Othello character analysis4/30/2023 And-as news stories continue to inform us- racism is alive and rampant throughout the States. As recently as October 2009, a white Justice of the Peace in Louisiana refused to marry an interracial couple ( Source). The 1930's may seem like a very long time ago, but it would be a mistake to say that Shakespeare's work (and Paul Robeson's remarks) are not relevant today. How Shakespeare Paved My Way to Stardom." Pearson's Weekly, April 5, 1930, p 100.) So soon, however, as Othello wanted a white woman, Desdemona, everything was changed, just as New York would be indignant if their coloured man married a white woman." (See "My Fight for Fame. He was a general, and while he could be valuable as a fighter he was tolerated, just as a n**** who could save New York from a disaster would become a great man overnight. "In the Venice of that time was in practically the same position as a coloured man in America today. Here's what actor Paul Robeson (the black American actor who broke the color barrier when he played Othello on Broadway in 1943) had to say about Othello: We can also-tragically-draw some parallels between the play and more contemporary attitudes in the U.S. Many literary critics have pointed out that the play seems to capture some pretty common (and completely awful) 16th and 17th century attitudes toward interracial couples. At one point, Iago suggests that Othello is a "devil" that will make Brabantio the "grandsire" of black (like the devil) babies (1.1.100). In the play, Othello's marriage to Desdemona prompts some characters to refer to Othello as "thick-lips," the "devil," and the "old black ram" that supposedly contaminates a white woman (Desdemona) with his hyper-sexuality. Otherwise, he insists, Desdemona never would have run "to the sooty bosom" of Othello (1.2.82, 92, 89). Othello doesn't hold back when it comes to racism: these Venetians really show how bigoted they are.Īccording to Brabantio, Othello must have "enchanted" Desdemona with "foul charms" and magic spells. Of course, as we learn, Othello is definitely not the tricky character in this play. who believes Desdemona's interracial marriage can only be the result of Othello's trickery. On the other hand, being a black Moor and a foreigner in Venice also subjects Othello to some shockingly overt racism, especially by his wife's father. On the one hand, he is a Christian (probably) and experienced military leader, commanding respect and admiration from the Duke, the Senate, and many Venetian citizens. Othello's status in Venice is pretty complicated-he's both an insider and an outsider. Othello's Status in Venice: Inside/OutĪ black man from North Africa, Othello has traveled the world, been sold into slavery, escaped, and ended up as the military commander of the Venetian military, guard to a powerful Italian city-state. The play dramatizes this dude's fall from grace – Othello begins as a noble guy (he's a celebrated and respected war hero, a loving husband, and an eloquent storyteller) but, by the end of the play, Othello has become an irrational, violent, and insanely jealous husband who murders his own wife after Iago convinces him that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Shakespeare penned Othello with the same insane and still-fresh-centuries-later talent that he employed with his other tragic heroes (that's Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth, y'all). and he's still one of the most famous (which is a big problem, and why you should set a goal to do a "read only non-white authors" month/year).īut we digress. Othello is the first great black protagonist in Western literature. (Click the character infographic to download.)
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