A Postcolonialist Analysis of the Tragedy of Othello

Othello is a loyal, honest, brave hero, and he won Desdemona’s love with his own performance and the legendary hero life; however, his low self-esteem causes his doubt for himself about his black skin, age, and manhood, his rudeness, reckless, paranoid personality seized him and

• Using grotesque animal imagery, Iago voices an explicitly stereotypical view of Othello, as a “Barbary horse,” depicting him as an animalistic outsider. Through the image of conflict in black and white, Iago emphasises on the racial demarcation between Othello and Desdemona, that “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe,” associating Othello with uncontrolled animalistic sexuality. Iago’s overt and vicious racism becomes representative of the reigning stereotype of the African on the

The relationship between Desdemona and Othello in the play ‘Othello’ is used to express and observe the way that humans are selfish by nature. Although both Desdemona and Othello do sincerely love each other, both of them find great personal gain in their marriage, which clearly contributes to their feelings for one another. Othello, who is a black leader in an overwhelmingly white, Christian society, has come from a troubled and difficult background, being “sold to slavery” and working in the military all his life. In finding a good Christian wife in Desdemona, he finds someone to always support him in hard times, as evidenced in his summary of their romance, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them”. This quote suggests that their love is more self-serving than he lets on; Desdemona loves Othello for the adventures he has been on and the stories he tells, and Othello loves Desdemona because she listens and devotes herself to what he has to say. When Desdemona gets a chance to explain their relationship herself, she is particularly proud of the fact that she “did love the Moor to live with him; my downright violence and storms of fortunes may trumpet to the world”. We note that she mentions her ‘violence’, the way she deliberately disobeyed her father and fled his company to secretly marry a man who is not one of her father’s approved suitors. This furthers the idea that Desdemona seems to be in love with Othello because of the adventures he has been on, and the excitement and liberty of her being with such a man; she is seeking her own freedom in a misogynistic society by defying her father to marry Othello. Their relationship is

Othello as a Black Man in a White Society Shakespeare's play,Othello, explores themes of love and passion, 'otherness', jealousy, revenge and order vs. Chaos, which all revolve mainly around the protagonist, Othello. Surrounded by Venetians within a white society, Othello begins to realise his 'otherness' thus his insecurities as an outside and a "Moor" increase. The deceptive Iago uses these dangerous blemishes in Othello's personality to manipulate the moral Othello, using his one fatal flaw, jealousy.

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

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: The Moor of Venice is probably Shakespeare's most controversial play. Throughout this work, there is a clear theme of racism, a racism that has become commonplace in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as anathema. The text expresses racism throughout the play within the language transaction of the dialogue to question the societal ethos established by Othello, thereby making him nothing less than a cultural "other." Furthermore, the character of Desdemona is displayed as mad, or out of her wits, for marrying such an "other," and the audience sees her slip from an angelic state of purity to that of a tainted character. Also, the menacing Iago, a

William Shakespeare’s Othello gives us a glimpse inside the racial tensions and prejudices of a different time. Othello’s race is one of the main points of contention that helps the story with moving forward. This is highlighted best by the character Brabantio. Shakespeare's portrayal of Brabantio shows not only his disapproval of Othello's marriage to Desdemona due to Othello’s race, but also personified the fear or hatred of foreigners and foreign culture that a dominant culture often displays. We see a generational change in how race relations affect, or don’t affect, ones decisions or thoughts.

Thesis: The tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice written by William Shakespeare, the author uses a characters to express the complex social circumstance of race at the time and how the white men’s ideas about black people leads to their hate and downfalls throughout the play.

Race is a critical component in Othello . It is one of the numerous variables that Othello feels makes him a pariah, somebody who is on the outside of social and political force. There are numerous issues that he needed to encounter. One of them is that he is Black. Iago takes a shot at this by recommending that his being of shading will affect his cooperations with others, including Desdemona. The way that Othello is dark is critical in a few ways since he feels this is a piece of the motivation behind why he could be undermined, and adds to his own absence of certainty. Race gives the most essential impetus to the contentions that get to be obvious in the play. "At the point when the crowd meets the respectable field ,

In the play Othello by William Shakespeare through racial degradation, Othello’s tragic flaw is raised of his inability to accept his race and heritage causing his downfall. This shows that color and heritage should be accepted rather than hidden. Brabantio is angered and disappointed in daughter Desdemona

Social group interpretation as found in the play makes use of Othello’s social identity, who is of ‘Moorish’ descent (a term used at the time to refer to people with darker skin), as a central device plot. Othello’s cultural identity plays a central role insofar as it is the main motivation behind Desdemona’s father’s judgment of Othello’s marriage to his daughter. As a result, the argument that Othello had been primarily accused of tricking Desdemona to fall in love with him through witchcraft can be said to stem from the Venetian’s distrust of Othello’s background. The accusation “Sans witchcraft could not”, as well as the Venetian’s reluctance to accept Othello's justification, “Thou know'st we work by wit, and not by witchcraft” arguably suffers from this bias. Indeed, his cultural origin is referenced throughout the play as the primary reason causing the Venetian’s distrust and jealousy towards Othello.

Derissa Crawford Professor Kobeleva English 1102 27 April 2015 Othello and the Theme of Racism The play Othello, written by William Shakespeare, is a play about love, jealousy, deception, and, most importantly, racism. These are four very relatable topics because they are all still present in today's society. Racism is a very prominent theme throughout the play. This issue is not present when the people of Venice trust Othello to protect them but only in his social life.

For a white woman to marry a black man like Othello, was shocking and strictly unacceptable. Desdemona’s father accuses Othello of using some sort of ‘witchcraft’ to lure her into loving him, as he feels this simply cannot be true. Several characters throughout the play question why the woman who rejected many herself, would fall in love with a black man like Othello. Desdemona is a kind and friendly individual, whose suffering does not equate to her mistakes. She had been overcome by forces which were out of her control and sacrificed herself solely for the benefit of others. Othello, on the other hand, after going through a significant misunderstanding that Iago craftily built, became extremely affected by the ‘green-eyed monster’ that is jealousy and killed his own wife. Desdemona meant well to Cassio, thoughtfully trying everything she could to convince Othello to re-grant him the status of lieutenant once again after a ‘drunk’ mishap. Othello takes this the wrong way, as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Desdemona’s ‘relationship’ with

When Shakespeare wrote Othello, black people were seen as inferior to white people. The play takes place in Venice in the 1500’s, a progressive city growing rapidly with new ideas and cultures. Not all introductions were welcomed, however. The Arab culture, known as the Moors, was seen as “brute, cowardly, lustful, savage, and diabolical” (Toker 1). They were stereotyped as inferior based on skin color, religious beliefs, and attitudes. To Venetians, the appearance and conduct of the Moors were “a spectacle and an outrage, emphasizing the nature of the deep difference between themselves and their visitors, between their Queen and 'erring Barbarians.'" (Toker 32). Moors were outcasts of an otherwise