Othello Key Themes: Race and Colour
- Created by: mhannah
- Created on: 30-04-18 23:17
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- Othello Key Themes: Race and Colour
- Othello's race
- There have been suggestions that he is a *****, Arabian, Berber or that his Spanish name makes Othello a 'Morisco', a descendant of the Moors of Grenada whose famous palace at Alhambra was built in the 14th century
- From the medieval period onwards the devil was often depicted in art as a black man surrounded by the flames of hell
- Other traditions associated the black man with lust, sin and death
- Prior to Othello, 'blackamoors'n plays were usually sinister figures
- Contrasting views of Othello's blackness
- The fact that Othello has risen to the important and powerful position of general and is accepted as a distinguished member of Venetian society suggests that the state he serves is prepared to see good in foreigners and accept that they have a useful role to play
- Significant that Desdemona is forced to explain and defend her marriage
- She "saw Othello's visage in his mind"
- Suggests either that Desdemona looked past his colour or that Othello's stories and origins excite her
- Is Shakespeare suggesting that Othello is the exception to the rule that black is usually bad or urging us to see that racial differences do not matter in love?
- If this is the case, Desdemona holds a radical point of view for a Jacobean heroine
- Feminist PoV would say that Desdemona is punished for her radical views and pushing the agenda of a progressive heroine
- If this is the case, Desdemona holds a radical point of view for a Jacobean heroine
- She "saw Othello's visage in his mind"
- 'Your son-in-law is far more fair than black"
- Is this an attempt to excuse Othello's blackness?
- Does it mean 'Try to accept your daughter's marriage because Othello's virtuous, even though he is black'?
- Or is this another example of another 'colour-blind' white character dismissing race as an irrelevance?
- Othello's character is more noble and impressive than any of the other male characters; he is compelling because he is different (tragic)
- Notable that negative racial descriptions of Othello which dominate the play at times are inaccurate
- Arguable that he begins to display some of the negative aspects of the stereotype then he is persecuted by Iago
- Othello is superstitious (the handkerchief),he is passionate (weeps many times), he does become violent
- Arguable that he begins to display some of the negative aspects of the stereotype then he is persecuted by Iago
- Othello the outsider
- New Historicist critics have argued that Othello's tragedy comes about because he can never be anything except an outsider
- Othello is in an impossible position as a black man serving a white patriarchy
- We may feel that he is dislocated because he marries, turning his back on his profession to become a husband
- He becomes further dislocated when he views his own race negatively, giving in to Iago's prejudice
- Significant that Gratiano Montano never mention Othello's race when they take him prisoner; they simply want to punish the "rash and most unfortunate man" for his crimes
- References to the Devil are reserved for Iago at the end of the play, linking him firmly the the theme of dislocation
- In the final scene, race is not the cause of Othello's dislocation: his murderous actions are
- References to the Devil are reserved for Iago at the end of the play, linking him firmly the the theme of dislocation
- Othello's race
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