Othello As Symbol Of The White Upper Class

Brabantio shows his racist ways clearly here; he feels that his daughter could never love Othello unless she had been somehow tricked! When one looks deeper into this mindset we understand how loving Othello, the Moor, could be seen as such an issue to her father. Then and even today color is associated with, “sin, damnation, and eventually, sexual promiscuity” (Hall, 182). White on the other hand is associated with, “purity, virginity, and virtue” (Hall, 183). For Desdemona to love Othello she must give up her innocence. For a “pure” and “virtuous” woman to love a man such as Othello she must be a “sinner” and a “whore.” This “realization” of his daughter’s lack of purity causes Brabantio to die due to pure grief as Gratiano explains to us:

The setting of the play, a postcolonial society with the central characters from high social status also reveals the calamitous nature of Othello. As generalized by Aristotle, most classical tragedies possesses characters of superiority, usually being kings or nobles, for example, King Lear from King Lear, Macbeth from Macbeth and Royal Prince Hamlet from Hamlet. This type of setting highlights the role of the protagonist, differentiates him/her from the ordinary, and as a result dramatizes the happenings within the play. In this case, since Desdemona and Othello are a part of the high society of Venice, their romantic relationship and death would perhaps be more emotion evocative to the audience.

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 insults and strikes Desdemona in public and Desdemona being horrified by these actions says that “I have not deserved this” (4.1.241). Desdemona finds Othello to be incorrect in his actions and she expresses her feelings to Othello. This proves Desdemona to be ahead of the time the play was written since unlike other women Desdemona defends herself and her beliefs strongly. Therefore, Desdemona is shown as an all-around powerful woman.

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.

Shakespeare's “Othello” is a tragedy written about a black lieutenant and his terrific outcome. Being manipulated by the villain Iago, drives him to kill his own wife. Othello is responsible for Desdemona's death because he allowed Iago to manipulate him, he didn't trust Desdemona and strangled her while she slept.

Shakespeare mocks society’s extreme measures by suggesting death as the sole option for Othello when he fails to understand that Desdemona may not fit female stereotypes. Without the ability to label her, Othello fails to “assert Desdemona’s chastity and corruptibility simultaneously” and “murders Desdemona to redeem her from degradation” (Neely). The characters, like many people, struggle to alter views that have been so firmly pressed into their minds. In this way, Shakespeare negatively comments on humans’ inabilities to see beyond what society tells them and to comprehend truths unique to a specific person rather than his gender roles. Shakespeare uses the characters Desdemona and Othello to display how people become accustomed to the gender identities that society defines for them. Therefore, both characters, as depicted by their deaths, fail to understand each other personally as individuals instead of as the stereotypical man or woman that is being presented.

Othello believes that Desdemona is his possession, an object in his life which is supposed to show he honour and reputation as a man, therefore the belief that Desdemona has broken that honour and nobility forces Othello to destroy her.

At this time, Othello has killed Desdemona and has forever ruined his own life. By her trying to stop the madness, her husband, who is still filled with hatred and jealousy, kills her.

We see Desdemona as a young beautiful white female, madly in love with a powerful black man. She is strong inside but doesn't tend to show that side of her as much as she would want to. She tends to play the peace-maker in her marriage and is always trying to understand Othello. Throughout the play she struggles to prove her loyalty and respect to her husband, no matter what it takes she tries to be a

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. They did not start well; their marriage was controversial because of their race and Othello’s failure to follow proper etiquette while he was courting her. However these issues could have been overcome with time. The biggest problem is Othello’s attitude to Desdemona. Othello’s model of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. She becomes untouchable in Othello’s mind, and he begins to distance himself from her. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as “Alabaster”(5.2.5) he will never consider

Furthermore Desdemona finds herself and her self-worth in question after Othello’s cruel treatment to her. She says " And his unkindness may defeat my life,/ But never taint my love" (4.2 line 159-160) Shakespeare makes the characters think love will bring them the most joy, but it actually brings them the most pain and suffering. This is done to portray that uncertainly of all that is in life and to make one think more about putting all ones faith, or hope in one object or person.

It is here that the audience begins seeing a different identity of Othello. Who was once regarded as so valiant and courageous, was now beginning to show signs of severe insecurities dealing with matters, most importantly, such as his lack of experience in love and marriage causing shadows of doubt over his confidence in himself and his ability to be loved by and worthy of someone like Desdemona. Desdemona, although not intentionally, seems to be the reason for all the unrest in Othello. This is an instance in the play when irony shines it's smiling face upon Shakespeare's most tragic characters. Othello feels truly happy with the presence of Desdemona in his life (Act II.1, 181-187):

One of the major issues in Shakespeare's Othello is the impact of the race of the main character, Othello. His skin color is non-white, usually portrayed as African although some productions portray him as an Arabian. Othello is referred to by his name only seventeen times in the play. He is referred to as "The Moor" fifty-eight times. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) states that a Moor is "Any individual of the swarthy races of Africa or Asia which have adopted the Mohammedan religion. In Spanish history the terms Moo, Saracens, and Arabs are synonymous." This indicates that Othello is constantly being degraded and set up as an evil person throughout the play. What this really means is that

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.