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Iago's Ambiguity In Othello

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Recommended: The impact of race in othello

Name : Salma
Last name : Obeid
ID: 151067
Course: A230A

Shakespearian’s ambiguity Tragedies are written plays in which the protagonist dies at the end. The protagonist is recognized as being the hero of the tragic play; however, some tragedies, at some point, shed the light on another character creating confusion in the mind of the readers about the state of the true hero. Shakespeare’s Othello is one of these tragedies. In Othello, the protagonist is Othello , but the flow shift sometimes to the character Iago who is the second main character in the tragedy. Although the protagonist fulfilled his role and died, his subsidiary caused a dilemma whether he is or not the hero of the play. Thus made of Shakespeare’s Othello a controversial …show more content…

Othello was a black man . This feature alone was capable of instigating them against him. If we go back in time, racism is an old term stemming from Elizabethan period when the queen Elizabeth tossed out the Negros for the reason that they are occupying jobs and making Europeans unemployed. So, even that Othello was occupying a “prestigious position in venetian society”, he was and still seen as an “outsider”, an “extravagant” that by marrying Desdemona he was trying to “fit” himself in the venetians community. (Walder, n.d) Throughout the play, he was referred to by “the moor”, “the blackamoor”, the “thick lips” and “the old black ram”, and the “Barbary horse”; all these adjectives reflect the exotic situation he is putted in. (Walder, n.d) To explain more, Iago, Brabantio, and Roderigo, on the surface, and the venetian people as a whole, the intended to prejudge Othello according to his skin color: he is black, as a result he possesses a big penis, so, he is portrayed as a lust animal. Also, his black skin revealed for them that he is a devil. Taking a backward step, Iago’s jealousy portrayed the jealousy of all the venetian. It is unnatural that Othello occupy a higher position, for he is black. He is seen as inadequate comparing to venetians white skin people. Hence, on the surface it is Iago but in the deep reality it is the Venetian

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This reinforces the difference historical context can have to a contemporary readership as racism is typically not thought to be a main issue in Renaissance society. The Ottoman Empire has conquered 1/3rd of the globe and a Renaissance audience would have felt great pathos towards Venice’s feelings of vulnerability towards this great power. Othello’s historical attachment to the Ottomans therefore make him alien- a social ‘other’, and a threat to their righteous morality. Racial discourse viewed him as a ‘moor’, and a ‘Turk’, both derogatory idioms that ‘personified all things evil’, in Protestant Reformation propaganda (Barin, 38). This is reinforced through Iago’s repetitive use of belittling, racist discourse towards Othello- ‘barbary horse…devil’, (1.1.109-11) and the use of violent, visual animal imagery- ‘old black ram is tupping your white ewe’, (1.1.88-89).

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Manipulation of the African Race in Othello In William Shakespeare’s Othello, racism is a principal theme that drives the plot of the entire play. An outlier in Venice, Othello the moor or African, is targeted by his ensign Iago because Cassio who seems to be unqualified, was promoted to a lieutenant before he was. Iago is driven by envy and jealousy and creates a confusing and elaborate plan to deprive Cassio of his position. Iago also shares these envious motives with Roderigo, a man lusting over Othello’s wife.

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