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Examples Of Racism In Othello

925 Words4 Pages

The play, Othello, is certainly, in part, the tragedy of racism because he is a black man married to a white woman, which causes jealousy with the other characters in the play. It is racism that serves as Iago's primary cause in his destruction of Othello, examples of racism are common throughout the dialog. This racism is directed toward Othello, a brave soldier and a supreme commander of the Venetian army. Throughout the duration of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello there is a steady stream of racism. It is originating from not one, but rather several characters in the play. The main characters that have racist attitudes are Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo and Emilia, with the hatred of Othello as the basis for their racist actions and comments towards him. Iago is the most racist character in the play as he has it in for Othello right from the start. What sparks off Iago's hate, which is seen in the play, clearly is the racial discrimination he shows towards him, it’s the fact that when Othello chose his lieutenant, it was Cassio who was chosen instead of Iago. What made Iago angry was the fact that Cassio had no experience in war when he did and Cassio was chosen instead of him. He never says anything racist to Othello's face because in his plot he had to be his best friend, so as not to make him suspicious that Iago was causing all the trouble …show more content…

Brabantio is so mad he sends out his guards to catch Othello and put him in prison. Brabantio views Othello as a foul and dirty no good black, this racist view of his is because he's angry when he finds out that his daughter has been seeing this "moor". Unlike Iago and Roderigo, Brabantio openly makes racist comments about Othello to his face such as, "lascivious moor", "Wheeling stranger". Brabantio can do this because he is the Senator of Venice and is higher in rank than

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