It's very obvious that Othello is a pretty racist play. The titular character, being a black Moor, is written in a way that plays to many racial stereotypes: Othello is gullible and can easily be manipulated by the white characters in the show, and he is ruled by his emotions rather than logic, killing his wife in a fit of rage when he believes she is cheating on him. Yet Othello is still the protagonist of the show. If the play is so inherently racist, why is Othello the ostensible hero of it? The answer is fairly simple, I think. In the US we have a tendency to get into a frame of mind where we think of racism as being sort of "over" or that it's not a problem anymore because outright, virulent hatred of black people has stopped being socially acceptable. But being racist doesn't necessarily mean that you feel hate, it may also just be that you believe fundamentally untrue things about people of another race without even realizing it. I doubt Shakespeare ever thought while writing Othello "Yes, I am a racist." He probably had no idea he was even being racist, as far as he was concerned he was writing a story accurate to the way things really are. So because he was not a malicious racist, just an ignorant one, he still could also believe he was being very fair to Othello as his protagonist.
How does Othello deconstruct some of the racial stereotypes of Shakespeare's time?
It's obvious that Othello is a racially charged play, and upon initially seeing or reading it, it's not all that out of line to call some parts of it downright racist. The racist attitudes of some of the characters in the play accurately depicts the fear/demonization of the Moors that pervaded Shakespeare's time (this sort of textual instance being the thing that does the othering, or creates the subaltern). However, this essence of racism is, in a somewhat strange manner, deconstructed by the play, as Othello is undoubtedly the protagonist, even if he doesn't get credit from the rest of the cast. So, while the play seems to create a rather hostile sense of racism in the Victorian English culture, it can only do so in the sense that it also is kept in line by the efforts of those that it seeks to minimalize.
At the time that Othello was written, the English Empire that would colonize 20% of the worlds was in its infancy, yet to reach full potential. However one of the most effective forms of convincing people that they're right to colonize and murder and loot is by convincing yourself that colonization is somehow doing a favor to those being colonized. You set up someone like Othello, dehumanize him for his status as "Other" - evidenced most clearly by the references his skin color and comparing him to animals (ram) - but then show how successful he is BECAUSE of internalizing white/Western values. That sets him apart from the other heathens.
However: Shakespeare is quite quick to point out that othello is still prey to the nature of that of heathen men - he destroys Desdemdena. There's a lot of reference in literature to countries as mothercountires or giving countries feminine pronouns. A patriarchal society sees women as an exstension of the man she belongs to. Violating the right-sort of women (according to patriarchal, racist standards) is put on the level of violating the same morals that create the West. Women like Desdemona stand in for country.
What similarities in issues between Othello and current viewpoints can be examined? In the tragedy of Othello the main protagonist is a Moor who serves Venice as a general, this is an odd situation of a black man holding such a high position in Italy at this time. Othello’s success is due to his excellence in the matters of war and tremendous past of overcoming hardships which have gained the respect and admiration of the leaders of Venice and a young Italian wife. Although, his race is still an issue for many of the characters like Iago and Roderigo who refer to him in the first scene of the first act as “thick lips”, “black ram”, “Barbary horse”, and make it a point to reveal to his wife’s father that he had stolen her. This prejudice is further stated Roderigo calls Othello a “lascivious Moor”, characterizing the black protagonist as inappropriate for a young Italian woman to be married to. Othello is shown to be a brave and accomplished soldier and his wife is committed to him due to his impressive life story, but his legitimacy as a Venetian is constantly challenged because of his race. The leaders are ready to call on “Valiant Othello” when a Turkish invasion is approaching, but his status as one the Venetians is never really accepted. One of the parallels that I see from this story to America currently is the overrepresentation of African Americans in the US military. The possibility of employment based on meritocracy in the armed forces was appealing to many African American men in a time when racial discrimination limited the ability for many to find employment. Ironically the biggest supporters of the US military are from the Southern states which are infamous for racism. So, could the modern day equivalent of Othello be written, where a young black man joins the US Army and attains the rank of general through hard work and bravery who then returns to his home state of Alabama and marries the daughter of a white senator. Naturally, this senator would be a supporter of the US Army and the idea of his daughter marrying a general would be thought of as a very positive thing, which would make it difficult for him to explain why this marriage would displease him. The analogy seems to hold for other aspects of the story, Othello was called upon to defend Venetian colonies from Turks of the Ottoman Empire, and the general would have been seeing most of his service in Central Asia and the Middle East fighting people who are Muslim. When a threat is presented to the nation Othello and the African American general are supported in fighting in the war, but they still do not receive equal treatment when returning home.
Othello quite obviously reflects the racism of the time period in which it was written. While Othello is portrayed as the protagonist of the play and has positive characteristics, he is seen in somewhat of a negative light by the other characters. This suggests that Othello may not have been written with racist intentions, but merely to reflect (or even criticize) the racism of the era in which it was written. The main reason that one could argue that Othello is an intentionally racist play is the gullibility of Othello. While generally a "good" character, Othello is easily manipulated.
The principles of colonialism in Othello
One of the fundamental principles of colonialism is the belief that the colonization of a society is somehow beneficial to that society, despite the fact that people are often killed or oppressed in the effort. They are treated as outsiders even in their own country. This principle of xenophobia is present in Othello; the character of Othello, although on the surface he is respected, is treated as a lesser person that his white counterparts.
Iago is an interesting character, due to the fact that he hates Othello because Othello didn't choose him for a position, and not solely because of his race. While the fact that Othello is an "other" does make Iago like him more in any way, shape, or form, I believe his attacks on him are just for manipulating an individual than expressing genuine prejudice. He certainly does ham it up for people like Barbantio, saying that a black ram is tupping his white ewe. Comparatively to modern day "racists", Othello and they will jump on an opportunity to intensely demonize a particular individual to convince them for a more veiled and sinister objective. A good example would be the attacks on the bombers of the Boston Marathon, two men who by all means are vicious murderers. But the media harped on their "otherness", exposed it to subtlety plant that their is a need for immigration reform, or tougher, yet more intrusive laws for protection against terrorism. This situation, like the love affair between Othello and Desdemona were the golden oppurtunities these individuals needed, and used for their advantage. Hopefully those that read Othello can see past it now.
How racist was Shakespeare? Othello is honestly one of my personal favorite plays written by Shakespeare. I am so glad I was able to read the whole thing before this class, because I had a much more intimate understanding of the text and what the lecture was trying to say. I initially had the admiration for Othello in the interpretation about it being a play about the manipulative nature of love, and how more realistically than Romeo and Juliet, this deep love can drive you to hate the person. It was visceral and sincere, the tragedy of Othello not knowing the truth during the murder was painful. But now the play comes off as the tale of the barbaric and easily manipulated Othello the moor. The description of the political climate at the time furthers this understanding of the text, it played right into the fear people had of the marauding Turks. It can be easily compared to the movies that have been released of the Mexican drug cartels spilling over into the U.S., they characters act like dangerous Mexicans with no other distinct character traits than that. I think Shakespeare was probably playing on the irrational fear that resided in the public at the time, something that would connect and be viewed multiple times, because I'm sure even then if it was topical, it was profitable.
In Shakespeare’s play Othello a series of nasty comments are made to describe the protagonist Othello. One would ask that whether or not Shakespeare deliberately wrote this play to simply make fun of those who look differently from themselves to entertain the common people. That it would be easy to have everyone relate to the uncomfortable feelings that are shared toward those who are different from their own race. After taking theatre I may have agreed with this view because we learn about how individuals throughout time took advantage of common patterns that they found within societies interests, such as romance plays vs. tragedies. This is one reason why Romeo and Juliet became so popular even though Othello has a much more intelligent and thought out plot. Shakespeare was thought to have used the common peoples intelligence to sell his play. “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”(hall 49). The people at that time probably got a kick out of comments such as this, racism was an easy way to relate to all individuals.
However, were Shakespeare intentions so provincial? Or did he use this play to devise a way so that he could ask the questions that were necessary so that the world could begin to change. For instance, when Othello is deceived and murders Desdemona the common people see how treating this moor unjustly has negatively affected everyone involved. Shakespeare found a way to help the common people understand that treating people unjustly just because they look differently from themselves was wrong. If someone at that time was to simply stand up for moors or anyone that was black for that matter their own people may have ridiculed them. After understanding what this meant for how the world was beginning to shape I have a new found love for Shakespeare because he found a loop hole in the ignorance of society and exploited it without anyone realizing it.
Why is Othello the protagonist of Othello?
ReplyDeleteIt's very obvious that Othello is a pretty racist play. The titular character, being a black Moor, is written in a way that plays to many racial stereotypes: Othello is gullible and can easily be manipulated by the white characters in the show, and he is ruled by his emotions rather than logic, killing his wife in a fit of rage when he believes she is cheating on him. Yet Othello is still the protagonist of the show. If the play is so inherently racist, why is Othello the ostensible hero of it? The answer is fairly simple, I think. In the US we have a tendency to get into a frame of mind where we think of racism as being sort of "over" or that it's not a problem anymore because outright, virulent hatred of black people has stopped being socially acceptable. But being racist doesn't necessarily mean that you feel hate, it may also just be that you believe fundamentally untrue things about people of another race without even realizing it. I doubt Shakespeare ever thought while writing Othello "Yes, I am a racist." He probably had no idea he was even being racist, as far as he was concerned he was writing a story accurate to the way things really are. So because he was not a malicious racist, just an ignorant one, he still could also believe he was being very fair to Othello as his protagonist.
How does Othello deconstruct some of the racial stereotypes of Shakespeare's time?
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious that Othello is a racially charged play, and upon initially seeing or reading it, it's not all that out of line to call some parts of it downright racist. The racist attitudes of some of the characters in the play accurately depicts the fear/demonization of the Moors that pervaded Shakespeare's time (this sort of textual instance being the thing that does the othering, or creates the subaltern). However, this essence of racism is, in a somewhat strange manner, deconstructed by the play, as Othello is undoubtedly the protagonist, even if he doesn't get credit from the rest of the cast. So, while the play seems to create a rather hostile sense of racism in the Victorian English culture, it can only do so in the sense that it also is kept in line by the efforts of those that it seeks to minimalize.
At the time that Othello was written, the English Empire that would colonize 20% of the worlds was in its infancy, yet to reach full potential. However one of the most effective forms of convincing people that they're right to colonize and murder and loot is by convincing yourself that colonization is somehow doing a favor to those being colonized. You set up someone like Othello, dehumanize him for his status as "Other" - evidenced most clearly by the references his skin color and comparing him to animals (ram) - but then show how successful he is BECAUSE of internalizing white/Western values. That sets him apart from the other heathens.
ReplyDeleteHowever: Shakespeare is quite quick to point out that othello is still prey to the nature of that of heathen men - he destroys Desdemdena. There's a lot of reference in literature to countries as mothercountires or giving countries feminine pronouns. A patriarchal society sees women as an exstension of the man she belongs to. Violating the right-sort of women (according to patriarchal, racist standards) is put on the level of violating the same morals that create the West. Women like Desdemona stand in for country.
What similarities in issues between Othello and current viewpoints can be examined?
ReplyDeleteIn the tragedy of Othello the main protagonist is a Moor who serves Venice as a general, this is an odd situation of a black man holding such a high position in Italy at this time. Othello’s success is due to his excellence in the matters of war and tremendous past of overcoming hardships which have gained the respect and admiration of the leaders of Venice and a young Italian wife. Although, his race is still an issue for many of the characters like Iago and Roderigo who refer to him in the first scene of the first act as “thick lips”, “black ram”, “Barbary horse”, and make it a point to reveal to his wife’s father that he had stolen her. This prejudice is further stated Roderigo calls Othello a “lascivious Moor”, characterizing the black protagonist as inappropriate for a young Italian woman to be married to. Othello is shown to be a brave and accomplished soldier and his wife is committed to him due to his impressive life story, but his legitimacy as a Venetian is constantly challenged because of his race. The leaders are ready to call on “Valiant Othello” when a Turkish invasion is approaching, but his status as one the Venetians is never really accepted. One of the parallels that I see from this story to America currently is the overrepresentation of African Americans in the US military. The possibility of employment based on meritocracy in the armed forces was appealing to many African American men in a time when racial discrimination limited the ability for many to find employment. Ironically the biggest supporters of the US military are from the Southern states which are infamous for racism. So, could the modern day equivalent of Othello be written, where a young black man joins the US Army and attains the rank of general through hard work and bravery who then returns to his home state of Alabama and marries the daughter of a white senator. Naturally, this senator would be a supporter of the US Army and the idea of his daughter marrying a general would be thought of as a very positive thing, which would make it difficult for him to explain why this marriage would displease him. The analogy seems to hold for other aspects of the story, Othello was called upon to defend Venetian colonies from Turks of the Ottoman Empire, and the general would have been seeing most of his service in Central Asia and the Middle East fighting people who are Muslim. When a threat is presented to the nation Othello and the African American general are supported in fighting in the war, but they still do not receive equal treatment when returning home.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRacism in Othello
ReplyDeleteOthello quite obviously reflects the racism of the time period in which it was written. While Othello is portrayed as the protagonist of the play and has positive characteristics, he is seen in somewhat of a negative light by the other characters. This suggests that Othello may not have been written with racist intentions, but merely to reflect (or even criticize) the racism of the era in which it was written. The main reason that one could argue that Othello is an intentionally racist play is the gullibility of Othello. While generally a "good" character, Othello is easily manipulated.
The principles of colonialism in Othello
One of the fundamental principles of colonialism is the belief that the colonization of a society is somehow beneficial to that society, despite the fact that people are often killed or oppressed in the effort. They are treated as outsiders even in their own country. This principle of xenophobia is present in Othello; the character of Othello, although on the surface he is respected, is treated as a lesser person that his white counterparts.
HUMN 220
ReplyDeleteHow similar is Iago to present day racists?
Iago is an interesting character, due to the fact that he hates Othello because Othello didn't choose him for a position, and not solely because of his race. While the fact that Othello is an "other" does make Iago like him more in any way, shape, or form, I believe his attacks on him are just for manipulating an individual than expressing genuine prejudice. He certainly does ham it up for people like Barbantio, saying that a black ram is tupping his white ewe. Comparatively to modern day "racists", Othello and they will jump on an opportunity to intensely demonize a particular individual to convince them for a more veiled and sinister objective. A good example would be the attacks on the bombers of the Boston Marathon, two men who by all means are vicious murderers. But the media harped on their "otherness", exposed it to subtlety plant that their is a need for immigration reform, or tougher, yet more intrusive laws for protection against terrorism. This situation, like the love affair between Othello and Desdemona were the golden oppurtunities these individuals needed, and used for their advantage. Hopefully those that read Othello can see past it now.
How racist was Shakespeare?
Othello is honestly one of my personal favorite plays written by Shakespeare. I am so glad I was able to read the whole thing before this class, because I had a much more intimate understanding of the text and what the lecture was trying to say. I initially had the admiration for Othello in the interpretation about it being a play about the manipulative nature of love, and how more realistically than Romeo and Juliet, this deep love can drive you to hate the person. It was visceral and sincere, the tragedy of Othello not knowing the truth during the murder was painful. But now the play comes off as the tale of the barbaric and easily manipulated Othello the moor. The description of the political climate at the time furthers this understanding of the text, it played right into the fear people had of the marauding Turks. It can be easily compared to the movies that have been released of the Mexican drug cartels spilling over into the U.S., they characters act like dangerous Mexicans with no other distinct character traits than that. I think Shakespeare was probably playing on the irrational fear that resided in the public at the time, something that would connect and be viewed multiple times, because I'm sure even then if it was topical, it was profitable.
Is Othello a racist play?
ReplyDeleteIn Shakespeare’s play Othello a series of nasty comments are made to describe the protagonist Othello. One would ask that whether or not Shakespeare deliberately wrote this play to simply make fun of those who look differently from themselves to entertain the common people. That it would be easy to have everyone relate to the uncomfortable feelings that are shared toward those who are different from their own race. After taking theatre I may have agreed with this view because we learn about how individuals throughout time took advantage of common patterns that they found within societies interests, such as romance plays vs. tragedies. This is one reason why Romeo and Juliet became so popular even though Othello has a much more intelligent and thought out plot. Shakespeare was thought to have used the common peoples intelligence to sell his play. “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”(hall 49). The people at that time probably got a kick out of comments such as this, racism was an easy way to relate to all individuals.
However, were Shakespeare intentions so provincial? Or did he use this play to devise a way so that he could ask the questions that were necessary so that the world could begin to change. For instance, when Othello is deceived and murders Desdemona the common people see how treating this moor unjustly has negatively affected everyone involved. Shakespeare found a way to help the common people understand that treating people unjustly just because they look differently from themselves was wrong. If someone at that time was to simply stand up for moors or anyone that was black for that matter their own people may have ridiculed them. After understanding what this meant for how the world was beginning to shape I have a new found love for Shakespeare because he found a loop hole in the ignorance of society and exploited it without anyone realizing it.