The Moor In Othello

Moors struggled to find harmony in Shakespeare’s time in Venice, England, and throughout Europe. Othello, the Moor, plays the Other in Shakespeare’s play Othello. The Other is an interesting character that is seen throughout Shakespeare’s plays including Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and Caliban in The Tempest. The Other is usually an outsider, someone who can be mocked, abused, or condemned. 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 …show more content…
The role of the Moor was not played by a black, but rather by white actor Richard Burbage. He wore blackface make-up as there was no chance of using a black man as the lead actor. In addition, there were no professional actors of color in Elizabethan England. It took over two centuries from 1604 for Othello to be played by a black. It was African American Ira Aldridge in 1807. The time it took for a black to finally play the role of a black shows the animosity in theatre up to a certain point in time. Moors even were portrayed poorly in poems of the time. In the poem “The Lady and the Blackamoor” (pg 197) from the 1660s centers around the fact that the Moorish servant is savage and wants to take revenge upon his master. The poem remained in print well into the 19th century. The long printing life of the poem shows how racist notions towards Moors remained in Europe for a very long time. This tale places the Moor in the role of a servant. Moor’s positions in society and households is very varied throughout Europe just like the sentiment towards Moors at the