Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Othello â⬠Racism Expressed in Words Essay -- Othello essays
Othello ââ¬âà Racism Expressed in Wordsà à à à à à The Bard of Avonââ¬â¢s tragic play Othello expresses racism; there is no doubt about this among most critics. However, to what degree ââ¬â to a vulgar extent? Or to an excusable level? à In her book, Everybodyââ¬â¢s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack comments on the audienceââ¬â¢s reaction to the black-white union in the play: à That a beautiful Venetian girl should fall in love with ââ¬Å"a veritable negroâ⬠seemed to many implausible, in fact ââ¬Å"monstrous.â⬠The words are Coleridgeââ¬â¢s, but the sentiment was widely shared and, on the nineteenth-century stage, was increasingly taken into account by ââ¬Å"orientalizingâ⬠the hero, making him appear to be what one of the centuryââ¬â¢s best-known actor-directors declared he emphatically was: ââ¬Å"not a negroâ⬠but ââ¬Å"a stately Arab.â⬠(129) à In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his dislike, or rather hatred, for Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (ââ¬Å"I follow him to serve my turn upon himâ⬠), with Roderigoââ¬â¢s assistance, by alerting Desdemonaââ¬â¢s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughterââ¬â¢s elopement with Othello. Roderigo shares Iagoââ¬â¢s prejudiced attitude toward Othello: ââ¬Å"What a full fortune does the thicklips owe / If he can carry't thus!â⬠The word thicklips is a disparaging reference to a facial characteristic of many members of the black race. David Bevington in William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies describes how racism is obvious from the very outset of the play: à Othello is unquestionably a black man, referred to disparagingly by his detractors as the ââ¬Å"thick-lips,â⬠with a ââ¬Å"sooty bosomâ⬠(1.1.68; 1.2.71); Elizabethan usage ap... ...rsity. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. à Wayne, Valerie. ââ¬Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.â⬠The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991. à Witt, Mary Ann Frese, et al., eds. ââ¬Å"Black and White Symbols in Othello.â⬠The Humanities: Cultural Roots and Continuities. Vol.1. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1985. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. à Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. ââ¬Å"The Engaging Qualities of Othello.â⬠Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957. à Ã
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