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Race in Othello
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A full, in-depth A* essay plan exploring the theme of Race in Shakespeare's "Othello", for the Pearson Edexcel A-Level English Literature.
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By: mischacarr1 • 4 months ago
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raceIntroduction –
o Othello is victim of malice for multiple reasons, but most notably, his race – Dollimore
“tragedy of race”
o Receives consistent criticism through racial slurs, highlighting his anomalous position
as a moor in white Venice, reiterating Elizabethan stereotypes of ethnic minorities -
Loomba “a Moor cannot fully become a part of Venice”
o A nightmare of racial hatred - Loomba
Barbaric, abhorrent, lustful
Introduced to Othello through white racist viewpoints
1) Iago
o Could be Coleridge’s “motiveless malignity”, and as Greer points out, “Shakespeare
never tells us exactly why Iago hates Othello” but most likely due to race “an old
black ram is tupping your white ewe” – implies he is corrupting the innocence of a
lamb, calling him a “ram” is zoomorphic imagery. “Tupping” is most commonly
associated with copulation of sheep – presents him as a sexually animalistic being
o Barbary horse – outsider and racist, sexual appetite being uncontained according to
Coleridge
2) Roderigo
o “what full fortune does the thick lips owe us?” – plosive alliteration sounds like he is
spitting words out, emphasizing anger; ‘thick lips’ is derogatory slur on Othello’s race;
Othello influenced by Desdemona’s dowry (payment from father to groom in 17
century); Leo Africanus “so greedily addicted unto their filthy lucre”. Referring to him
as “thick-lips” rather than by name strips identity, dismisses military ability and
assigns race as his defining feature
3) Brabantio
o “chains of magic” – metaphor emphasizing Othello’s power over wife and how he
trapped her against her will; predatory, she is weak and helpless; “chains”
connotations of slavery; strong beliefs in witchcraft amongst Jacobean society - James
I wrote “Daemonologie” – belief that black connoted black magic and evil
o Burnett “he himself is a racially oppressed figure in an unfamiliar environment where
the attitudes of the white majority prevail”
Sophisticated, defies stereotypes
1) Speech
o Originally presented through Iago, Brabantio and Roderigo as unsophisticated,
barbaric, lascivious by others, but Shakespeare presents him as more educated that
the white characters
o Brabantio’s speech is emotional and ambiguous: “I’ll have’t disputed on – ‘tis
probable, and palpable to thinking. I therefore apprehend” and Othello’s response is
logical and articulate “how may the Duke be therewith satisfied” – blank verse and IP
presents Othello as more sophisticated than Brabantio, confirms Othello is worthy of
position as General
o John Hawkins – Elizabethan hero assumed doctrine of white supremacy over inferior
races
o Only subtly suggested as the Elizabethan society wouldn’t have supported this view
(believed white were superior to black, and the possibility of a “beastly (Africanus)”
Moor being in any way superior to a white man was abhorrent)
2) Personality
o Duke says he is “far more fair than black” – respected by white colleagues,
controversial in era
o Othello says he’s “rude […] in [his] speech” yet remains humble, despite being
articulate and having intelligent speech (moors often linked to seven deadly sins
“proud and high-minded”, “covetous” (Africanus) and he challenges this stereotype
through his lack of pride and greed)
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