...Racism Jealousy, and a Doomed Marriage in Othello Almost everyone, in his or her lifetime, may experience alienation or racism at least one time. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello has done a considerable amount for the city of Venice in which he lives whether it is his military victories or other services he has for the city. However, during the time of the play, which is the very early 17th century, minorities were irrelevant and ignored by many on society. Despite the role of a minority in the time, Othello is a black man who rises to power as a general in the military and is respected by the other white people in power. However when he marries a young beautiful woman named Desdemona, who is the daughter of Senator Barbantio, the effects of racism are in full effect. Characters get jealous and use his race as a means of trying to break up the marriage of Othello and Desdemona. Othello is known as the Moor and is called the name by other characters in the play, which signal that he is from African decent. In Othello, the conflict of racism toward a minority ultimately ends up in the ending of the marriage in a tragic way. The play, Othello, is concerned with one of the major anticipated disgraces and embarrassments of Western Civilization and tradition, i.e. the martial union of a black man and a white woman of superior social status (Toker 31). Once the marriage between Desdemona and Othello was complete, the man who was once respected by everyone...
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...OTHELLO’S FOCUS ON RACISM The play, Othello, by Shakespeare is a tragic play that reveals that racism played a part in why various incidents happened throughout the story. Throughout the play, there are a few cases in which Othello seems to recognize and comment on his differences from those around him. Othello is very humble and doesn’t pretend to “act” like a pompous figure and states, “Rude am I in speech,/And little blessed with the soft phrase of speech” (I.iii.81-82). This humility defines his character throughout the first half of the play. Othello’s friendly personality allows him to woo his friends (and lovers) with tales that they want to hear again and again. This allows him to realize that he is admired, at least in part, because of the exotic elements of his character in his stories. Othello is a man that is willing to accept that he is racially different, yet not racially inferior, and in fact he realizes that his being categorized as “other” in a world of white men sets him aside and pronounces his race and exotic life story. “Racism creates racial otherness, making contingent attributes such as skin color into sins of supposedly essential identity in order to justify the community’s practices of domination and exclusion” (Skura, 300). All of the racism throughout the play is directed toward Othello, who was a brave soldier from Africa, who was currently the supreme commander of the Venetian army. Almost every character in the play uses some form of a racial...
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...Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Racism in Othello Once or twice in a lifetime, individuals go through the ordeal of racism or being alienated; in the play by William Shakespeare, Othello, the young man Othello has served the city of Venice in a number of ways ranging from emerging victorious in the wars he fought to providing other services to the same city. At the time the play was being written in the 17th century, the minority groups were considered nonentities, irrelevant and were also ignored in most activities of the society. Despite the frustrations faced by the blacks during this time, Othello emerged a unique black man who managed to become a military general who was even accorded respect by the white people who were also in power. However he started experiencing the diverse effects of racism when he got married to Desdemona, the daughter of a senator by the name Barbantio; what made people to insist that the marriage across the races was not the right thing. Other characters were not pleased with move of Othello to marry the senator’s daughter and resort to calling him names such as the moor, which indicated his race; they referred to him with such names so that they could remind him that he was a descendant of Africa. This fight which was launched against the minority groups within the play Othello later brings his marriage to a tragic end. The play Othello cannot be seen as being racist, but the characters within the play were racists...
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...regardless of the scenario. Shakespeare’s Othello is a constant clash of personal and political conflicts. Race, jealousy, violent destructive and self-destructive behaviours control the relationships between the powerful and the powerless throughout the play. An important theme in this play had a great amount dealing with race. Othello recognizes his self as an outsider, due to the fact he was black. The majority of people in this setting were whites at the time, so we could see why Othello felt so insecure about his self. Othello realizes shortly after he wasn’t feeling accepted, that he needed to work hard, to carefully maintain his reputation. Considering Othello is the only black individual in the play, the racism behind the story is projected towards him. Many characters in the play appear to be racist, because that’s how they see the four main characters act towards Othello. Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Emilia all have racist attitudes in which they direct at Othello. Not only do these characters develop hatred because Othello is black, but they blame their reasoning on the fact he is black. From the very beginning of the play, Iago has been firm with his decision of hatred towards Othello. The most racism of the play comes from Iago. When Othello chose Cassio as his lieutenant, Iago was not pleased one bit. We notice Iago’s has two personalities, as he has so much to say behind Othello’s back. Never does Iago direct his feelings about Othello to him. In the beginning of the...
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...Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Racism in Othello Once or twice in a lifetime, individuals go through the ordeal of racism or being alienated; in the play by William Shakespeare, Othello, the young man Othello has served the city of Venice in a number of ways ranging from emerging victorious in the wars he fought to providing other services to the same city. At the time the play was being written in the 17th century, the minority groups were considered nonentities, irrelevant and were also ignored in most activities of the society. Despite the frustrations faced by the blacks during this time, Othello emerged a unique black man who managed to become a military general who was even accorded respect by the white people who were also in power. However he started experiencing the diverse effects of racism when he got married to Desdemona, the daughter of a senator by the name Barbantio; what made people to insist that the marriage across the races was not the right thing. Other characters were not pleased with move of Othello to marry the senator’s daughter and resort to calling him names such as the moor, which indicated his race; they referred to him with such names so that they could remind him that he was a descendant of Africa. This fight which was launched against the minority groups within the play Othello later brings his marriage to a tragic end. The play Othello cannot be seen as being racist, but the characters within the play were racists...
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...6 November 2014 Othello William Shakespeare`s Othello is a play set in Venice. The plot is based on a story about two people who love each other dearly and the problems and conflicts they face from the start. The conflicts are, for the most part, tied in with racial issues and questions of race and loyalty. These conflicts stem from the society around the couple, as well as from the couple themselves as they too are part of this society, but with very different backgrounds: The female protagonist is the daughter of a highly-respected Venetian senator Brabantio. Othello also known as the Moor--is a foreigner, black in color, has a past filled with tragic and exotic tales and has proved himself worthy of the title General in the Venetian army. During the time the playwright was written ethnic minorities were so unimportant that they were almost ignored. Even before we, as an audience, have had a chance to meet Othello and Desdemona we learn that the match is considered as disgusting as it is outrageous. From the very beginning everyone and everything seem to work against them, but in the hope that love will conquer all we do not allow ourselves to despair as yet. And indeed, the first act proves us right. After having explained why they love each other the world seems to accept this alliance. As the play continues Othello starts to lose his dignity and question his own racial identity as undesirable. The problems occur when Othello marries Desdemona, the young...
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...Harlem Duet-Modern Play Essay Despite of being declared free and living in a free society, many times characters remain restricted due to their own conflicting matters. This can be seen evidently in the play Harlem Duet through the main character, Billie. Despite all blacks being declared officially free from slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Billie still feels ‘enslaved’ many times due to pressures of external factors, such as racism that still exists in society, and internal factors such as her inability to remain in control of a situation. There are many instances where a character is not in control of the situation and yet it affects them on a regular and frequent basis. These external factors, such as a racist society, can be seen affecting and challenging Billie’s identity in the play. Due to this factor, Billie feels like she is constantly looked down upon and automatically is considered inferior by the society just because she is black, but this doesn’t weaken Billie’s identity, but further strengthens it. The quote in Act1 Scene 4, “I don’t have that...that luxury. When I go into a store, I always know when I’m being watched. I can feel it. They want to see if I’m gonna slip some of their stuff into my pockets. When someone doesn’t serve me, I think it’s because I’m black. When a clerk won’t put the change into my held-out hand, I think it’s because I’m black,” clearly emphasizes the pressures Billie deals with on a regular basis yet she continues to...
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...triggers many other emotions in the human psyche. From fear, grief and depression, jealousy can lead to anger and violence. Humans are not privileged to this emotion alone but all mammals are susceptible to such feelings. It has been suggested through research “jealousy first evolved in the context of sibling-parent relationships where dependent offspring compete for parental resources” (Harris and Prouvost). In both the movie O. and the play Othello jealousy is the driving emotion that causes the major conflicts. Despite their 400-year time difference, O. exhibits a near exact representation of Shakespeare’s Othello. In Othello, the character Iago is jealous that he was passed over for a promotion. Because of this, he attempts to get revenge by lying and deceiving others to discredit their character. An instance of this is when Iago deceived his friend Cassio by getting him drunk and causing him to fight Roderigo. This fight caused Cassio to lose his lieutenant position, which was the promotion Iago was jealous about. Iago also lied to Othello to convince him that his wife was being unfaithful with Cassio. These lies caused Othello’s jealousy and rage that lead him to murder his wife. In the movie O., the character Hugo is jealous that his father, the head basketball coach, has chosen two other basketball players as the MVP’s of the team. These two players, Oden and Michael, seem destine to have bright futures. Hugo, being jealous of these two, concocts a plan with the help of...
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...Andrea Barba Mike McLane ENGL 2450 31 March 2015 Racism Affects in Desdemona & Othello’s Relationship In Othello by William Shakespeare, it can be observed that even though Othello appears to be of good nature, his race affects how some of the other characters behave towards him. Othello’s race affects how the play develops, especially in regards to his relationship with Desdemona. While the Venetians do not appear to have any issue with having a black high ranking soldier, some do appear to have an issue with him marrying a white woman. Observe in the beginning of the play when Iago and Roderigo go to see Brabantio to explain what has occurred with his daughter, Desdemona. Because of Othello’s race they do not tell Brabantio that Othello and Desdemona have married; they inform him that Othello has stolen her. Brabantio goes to the senate because he believes that in fact, Desdemona was stolen, that she could not have gone with Othello willingly. He believes that Othello has used witchcraft and spells because he doesn’t think she would have gone with Othello on her own. Brabantio actually says to the Duke “By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks, For nature so prepost’rously to err” (1.3.61-62). He goes to this extent because he thinks it is against nature for them to even be together and reiterates it saying to the Duke and Senator “Against all rules of nature, and must be driven To find out practices of cunning hell” (1.2.101-102). Brabantio is trying to convince...
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...9 March 2016 End Goal of Writing Othello When studying Othello, no analyst or reader can deny that the masterpiece written by Shakespeare is truly remarkable. However, there is debate as to whether the play was written to tell a story about a war hero who ascends to the peak of Italian military ranks and fell off due to his insecurities, or for Shakespeare to present an allegory narrating the chaos in seventeenth century England. The assertion made declaring Othello to be an allegory is very compelling. Just like an artist chooses every stroke of their painting, in Othello, Shakespeare’s words are all determined very conscientiously. This could potentially mean he was crafting a perfect narration to provoke the leaders of his time about the imperfections of the society they live in. The underlying themes throughout the book are extremely plausible claims in order to draw a parallel to an allegory. The most profound theme in Othello is how love can present shameful aspects and hereby, make someone act irrationally. Reputation is a compelling reason for why Othello acts aberrantly. He is proud of the reputation and power he had works so diligently for, therefore, he was not going to let it crumble. Lastly, Othello was an African leader in the Italian military, which was particularly irregular in that era. This feeds into his profound insecurities because he is looked at as an outlier. Clearly, Shakespeare was using this to show how racism is distasteful and people during that...
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...“Othello is the most domestic of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Its focus is not on the fall of a king, or the collapse of a nation… Rather it is about the end of a marriage and a husband’s murder of his wife. It is intimately concerned with the details of sexual jealousy.” (McLeish and Unwin) A production of Shakespeare’s “Othello”, was presented as “The Twisted Othello” at Bishop Anstey High School East auditorium on November 15th, Saturday. It was directed by Janieka Tudor and captured a new take on the Shakespearean classic. The play is centered on the eminent jealousy of Iago (Renaldo Briggs) directed to Micahel Cassio who had been promoted by Othello (Daniel Waldron). Iago, who coveted the position as Othello’s lieutenant; weaves an intricate web of lies around the ubiquitous and notorious ‘handkerchief’ and ensnares Desdemona (Mishael Martineaux), Othello (Waldron) , Rodriego( Tevin Butler) and other actors. Ultimately Iago (Briggs) plays on the green-eyed monster within Othello (Waldron) and causes his cataclysmic demise. In a review of ‘The Apologetics of Evil: The Case of Iago’ by Richard Raatzsch it is mentioned that, “Iago is memorable and exciting, and universally hated by audiences of ‘Othello’ …. Being cold, manipulative, and impervious to anything but his own perverse will.” (McGinn) In conjunction, at ‘The Twisted Othello’ Renaldo Briggs gave a resounding performance and a new finesse to the character of Iago. Briggs a student of Bishop Anstey Trinity College East...
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...Othello is one of the four tragedies written by Shakespeare. Othello is a highly esteemed general in the service of Venice. He falls in love with Desdemona, but they are not allowed to marry due to Othello’s dark skin. So they marry privately. Iago, Othello’s trusted ensign, is deadly jealous of Othello’s promotion to the position of personal lieutenant. He begins an evil and malicious campaign against Othello. Iago sows discord between Othello and Desdemona. He lies to Othello that Desdemona has a lover, which makes Othello kill Desdemona in cases of disordered anger and envy. Othello is filled with regret and remorse when he hears the truth. He commits suicide beside Desdemona. Shakespeare opens the pay with multiple types of conflict. Roderigo, a rich gentleman, also falls in love with Desdemona. So he dissatisfies the secret marriage between Othello and Desdemona. As the same time, Iago feels passed over for Michael Cassio because Othello promotes him. In addition, Iago also believes that Othello is the lover of his wife. Shakespeare uses these relationships to structure the story. And Iago’s emotive feelings are dictating the direction of the plot. Driven by emotion, Iago makes plans. Obviously without his plans, the plot would never have developed. The love between Othello and Desdemona is pure, enviable, and over racism. However, Othello doesn’t feel confident in his black skin. The self-abasement makes Othello credulous, sensitive, jealous, and loses his head. Thereby...
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...Drama and the Elizabethan world view By: Magnus Hjorth Jørgensen 3.M The Great Chain of Being: During Shakespeare’s time “the great chain of being” dominated people’s perception of the world and how things was connected. Back then Christians thought that every single living thing and object had a specific rank after its importance. God was of course the most important character represented in “the great chain of being” as he is the creator of the world and Christianity is a monotheistic religion in which there only is one God. After God comes angels and then Humans. Wild animals are after humans, followed by domestic animals. Plants are next, followed by minerals and stones. Within each of these categories are things listen and categorised even further. Under Humans you have the king on top, as the king is considered appointed by God and therefore is closer to God than other humans. After the king you have other royalties, followed by priests and nobles, and then comes commoners. Under animals you also have a hierarchy within as a subcategory. The lion is the animal ranked the highest, and the worm the lowest. Under plants the oak tree is considered the most important one. Under this period of time in history, if there was to occur a disturbance, in which for example a commoner would obtain a higher rank or perhaps there was a bad king at the time, people believed that nature would try to sort things out and restore peace and calmness from the chaos. People thought that...
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...Project Othello, the Invisible Wound, To Kill a Mockingbird July 30th 2014 By Eileen Harford Everyone has had a time in their life when they have misjudged a situation. Whether it was assuming someone took your pencil when it is actually in behind you ear, or assuming which character is the killer in our favorite movie, we all have misjudgements all the time in our lives. When was the last time you have mistaken a situation? The theme of false judgement demonstrated in the play “Othello” by Shakespeare, the short story “The Invisible Wound” by Karoly Kisfaludi, and the film “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In these three storylines, the author exhibits the theme of false judgment through a character of innocence that is poorly misjudged and ends tragically for them. Othello accuses his wife, Desdemona of adultery, while the unnamed protagonist in “The Invisible Wound” also inaccurately assumes his wife is cheating. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the jury accuses Tom Robinson of a crime that he did not commit all because of the colour of his skin. Given the above, it is clear that these three story lines hold the same theme of an error in judgement occurring. Throughout the play, “Othello” by William Shakespeare, a few of the characters are condemned on untruthful information. Desdemona and Cassio are victims of poor judgement. Accusations towards Desdemona seem to be the most prominent to any reader – which all begin when Othello falls to Iago’s manipulation that causes Othello to poorly...
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...OTHELLO: SHORT PLOT SUMMARY The story of William Shakespeare's Othello is set in 16th-century Venice and Cyprus. Othello the Moor, a noble black warrior in the Venetian army, has secretly married a beautiful white woman called Desdemona, the daughter of a prominent senator, Brabantio. When he finds out, he is outraged, and promptly disowns her. Othello’s ensign, Iago, harbours a secret jealousy and resentment towards the Moor, partly because another soldier, lieutenant Cassio, has been promoted ahead of him, and also because he suspects that Othello has had an affair with his wife. Intent on revenge, Iago hatches a devious plan to plant suspicions in Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. He orchestrates a street fight, for which Cassio is wrongly blamed, and is then dismissed from his post by Othello. Desdemona takes up Cassio’s case with her husband, which only further inflames his suspicions that the pair are lovers. In the meantime, Iago manages to procure a treasured handkerchief from Desdemona that was given to her by Othello. He plants it on Cassio so that Othello sees it, then concludes that it is proof of their affair. Maddened by jealousy, he orders Iago to murder Cassio, and then he strangles Desdemona. Immediately afterwards her innocence is revealed, and Iago’s treachery exposed. In a fit of grief and remorse Othello kills himself. Iago is taken into custody by the Venetian authorities. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE STORY Written...
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