William Shakespeare’s play Othello deals with a black moor general named Othello who eloped with Desdemona, the daughter of a wealthy Venetian senator, and is quickly sent into battle against the Turks after their wedding. Following the deployment of Othello and his soldiers, the antagonist Iago plots and puts into action his quest for revenge against Othello. The tragedy of Othello when analyzed from a post-colonial perspective can be identified by the ambivalence, exoticism, and magical realism found throughout the play in regards to Othello. During the time in which Shakespeare wrote Othello, European imperialism and colonialization was at its prime which inspired him to incorporate its effects throughout the tragedy. Social and cultural
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Exoticism is the process of colonizers viewing the colonized as exotic and foreign while the colonized view their peers as average and common (Ashcroft). Throughout Othello, the supporting characters use witty remarks hinted with racist slurs to describe Othello to each other. During Elizabethan England, white Europeans viewed Africans as barbaric, sexual, and aggressive individuals and feared them as mystical beings. For instance, Iago refers to Othello as the animal when informing Brabantio of his daughters’ marriage. “Even now, now, vey now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (1.1.90 – 91). Iago’s reference to Othello engaging in sexual relations with Brabantio’s daughter – a white ewe which signifies the notation that black man are hyper-sexual animals that prey on the innocence and vulnerability of a lamb. In act III Shakespeare incorporates magical realism, Othello explains that an Egyptian charmer gave the handkerchief to his mother to give to his father so he would not wonder onto other woman and he gave to Desdemona so he may remain faithful unto her. Desdemona was shocked and intrigued by the mystical aspect of the origin of the handkerchief and Othello’s family. The exoticism in Othello lead to Venetians labeling Othello as foreigner, magical, and exotic and exhibiting racism towards him. After an in-depth postcolonial analyzation
Exoticism is the process of colonizers viewing the colonized as exotic and foreign while the colonized view their peers as average and common (Ashcroft). Throughout Othello, the supporting characters use witty remarks hinted with racist slurs to describe Othello to each other. During Elizabethan England, white Europeans viewed Africans as barbaric, sexual, and aggressive individuals and feared them as mystical beings. For instance, Iago refers to Othello as the animal when informing Brabantio of his daughters’ marriage. “Even now, now, vey now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (1.1.90 – 91). Iago’s reference to Othello engaging in sexual relations with Brabantio’s daughter – a white ewe which signifies the notation that black man are hyper-sexual animals that prey on the innocence and vulnerability of a lamb. In act III Shakespeare incorporates magical realism, Othello explains that an Egyptian charmer gave the handkerchief to his mother to give to his father so he would not wonder onto other woman and he gave to Desdemona so he may remain faithful unto her. Desdemona was shocked and intrigued by the mystical aspect of the origin of the handkerchief and Othello’s family. The exoticism in Othello lead to Venetians labeling Othello as foreigner, magical, and exotic and exhibiting racism towards him. After an in-depth postcolonial analyzation