Racism in Othello

Racism in Othello

 Racism refers to prejudice or antagonism directed against individuals based on their skin colour (Sonntag and Ranc 67). Often, racism is as a result of ignorance propagated by the belief that a particular race or a culture is superior as compared to the other races and cultures. The desire to yield control over a particular people deemed backwards in terms of civilization, fear of losing that control as well as the need to dissociate oneself from the rest are some of the reasons why racism continue to be propagated and the hatred being passed from generation to generation. This assignment will be addressing racism in Othello as well as explore the supporting subtopics such as tragedy, ethnicity and identity.

Othello is Shakespeare’s masterpiece of an imagined tragedy that recognized the problem of racism ahead of its time. At the time of writing the play, few people outside London had come into contact with a Black person, and thus, racism was not as prevalent as it is the case today. The play was written to address racism in the context of ethnicity and identity. Othello is a successful soldier married to a European woman by the name of Desdemona. The two are in love oblivion of their two different worlds. Unknown to them, their different ethnic backgrounds would be the exact downfall of their love and subsequently the seal to their fates. In the eyes of Shakespeare and the couple, their love is true, and they are therefore not disturbed by the widespread disapproval of their marriage. Shakespeare’s allow the couple to conduct themselves as though they were members of a civilized society.

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The antagonist, Lago represent an enraged society that is quickly disturbed by the love between a Black man and a White girl in the middle of Venice. Desdemona’s father Brabantio is sceptical of the interracial union because he feels that by allowing the marriage to take place would be the same as treating the low class in the society to be equal to them and that is unacceptable according to him. Shakespeare, therefore, illustrate that the prejudice against the interracial union is a widely perceived notion of the society and not just Lago’s,  especially those in the higher class of social stratification as they consider themselves superior. Lago repeatedly refers to Othello as a ‘Moor.’ Further, Lago decries to Brabantio that “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (De Ornellas).

As Othello’s love for Desdemona begins to crumble due to the overly discriminating Venetian culture as well as the societal pressure advanced by Brabantio and Lago, Othello blames his woes on his skin colour. He allows himself to lose his identity and blames his skin colour as the cause of his wife turning against him. His outstanding alien racial identity makes him unequal with the Whites who he had served with loyalty and determination. The tragedy is that Othello allows the Venetian view of him to destroy and poison him to the extent that he hates his skin colour, which is beyond his control. As an outsider and especially of black origin, he ought to have remained conscious of his blackness. Hence, the moment he lost that by consenting to marry Desdemona, he sets out on a course to self-destruction given the discriminative nature of the Venetian culture. From Brabantio’s words to the Venetian senate, it is evident that even marriage between the lower class and the ruling class was considered a taboo.

Works Cited

De Ornellas, Kevin. “Racism, Misogyny, and the Othello Myth: Inter-racial Couples from Shakespeare to Spike Lee – by Celia R. Daileader.” Renaissance Studies, vol. 22, no. 2, 2008, pp. 262-264.

Sonntag, Albrecht, and David Ranc. Color? What colour: Report on the fight against discrimination and racism in football? UNESCO Publishing, 2015.