Racism Quotes In Othello

Prominence of Racism in Othello “When Othello committed atrocious crimes because of his unfounded jealousy, those who had previously believed him to be admirable and good condemned him, not by criticizing his character, but by criticizing his distinguishing racial characteristic: his color” (Speaks 1). The play Othello, by the one and only William Shakespeare, is chocked full of tragedy, trickery, and frequent racist slurs. This play was written in the early sixteen hundred, when interatrial marriage was almost unheard of and greatly frowned upon. Othello (a black, high ranking, soldier), was meant to shock the audience; possibly make people reconsider the barbarous preconceived notion of a black man in those times. The play revolves around

Shakespeare introduces the Moor in the second scene as calm and in control of himself, along with control of the situation unraveling around him. This was quite the contrary to what one may have expected in those days. Through this calm introduction, the author brilliantly makes the Moor stand out from any other character. According to an article by Cambridge University, “In the writings of the day, the Moors were described as, ‘stubborn’, ‘bestial’ and intolerant” (Hendricks, et al 3). So, it is easy to see the contrast between the character and the expectations of the audience. The author plays with the idea that when white and black mix, there can be nothing but chaos; and this idea becomes prevalent throughout the play. At the beginning, the Moor and Desdemona (his white wife) are a loving and peaceful couple, but they soon are in absolute chaos as the Moor’s character is torn to shreds. Thus, the author turns Othello’s character into the stereotypical black man of the times. Is this racist of Shakespeare? Possibly, but keep in mind in those times almost everyone had this barbarous view of the black race. Shakespeare set race as the focal point of the play, and through the character’s dialogue we see just how prominent race is in the

Roderigo, a gulled gentleman, starts the play off by speaking ill of Othello with racist remarks, “What a full fortune does thick-lips have” (McMahan, et al 733). Implying that Othello couldn’t have won the heart of Desdemona unless by luck, because he is black. Iago, the plays antagonist, uses numerous racial slurs throughout the play to paint a picture of Othello as a lesser man than he is. Just one of Iago’s insults states, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (734). In which Iago is playing on Elizabethan notions that the black man has sexual animal like, hyper sexuality; in order to manipulate Brabantio’s (Desdemona’s father) fears of a black man’s sexual appetite. Iago continually uses race as a scapegoat to provoke each character to distrust and hate Othello; even Othello’s view of himself is affected by everyone’s, mostly Iago’s, racial remarks. In Act III of the play, Othello gives us an insight of how he sees himself, “Her name, that was as fresh as Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black as mine own face” (778-779). He is acknowledging his skin color and comparing it to something bad, like a dirtied name. At the end of the play, after Emilia finds that Othello has murdered his own wife, she results to condemning his race, “O, the more angel she, and you the blacker