing to fear of.

Desdemona is constantly associated, throughout the play with images of whiteness and purity: wedding sheets; a handkerchief; skin whiter than snow and ‘smooth as monumental alabaster’. It is this purity of spirit that Othello mistakes for sin, just as he mistakes Iago’s malevolence for honesty. The honest Desdemona is accused of dishonesty; the dishonest Iago(insincere, deceitful, lacking in candor and public spirit) is labeled ‘honest’ over and over again in line after line. ( Garber 593) It is significant that in Othello the dishonest traitor is white, racist Iago not the black Moor.

The dishonest white man destroyed the relationship between the faithful, innocent white Venetian girl and the other honest, innocent black Moor. Normally a black person would be used in Elizabethan literature to represent the darkness, yet in Othello Iago’s absolute evil character takes on that role. At the very end of the play, Othello being poisoned by wicked Iago’s provocations Othello kills innocent Desdemona and upon learning the truth he turns on himself and commits suicide quietly. He kills the savage, green-eyed, murderer, and the outsider.

Garber says that: “Othello kills Othello. He is both Turk and Venetian, as he has been all along, and he dies in the act of describing a noble public gesture, the killing of a public enemy, in front of Venetian ambassadors who are public men themselves” (615) Othello is converted into Christianity after he comes to Venice. Probably, he has been a Muslim before, and he has belonged to the Ottoman Empire which was the most powerful empire at that time. Therefore he might have been also representing a Turk. We see that Iago managed what he tried throughout the play.

From the very beginning till the end he speaks of Othello’s being a barbaric Moor and at last because of his slanders Othello commits a barbaric crime. Iago’s wicked plan destroys Othello. The seeds of jealousy that Iago plant over starts to bloom and Othello plans on taking the life of his beloved Desdemona for he believes in her so-called infidelity. We see that Othello starts to lose his humanity, and takes on the mentality of a savage. As G. K. Hunter stated in his article “the relation between wild-men, green-men, foresters, Robin Hood, the Moors and the devil was very difficult to clear up.

Man of African heritage is typically portrayed in Elizabethan literature in a negative light, yet is allowed to shine in Othello. ”(56) Therefore Othello is depicted as a true hero. He is portrays as good general and honest man. He is flawed; his nobility and honesty permits Iago to abuse him in his deceitful ways. Othello’s color is dramatically important since the reader visualize how outsiders especially the Moor with an Muslim Arab ancestry are seen Elizabethan times and lights the way for seeing the differences between European and Non-European societies in that time.

Works Cited Berry, Edward. “Othello’s Alienation. ” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 30. 2 (1990): 315-333. Everett, Barbara. “ ‘Spanish’ Othello: the making of Shakespeare’s Moor”. Shakespeare and Race. Ed. Stanley Wells and Catherine M. S. Alexander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Garber, Marjorie. Shakespeare Afterall. NY: Pantheon Books, 2004. Hunter, G. K. “Elizabethans and foreigners”. Shakespeare and Race. Ed. Stanley Wells and Catherine M. S. Alexander.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000 McLeish, Kenneth and Stephen Unwin. A Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1998. Neill, Michael. “Unproper Beds: Race, Adultery, and the Hideous in Othello” Shakespeare Quarterly, 40. 4 (1989): 383-412. Orkin, Martin. “Othello and the ‘plain face’ Of Racism”. Shakespeare Quarterly. 38. 2 (1987): 166-188. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Random House, 1979. Salgado, Fenella and Gamini, Shakespeare:Othello. London: Penguin, 1989.

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Throughout history, men have the tendency to seek power. They may initially intend on pursuing the greater good, but eventually, pride rules out. And according to Cornelius Tacitus, senator of the Roman Empire, “the lust for power, for dominating others, inflames the heart more than any other passion” (Tacitus). This desire that is stained within our human nature gradually instigates tension between individuals and is largely influenced by race. Therefore, while those who triumph usually become centered, those without, get driven to the edges of society and most oftentimes fail to redeem themselves. But it is at these edges when those who attempt to return to the top are faced with criticism such as racial prejudices.

Jealousy. It is what consumes the mind. It is what creates a barrier between a person and the truth. It can be easily overlooked, yet it can also be the most destructive attribute of our human nature. The fight between us and how we cope with jealousy is one of the greatest battles that we fail to win each and every time, and Othello certainly is under substantial attack by this oppressive foe. Even as a respectable general with countless worthy accomplishments, Othello is still labeled as inferior to the point where he is “unable to fully measure his level of acculturation into the white society (Shaw 87). But how does this affect Othello? Well, it inherently returns back to his desire for power. With the determination to play a more authoritative role in order to acquire back his respect, Othello faces a point when he cannot fulfill that goal solely due to his race. And by pondering, Othello becomes jealous since he cannot achieve what other “white” men can, respect. He sees them instead as “better” and eventually creates a higher opinion of them.

Therefore, Othello gradually concedes that maybe why Desdemona is having an affair with him is due to him being of a different race. This most definitely provokes Othello’s greater feelings of self-hatred as well as jealousy and eventually leads to murder. Furthermore, Othello’s last scene when he is about to kill Desdemona is a symbol of him reaching rock bottom. He cannot take the insults and discrimination anymore, and as a result, he feels as if he needs to unleash his rage against those who have caused him suffering as he says to himself, “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul. Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars, it is the cause” (Shakespeare 5.2.1-3).

Consequently, the first to stand in his sight is innocent Desdemona who he would ultimately take the life of. This act of murder displays the impact of what initially was stirred from society itself. Hence, from the moment Othello let jealousy dictate his emotions is when he ultimately succumbs to the unruly natures of men.

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Thesis Statement For Othello

Theme of guilt in othello.

“Guilt is not a response to anger; it is a response to one's own actions or lack of action.” This is a quote from Caribbean-American writer Audre Lorde. Many people express their opinion on guilt, but having written over 20 books, she is a very well-educated individual and her word is looked upon with adoration. Another successful and commendable person is the philosopher, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Nietzsche is the philosopher that came up with the love, guilt, and redemption philosophy, in which Nietzsche believes that the amount of “guilt and debt, the act of giving (of love or money) must never overwhelm the receiver” (Cybulska). This statement means that not only should the negative influences be limited, but the positive influences

Theme Of Manipulation In Othello

Manipulation is shown in many ways such as politics, the media, misleading information and false advertising. To convey one’s thoughts to your own advantage is seen as crude and unnecessary. However, many people have their reasons in manipulating someone whether they are good or bad. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the concept of taking advantage of someone through manipulation leads to unnecessary, horrible events.

Iago And Manipulation In William Shakespeare's Othello

In William Shakespeare 's play Othello, most characters commit something wrong, there are two characters who execute most of the play, but there 's one character who commits the greater wrong. The characters hurt and betray one another frequently, the play is focused on Iago trying to plot his plan as the play goes on, his intentions are to get revenge on Othello for one not promoting him to lieutenant and believing that Othello slept with his wife Emilia. For that Iago manipulates Othello 's wife Desdemona, Roderigo, Emilia and Cassio. Iago commits the greater wrong, for being manipulative, deceivious, and betraying. Iago and Othello are both main characters who have their way of making trouble, some would say Othello commits more wrong for falling into Iago 's lies and causing trouble, but Iago is actually the one who made the deaths happen and made more problems than Othello did or any other character.

Duality And Paradoxes In Othello

In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, he uses duality and paradoxes to reveal parts of human nature that people wish to ignore. Othello is about a man named Othello who marries above his station and wrestles with his insecurities as the antagonist, Iago, uses them and his own reputation for candor as mean to enact his revenge for Othello’s alleged affair with his wife, Emelia. Iago embodies the paradox of a truthful man who uses his honesty to manipulate people, which contradicts a core human idea that honest people are the most righteous or virtuous.

Examples Of Machina In Othello

II, 315, 316) Othello justifies his action by blaming Iago for his manipulation. The dramatic irony in Othello is very evident. Iago throughout the play manipulates majority of the characters while still informing the audience of his actions. Othello believes that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him while the audience knows that is not the case but rather the manipulation of Iago.

Irony Of Iago's Manipulation In Othello

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, the evidence will show that Iago manipulated Othello to follow a path of lies and destruction, making him kill Desdemona. Othello was a Christian Moor who was secretly married to his faithful, independent wife Desdemona who was the daughter of Venetian senator Brabantio. Iago was Othello’s ensign and was upset about being passed over for the promotion of lieutenant. The man who received the promotion of lieutenant was Michael Cassio. Cassio was a good-looking young man, who Iago despised for attaining the promotion.

Theme Of Motivation In Othello

Manipulation without Motivation In the tragic play, Othello, William Shakespeare creates the true wickedness of the character, Iago, through his devious plans created to cause the demise of Othello. Shakespeare crafts Iago’s evil characteristic through the way he manipulates others in order to carry out his plans and his unfit motivation for his maliciousness. Shakespeare continues to craft Iago’s evil nature through the manipulation he demonstrates on multiple people in order to carry out a fully executed plan without anyone catching him in the act.

Examples Of Sociopathy In Othello

Iago, during the play, displays a notable lack of remorse or guilt for the many horrendous deeds he commits. This is seen twice in the scenes where Iago is confronted about his devilish plan. (2.) After Othello kills Desdemona and reveals to Emilia that it was Iago who convinced him about the affair. This causes Emillia to start to realize her husband’s plans.

Pride In Othello

The male character Othello, had pride in being a leader to others and having a loving wife named Desdemona that is loyal to him. Even though, Othello had a fear of Desdemona of being unfaithful to him one day because of his background. On page 710, he says “By the world, I think my wife be honest, and think she is not: I think that thou art just, and think thou art not. I’ll have some proof.” Throughout this act 3, and scene 3, Othello believes that faithful in the beginning until Iago starts to make him doubt Desdemona, by mentioning the idea of Cassio and Desdemona being together.

Comparing Love In The Great Gatsby And Othello

Iago is planting the seeds for Othello’s relationship with Desdemona to crumble by putting images into Othello’s head about women and generalizing all women saying that they all act upon their temptations with no remorse. In these lines said by Othello, he is showing how someone’s deceit (having to do with his love for his wife) can really go as far as to make him criticize a whole entire gender based on one idea that his Desdemona has been unfaithful—and he does not even have proof that this accusation is true. Secondly, Iago successfully alters Othello’s pure and true love for Desdemona so much that his once fulfilling

Manipulation Quotes In Othello

Emilia, Iago’s wife is also a victim, his wrongdoings and fails to see what her husband is doing to her and everyone around

How Does Jealousy Lead To Othello's Downfall

Unfortunately for Cassio, it was all a part of Iago 's plan, he then planted the handkerchief that Othello gave Desdemona as a symbol of love, in Cassio 's room. He told Othello of the connection between Cassio and Desdemona, and as she kept bringing his name up to reinstate him, it became more evident to Othello. Iago gradually drove Othello to the edge, he convinced him of the affair between the two and so he felt the need to kill her. Afterwards Othello found out that she didn 't cheat on him, and so he killed himself. The ultimate payback, driven by

Iago's Influence On Othello

Iago is a unique and complicated character. He is intelligent in that he is able to manipulate people and events in his favour, which he thrives on throughout the play, classifying him as the antagonist of the play. Driven by jealousy and hatred, Iago plots against Othello to destroy his character and reputation. Knowing that if he foolishly attacked such a respected man directly, he would be sentenced to death. As a result, he devises to use other people to obtain what he desires by influencing the characters in the play to suit his plan.

Iago Manipulation In Othello

While Iago fills the characters’ minds with lies, the characters will act according to the lies thinking he is honest. Although his lies are sometimes subtle it affects the Othello is one of the victims who believed Iago. You can already tell that Othello has been fooled when he calls him “a man [of] honesty and trust”. The audience already knows that Iago is a liar and loathes Othello, so the audience can tell when Iago is being two-faced and that Othello truly believes in him. Iago’s impact on Othello makes him lose control of his

How Is Othello A Tragic Hero

Iago convinces Othello of false information, convincing him to kill Desdemona. Easily manipulated by Iago, Othello’s inherent character flaw, irrational jealousy, directly interferes with his common sense, driving him into a murderous rage. The result, the unjust murder of Desdemona, also leads to Othello’s own suicide. In the case of Othello, the audience watches as his tragic flaw destroys Othello’s life and brings about his fall from grace.

More about Thesis Statement For Othello

Racism And Racism In Othello

Racial racism in othello.

The protagonist of the play, Othello, becomes the monster driven by racial prejudice that Venetians depict him to be. The word “moor’ is an indicator of the divide between Othello, a Morrocan with darker skin, and the Venetians of Italy, with fair skin. Even those who respect Othello use the word “moor” to replace his name. By the end of the play, he becomes the cruel character Iago wanted him to be.

Othello – Race and Stereotypes Essay

Othello’s race does not prominently impact his demise, although Shakespeare touches upon the issue of race, the reason for Othello’s demise lies somewhere else. However, the allegations of race directly lead to its tragic ending. Feelings of inadequacy and distrust without question aid in the tragedy. The fact that Othello’s skin color is important alters the interpretation of the tragedy within the play. The racism represented in Othello is not just about an instance of prejudices and prejudgments made by a crowd of people against another, but in fact has much more subtle and devastating consequences, specifically, that it is proliferated not only by the discriminatory section of society, but also by the target of this discrimination.

Victim Of Racism In Othello

Othello is one of the Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy which illustrates a tragic downfall of a black protagonist, Othello. Although in the play, Othello is a socially secured man working as a military general, his social status seems to be cancelled out by his colour. In the society of Venice, Othello is referred to as an outsider not only because of his cultural difference but also his colour, Therefore, in the play, Othello is depicted as a victim of racism even though he himself does not seem to acknowledge that he is victimised because of racism.

Racism In Othello

Shakespeare was a literary pioneer and was able to inspire conversations about race in a predominantly white European society while living in England through his play Othello which is unique in the sense that it features a non-white hero as the protagonist. Although race is not at the center of Othello, it plays a pivotal role in deciding the course of the play and explains the actions and motives of the characters.

Othello or The Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare is a tragedy of race. Shakespeare creates a hero who does not fall under a racist stereotype, Othello is a nobleman, a decorated soldier, very well respected by his men (with the exception of Iago). One of the few characteristics that harms, rather than helps him, is that he is dark-skinned in a society utterly dominated by men prejudiced against those with dark skin. At the start of the play, he appears confident that, "My parts, my title, and my perfect soul / Shall manifest me rightly." (Shakespeare, 1, 2, 36-37) But Iago makes sure to use Othello's race against him as much as possible. As a brave soldier from Africa and recently instated supreme commander of the Venetian army, Shakespeare still allows Othello to succumb to the subtle racism that surrounds him. Most of it comes forward through the dialog, and is directed toward Othello. Shakespeare makes no effort to hide this colorful language, nearly every character uses a racial slur to insult Othello at some point in the play. Even Emilia, who doesn’t trust her own husband, sinks to the level of insulting Othello based on the color of his skin. Though the main character to make racist remarks in Othello is Iago, making him a representation of white supremacy. The effect of racism on Othello is quite evident and is one of the main causes of his insecurity about his marriage. These black stereotypes show up in the play and lead to the problem with trying to produce

The Venetian Society in Othello by William Shakespeare

Othello by William Shakespeare raises the issue of how rampant beliefs and attitudes in a society can cause a person to question their sense of self. In a society where racial equality is near non-existent, Othello, a black skinned foreigner in the Venetian society, is constantly reminded of his status as an outsider. Othello, however, is not depicted in a stereotypical manner and despite occupying a highly respected position he is often confronted with blatant racism throughout the play. The prevailing attitudes and beliefs of Venetian society towards Othello are exploited by Iago in order to manipulate Othello’s self confidence and emotional state.

Othello - shakespeare and sax's film adaptation

Racism is a theme that is prominently evident throughout Shakespeare's Othello. Through this theme, there are several perceptions of an individual's race which are exhibited to establish the

Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

The play Othello by William Shakespeare was published during the 16th century, it is one of Shakespeare’s popular and controversial plays. Shakespeare depicts Othello’s race as placing him apart in some respects from the predominantly white European society in which he lives. Jealousy is another of the main themes in Othello. Iago is the first character to start the sparks of jealousy in Othello, and in the end, causes the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. In the end, racism and jealousy are the causes of the tragedy in Othello.

Racism in Shakespeare's Othello

Racism seems to be a big concern in Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello. Because the hero of the play is an outsider, a Moor, we have an idea how blacks were regarded in England, in Elizabethan times. There are many references that bring about the issue of racism from the very beginning to the end. In the tragedy, where Othello is coming from is not mentioned, yet through the descriptions the reader is informed that he belongs to one of the Eastern nationalities such as African, Ottoman Turk or Arab. In this paper I am going to analyze some episodes involving a prejudicial, racist attitude and try to discuss whether Shakespeare was a racist or not. Even though the play is full of offensive definitions of black

Iago is Portrayed as the Greater Villain in Shakespeare's Othello

“Othello” is a tragic play of jealousy, racism and struggle for power. Right from the beginning, Shakespeare has created vigorous dialogue and conflicting situations. There is a direct contrast between black and white in this play, with black meaning something negative and evil and white meaning pure and fairness. The clash between these two colours leads to severe hatred and enmity between a few people.

Essay The Importance of Race in Othello

Throughout time, writing has evolved such that gender, race and creed have taken on a more pivotal role in fiction. Some people argue that race in William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Othello,” is hardly an issue. However, to many people, race is everything in “Othello. The challenges that Othello, the lead character, faces are directly attributed to his “Moor” complexion and if he were of a different nationality, the outcome of his situation would have been drastically different. These claims are supported by the articles of “Othello’s Alienation” by Edward Berry and “Race Mattered: Othello in Late Eighteenth-Century England” by Virginia Mason Vaughan that argue that race is a major element in “Othello.”

Racial Discrimination In Othello

Haply, for I am black/ And have not those soft parts of conversation/ That chamberers have, or for I am declin’d/ Into the vale of years (yet that’s not much) She’s gone. I am abus’d: and my relief/ Must be to loathe her” (III.III. 304-309). As the emanation of social interaction among various races appear within English literature, the vault of new beginnings and change takes hold. William Shakespeare’s Othello, is most notably recognized for the character, Othello. Through various texts of literature, the idea of racial construct and discrimination was never an easy topic to come by. Since the play was written in Europe during the 1600s, the emergence of slave trades in this area further divided races. The play itself follows the tragedy for Othello, and the transition from a military general to a tragic hero. The limitation of power plays a huge role in Othello’s ability to withstand the manipulation of multiple characters. Although he is Moorish general in the Venetian army, he is still indeed a Moor, a socially lower class, muslim man. From this, cultural collision of ethnicity influences how Othello is treated and the disadvantages he faces because of his color. Through the mere jealousy in which Iago, Othello’s standard-bearer, has for Othello’s life, he proposes the idea to manipulate his life by using the one difference between all men, race. When Iago awakes Brabantio, the father of Desdemona, he hopes to initiate his plan to take down Othello. His description

Essay about Racism and Cultural Differences Exposed in Othello

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Othello, from the onset, is shown to us a play of love and jealousy. There is however more to this play than just love and jealousy; there is underlying racism, hate, deception, pride, and even sexism between these pages. Othello is a transcendent play, one that will survive the perils of time simply because it is still relevant. Even today, over 400 years later, there are still issues of racism and sexism. Hate is as natural as love in humans and Othello gets right to the root of that. We witness this from the very first scene, “…you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse/ you’ll have your nephews neigh to you” (I.i.112-14); to the very last, “Moor she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor” (V.ii.258). Moor however is

Racism in William Shakespeare's Othello Essay

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The play, Othello, is certainly, in part, the tragedy of racism. Examples of racism are common throughout the dialog. This racism is directed toward Othello, a brave soldier from Africa and currently supreme commander of the Venetian army. Nearly every character uses a racial slur to insult Othello at one point in the play. Even Emilia sinks to the level of insulting Othello based on the color of his skin. The character that most commonly makes racist remarks in Othello is Iago. It is very apparent that Iago uses racism as a scapegoat to hate and blame Othello. Societal racism takes its toll on its victims. The effect of racism on Othello is quite evident and is one of the main causes for

Othello shows weak human judgement

Racism is a glaring problem amongst the characters of the play. Othello is clearly affected by it and feels that he must prove himself equal to everyone else. Iago cleverly feeds Othello’s insecurity by constantly reminding him that he is racially distinct. He points out the obvious differences between Othello and Desdemona. He tells Othello that Desdemona will eventually regret that she hasn’t chosen someone of her own ethnicity and will desire someone,

othello racism thesis statement essay

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