Skin As A Symbol Of Racism In Shakespeare's Othello

Improved Essays
During Elizabethan times, when the play was first performed, a fear against foreigners allowed for racist views to seep into Shakespeare’s performances. This is evident in the way the color of Othello’s skin is a symbol of his alienation and one of his greatest insecurities which eventually leads to his downfall.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    1 Othello is the only man in Venice with a different color skin, so he feels insecure about being born black. Othello knows he lived in a world where the white people are the majority of the population. He is worried about what others will think him marring Desdemona, so they eloped at the beginning of the play. Othello believes Iago so easily about Desdemona is cheating on him because he does not know why she chose him over a man that is her own skin color. Othello says “Haply, for I am black,” (Act 3.3.303)…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During this time it was odd to see two people of different races together. Throughout the play Shakespeare did a good job in bringing that sense of institutional racism alive, by having Othello constantly facing problems from the characters because of his race. In this story the main reason for Othello terrible fate is because of the fact that he was black. Othello was a powerful figure, he played a solider and even though he had many accomplishments people still made it hard for him because of his race.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Upon hearing the words “racism” and “evilness”, the first instinct of most people is never to connect them. That is because even though racism is an immoral act; it is not directly associated with evilness. However, in Shakespeare’s’ Othello, the motif of racism is linked to the motif of evilness/hell.…

    • 50 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Role Of Race In Othello

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Race is very important in Othello. The color of his skin is the reason that most of the events happen that leads to his downfall as the tragic hero. It is why he is doubted by most of the characters in the play. Othello isn’t give the confidence he needs because he is portrayed as some “devil” just for having darker skin. Desdemona’s father doesn’t even trust him because of his skin color.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Othello, through much of the play, is referred to by racial slurs and appearance based identifiers, like “an old black ram” and “The Moor”…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In this particular story of Othello the questions of humanity and inhumanity were told in the entire story. To beginning, Othello was the odd man out in this story. A well-respected black man who is a general of the army of Venice. One of the first cruel acts that Shakespeare bares is through Iago when he told Brabantio “I am one sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are making the beast with two backs (Diyanni)”. Othello darkness or blackness was mention many time in the story.…

    • 1677 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For generations, the Elizabethan era has been a prominent time period where Queen Elizabeth I heired. This era brought opportunities for great play writers to express their work as it was the era of the very first theatres in England. William Shakespeare joined the London theatre scene making history while creating 37 remarkable plays and 154 sonnets gaining the title of the great bard, since he is a great poet. During the year of 1603, Shakespeare wrote the classic drama, Othello. Othello captured the themes of Love and Jealousy.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Moor In Othello

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Little says, “But, as Othello’s countrymen will finally have it, no amount of rhyming or coupling (or punning) will leave unseen the black Other whom the audience suspects is hidden within Othello.” Little talks about how as much as one can try to hide Othello’s blackness in his qualities, nevertheless it is still there and will be ridiculed. Othello shows the great difficulties a Moor faced in western society. Moors were…

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Early on in the tragedy the reader is aware that Othello it looked down on society because he is a black man. In the time periods when Shakespeare wrote the play, racism was a big factor in society that could make or break someone. In the world of Othello race also plays a main role, Othello is a character with a high ranking in the army, but even with his respected job when he marries…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It’s why Brabantio is convinced that Othello used black magic to seduce Desdemona, because she otherwise would never fall for a black man. And it, along with Iago’s guile, is why Othello even questions Desdemona’s love for him, and ultimately kills her. However, racism is not only present in the people around Othello; it is within him. Internalized racism is when racial minorities take in the racist messages that relentlessly bombard them, and start to have feelings of self-loathing and hatred of their own race (Nittle). The Tragedy of Othello is a perfect example of how internalized racism can destroy a person.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lines 400-403 In Othello

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Pages

    In this case, the lines represented above could be viewed as Othello losing his basic rights because of his color. “Farewell tranquil mind!”(Shakespeare.400) , is an example where the reader can interpret it in their own unique way.…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1 Nov. 2016. The author, Bloom, firmly establishes the multiple occasions that racism is a major element in the play Othello. He describes the intended reason the character, "Othello", is a colored man, rather than similar color to the other characters. He clearly states his opinion on his belief that Shakespeare is perhaps a racist man.…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racism And Racism In Othello

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited

    “To understand Othello’s position, one must appreciate not only his African characteristics, but his position as a black man in a Venetian society; he is the Moor of Venice” (Berry 318). Othello’s alienation played a big role in the play. Othello’s dark skin color isn’t only a mark of his physical isolation, but it also represents several different symbols. They were very stereotypical. Othello’s skin color is black and in the Elizabethan era, being black symbolized ugly, treachery, lust, bestiality, demonic, dishonest, and unintelligent (Berry 319).…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alienation In Othello

    • 1123 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This racial difference victimises Othello as the Elizabethan society created a racial ideology in the need to better themselves. The casual racism used here could be argued an inevitable outcome of the colourisation to…

    • 1123 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the beginning of the play, Othello’s heroic virtues are acknowledged when the Duke concedes that “Your son-in-law is far more fair than black” inferring that his high calibre compensates for his colour. Racial bigotry was pervasive in Venetian society; nonetheless, Othello was able to gain a high status position, stressing his nobility and honour. However, in compliance with the conventions of the tragic form, Othello experiences a regression into jealousy, as he says, “Arise, black vengeance from thy hollow cell,’, emphasising how he has allied himself with evil. His furious, threatening tone accentuates his appeal to the devil, and his complete surrender to immorality.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays