Othello, By William Shakespeare Essay

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

The play begins with the introduction of the confident and well-respected general of the Venetian army, Othello. This version of Othello is calm, brave, and fairly unaffected by any racial prejudices against him. He speaks with great sophistication and respect to others, which indicates both his intelligence and rationality. When he elopes with Desdemona, the

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

Another term frequently used to describe Othello,“Moor,” (or “the Moor,” “his Moorship,” etc.) derived from the race of the general, is a label that clearly sets Othello apart from the white Venetians he keeps company with. Although some use it and mean no harm, when said by the likes of Iago and Brabantio, “the Moor,” turns into a racist slur, deliberately used to undermine and ostracize Othello from society. Likewise, depictions such a

The attitudes and values that Shakespeare reveals through the text are those same attitudes and values of Elizabethan society in England in the sixteenth-century.

“Othello” is a Shakespearian tragedy set in sixteenth century Venice during the Turkish and Venetian Wars. The story follows the powerful Moor of Venice, Othello, and his tragic moral, military and marital downfall due to the corruption instigated by his jealous ancient, Iago. Throughout the play, the themes of womanhood, appearance versus reality, as well as prejudice in identity are explored. Further, contemporary responders can extract individual meaning through applying the literary criticisms.

Shakespeare's Othello is remarkably tolerant of racial differences that would soon come to shame the western world. Othello, “the moor” is held in high esteem. His marriage to Desdemona is almost immediately accepted by Venetian society. Othello is a play about a virtuous marriage that meets a tragic end brought about by jealousy and deceit.

Here stands Othello, a noble military general, a respectfully brave and rather important leader of Venice, who is ironically seen as an outsider because of the color of his skin. He is referred to as a “Moor”- or black North African native, who evolves from a robust, resilient and determined military leader to a misguided murderer, all for the reason of love, jealousy, and ignorance at the hands of someone he considers a comrade.

William Shakespeare`s Othello is centralized around the conflicts that are, for the most part, tied in with racial issues and questions of loyalty. These conflicts stem from the society that encompass the couple, as well as from the couple themselves.  Indeed the couple are entrenched in different social strata, class and ethnicity.  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.

What dictates whether someone is evil or not? According to Merriam Webster, evil is defined as “morally reprehensible”. This definition of evil is very loose, thus has much room for interpretation. In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, many people may believe that Iago is comparable to evil. After exposing a relationship to a woman’s father, manipulating Othello, falsifying rumors of Desdemona’s infidelity to Othello, and killing a man people assume that Iago is evil. However, Iago’s actions aligned closely to Dollard and colleagues’ frustration-aggression hypothesis. Thus, Iago’s reactions to frustration are best defined as common human reactions, as opposed to evil. In order to analyze Iago’s behavior and discover the root of his aggression, not evil, the frustration-aggression hypothesis is most useful. As opposed to the argument of Iago being evil, his character acts comparable to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, Iago becomes frustrated due to lack of power, which leads to aggression towards people who frustrate him and those associated, such as Desdemona, Cassio, and Othello.

In this essay, I will argue that Othello has the ability to transcend the racial infused “Moor” stereotype to become an individual with an inherent will to do good deeds and extinguish evil. Critical works from Albert Gerard (1957), Edward Berry (1990), and Martin Orkin (1987) will be cited as evidence for this.

Othello, The Moore of Venice is a production, adapted from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare has written many plays, The Moore of Venice is one he wrote during a dark time in his career in between his most famous works Hamlet and King Lear the profound re-workings of old plays. According to Kristin Johnsen-Nashati (Aug. 8, 2005), “some scholars have speculated that Shakespeare wrote Othello to please King James I. The setting of this play takes place during the ancient Greek renaissance sometime during 1603-1604. William Shakespeare This play differs from other Shakespeare tragedies because it is about relationship and not the political overtones that usually accompany his work. There is no comic relief and the plot is simplistic. It alludes to a bit of racism, but focuses rather on relationship. Birkenmeier (2012). The play is one of a tragedy of jealousy, betrayal, and murder. Othello, the Moor of Venice, can pierce the soul when pride and ego are realized, and how easily a seed of discord, can be planted in the human mind and grow to the point of murder.

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.

The Tardy of Othello, the Moor of Venice play written by Shakespeare is an outstanding play that will make the audience laugh, cry and be on edge during the performance. Othello the main character is a respected General, but has a harsh background that he himself is not sure how to handle outside of a battle field. Othello has no one to blame but himself. Due to his flaws of bad decisions, irrational thinking and jealousy turned him in to the “green-eyed

In ‘The tragedy of Othello: the Moor of Venice’, Shakespeare probes into the human condition by creating characters who present distinguishing qualities of human emotion such as jealousy. It is a tale revolving around