Racism In Shakespeare's Othello

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In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the main character, Othello, is an African man surrounded by white people. Although he is ultimately marginalized by his peers, the question as to whether it was because of his race or if it was because of some other reason. While some believe that this is the central theme of Othello, I believe that it is not a play about race but instead just a piece in the bigger picture. However, despite the fact that Shakespeare created a hero who is not a racist stereotype in Othello, he ultimately allowed him to be marginalized by the subtle racism that surrounds him.
Othello is a play about a man named Iago, who becomes frustrated with his commanding officer, Othello, and plots to ruin his life. Through his trickery …show more content…
In my opinion Othello is not a play about race, but instead, racism is part of something that happens to Othello. “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise! Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, or else the devil will make a grandsire of you. Arise, I say (Shakespeare 1.1.97-101)!” In this quote, the reader sees Iago using racist slurs when he awakens Brabantio with the news that his daughter, Desdemona, has eloped with Othello. Iago is referring to Othello as the “old black ram and is informing Brabantio that Othello is sleeping with his daughter when he says “tupping” his “white ewe. Iago also calls Othello “the devil,” playing on a sixteenth century idea that black men were evil. They also thought the devel often took the shape and form of a black man (Mutlu 7).
In conclusion, I believe that the central theme of Othello was in fact not racism but actually appearance versus reality. For example, Othello appeared to be different from everyone because of his race, but in reality he was just as evil and conniving as the rest of …show more content…
It is important for many reasons. First of all, Othello reveals that Brabantio “loved” Othello but only when Othello was a military hero and not when he was in a romantic relationship with Desdemona. This is what Paul Robeson, the first black actor to play Othello on Broadway in 1943, had to say about the play:
In the Venice of that time [Othello] was in practically the same position as a coloured man in America today [1930]. He was a general, and while he could be valuable as a fighter he was tolerated, just as a negro who could save New York from a disaster would become a great man overnight. So soon, however, as Othello wanted a white woman, Desdemona, everything was changed, just as New York would be indignant if their coloured man married a white woman. (“Fight for Fame”
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