Table of contentsIntroductionRacism and prejudice in OthelloConclusionBibliographyIntroductionWilliam Shakespeare is famous not only for his mastery of the use of language, but also for his ability to elevate controversial topics in his pieces. This essay uses an excerpt from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Literary Remains to show how it might help readers understand one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays, Othello. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “Roderigo: What Fortune Must Thick Lips, If He Can Wear It So.” [1.1.67] "... here is one, if not the only, apparent justification for our blackamoor or negro Othello, even if we suppose that it is an unbroken tradition of the theater, and that Shakespeare himself, by lack of scenes and by the experience that nothing could be. made too marked for the senses of his audience, had practically sanctioned him, - would this prove anything concerning his own intention as a poet of all ages? Can we imagine him being ignorant enough to make a barbaric Negro of royal birth plead, - at a time also when Negroes were only known as slaves? - As for Iago's words to Brabantio, they simply imply that Othello was a Moor, that is to say black... No doubt Desdemona had already seen Othello's face in her mind; , as we are constituted, and very surely as the English public was disposed at the beginning of the 17th century, it would be something monstrous to conceive of this beautiful Venetian woman falling in love with a real Negro. This would testify to a disproportion, a lack of balance, in Desdemona, which Shakespeare does not seem to have considered in the least. "The extract presents a sustained attack by Coleridge on Shakespeare for his lack of realism in the "monstrous" depiction of a marriage between a "beautiful Venetian girl" and a "real negro" in Othello. He considers Shakespeare's transformation of a "barbarous negro" into a respected soldier and nobleman of stature as "ignorant", since at the time, "niggers". were only known as slaves. The extract seems to raise two questions: to what extent is the taboo of miscegenation central to the play, and to what extent is Othello's reputation capable of countering this prejudice? Racism and Prejudice in Othello It is certainly not difficult to conclude that Othello is probably Shakespeare's most controversial character. There is a clear theme of racism throughout the play, a theme firmly rooted in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as being against all the rules of nature. Nothing separates Othello from nature's rich curly darlings. our nation, except for the color of the skin - it equals or even surpasses them in reputation. At the beginning of the play, he seems confident that, OTHELLO: My roles, my title, and my perfect soul will rightly manifest to me. -2 When summoned to court on charges of witchcraft, the malevolent Iago is able to invoke Othello's deep-rooted insecurities about his race in order to turn Othello and Desdemona against each other until their marriage fails. Essentially, Iago is a representative of the white race, a pre-Nazi figure who attempts to inform the audience of the impurity of Othello and Desdemona's marriage. It demonstrates how this miscegenation threatens the existing social order and, ultimately, Othello's achievements are not enough to persuade others to shed prejudice in a moment of crisis (like Desdemona's running away) or hasmaintain your self-esteem in the long term. run. Othello is structured so that the main premise of the play, presenting the main themes, appears near the beginning. It is obvious that Iago has an agenda of malicious proportions with Othello as his target. He is the catalyst for all the destructive events in the play, right from the start, when he and Roderigo approach Brabantio's residence in 1.1. He uses crude and racist language to appeal to the senator's traditional beliefs, including expressions such as: IAGO: Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is killing your white sheep! Othello 1.1.87-88Iago even goes so far as to suggest that Brabantio's grandchildren are animals because of his daughter's ignoble marriage to an "other." IAGO: ...you will have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse, you will have your nephews neighing near you, you will have steeds for cousins ​​and jennets for the Germans.Othello 1.1.109-112Later, we says that Iago's motive is jealousy and that he uses the rhetoric of racism to undermine Othello, playing on Brabantio's prejudices to provoke him, even though, as Othello later recounts, "His my father loved me , often invited me. [1.3.129] A shock and a few crude comments from Iago are all it takes for a respected figure to turn against a close friend of equal stature simply because of skin color. Technically, Brabantio was not legally allowed to annul his daughter's marriage to the Moor because she was over the age of consent. Culturally, however, he had all the support necessary to challenge the marriage given the common racist assumptions of the time and accuse Othello of witchcraft and witchcraft. This first means that he is unable to imagine his daughter deliberately cheating on him, an understandable reaction given her past behavior, "so tender, righteous and happy", and the nature of the patriarchal society in which she lived. . Secondly, like Coleridge, he cannot believe that she could ever "fall in love with that which she feared to look upon" without the aid of spells, and thirdly, he suggests that Othello's race makes him capable of these “black” magic powers: we must ask ourselves; If Desdemona had run away with Roderigo, would he be accused of witchcraft? If Brabantio had not returned to his prejudices and remained calm, he might have thought to question the legality of marriage based on the consummation requirement of canon law, but he fails to do so, choosing instead to try to cancel it by claiming that his daughter was the victim of spells and witchcraft. In other words, Brabantio, a respected member of Venetian society, could have logically and legally challenged the marriage contract, but instead he just uses prejudice as weapons, encouraged by Iago. These events, so early in the play, establish the idea of ​​white purity and goodness, suggesting that other races represent darkness and evil. The clear binary opposition between Othello's blackness and Desdemona's beautiful whiteness is established and united in marriage, a concept that Shakespeare seems to experiment with to suggest the chaos that would ensue in a cultural context. Although Othello is not considered the most intelligent or cunning character in the play, he is one of Shakespeare's bravest characters and he exemplifies a certain spirit uncommon to the European notion of the Moor. He is an eloquent and romantic man who has won the heart of a senator's daughter, despite her admissions that "I am rude in my speech", and the Duke admits that "this story would win my daughter too". Othello is a hero who led a long life full of goodactions, which was necessary for a Moor for his existence to be tolerated in a predominantly white culture. He fought as a Venetian soldier and won the trust of his people. But has he really earned their trust? We saw how quickly Brabantio forgot his honorable nature. Othello had won Desdemona's love with his tales of battle and he had also promised the wounded Brabantio that he would similarly be a faithful son-in-law. He must be able to transcend certain preconceived ideas about race through his heroism and courage. He took on the whole socio-political structure and got away with it for a while, but the play shows only too clearly how slim the value of his reputation would become, in the eyes of people and to himself. -even. In Act 1, the audience witnesses Brabantio's reaction to his daughter's escape, and it is extremely significant. Othello has thus far been treated with great respect in Venetian society, but Shakespeare creates a moment of crisis to examine the extent to which Othello's reputation defines him when he needs it most. As long as logic exists, there will be little room for prejudice, which is based on illogical and irrational "gut" feelings, but Iago works by removing logic, his crudeness and base animal imagery bringing out the primal side of people. others. Unfortunately, it shows how easily this can be achieved through a moment of crisis and a few choice words. Act 1 presents the play almost in miniature; Iago moves on to bigger and better things when he manages to convince Othello to turn social prejudice against himself. The scene with Brabantio also shows that Iago's provocation is as capable of angering a Venetian civil senator as (as Elizabethan audiences would see) a hot-blooded Moor. Othello's racial "characteristics", such as his anger and jealousy (assumptions held at the time), do not cause his downfall - Iago does - but he can only achieve this by working on Othello's weaknesses. 'Othello, his insecurity about his race being The 'temptation scene' of version 3.3 is crucial to understanding the methods used by Iago to make Othello doubt Desdemona, by making him doubt himself. His first act after Othello's denial of his infidelity is to assure him that "I know the provisions of our country well", reminding him of his nature as a foreigner and, as such, of lesser authority to know the morals of Venetian women, and in fact, women in general, playing on her insecurities regarding her lack of experience in relationships with the opposite sex. He is forced to trust Iago to explain the world to him. "And yet how nature, going astray of itself - " is the crucial point at which we see Othello break down - he linked Desdemona's rejection of "curly darlings" or "natural" choices for husbands with the existence of something naturally unnatural and suspicious in his character. In line 267, he makes a rare reference to his blackness in a negative way and begins to compare himself to Cassio, who is fair, eloquent, and courteous, and also reveals his insecurity about his age. However, when he sees her, he refuses to believe Iago, but as we see, the damage is done and he returns to Iago to demand "ocular proof". Othello is then deceived very easily by a thin and insignificant illusion, after which he swears to kill her, without confronting her once. The ease with which Iago managed to achieve this feat is frightening and relies entirely on a simple trick of optics and his ability to play on Othello's insecurities, much of which is his race, and on his)