Racism in The Tempest
One manifestation of racism that Cesaire surfaces is the proliferation of negative Black stereotypes. Cesaire uses Prospero to expose the feeble, racist stereotypes many Whites propagate about Blacks. Prospero, presenting a common White opinion, says to Caliban, "It [Caliban's living quarters] wouldn't be such a ghetto if you took the trouble to keep it clean" (13). Such a statement is clearly racist and plays into the stereotypes many Whites have about Blacks (i.e., they are lazy and dirty). These stereotypes are White lies. The cleanliness of a residence has very little to do with whether it is a ghetto or not. Also, Prospero's stereotypical response puts the blame on Blacks for problems that were ultimately created by European colonization and the subsequent employment of Africans as slaves. Furthermore, it can he argued that Whites are the lazy race because they are the ones who initiated African slave labor. Another stereotype that Whites often impose on Blacks has to do with a Black man's supposed desire to have sex with White women. Cesaire addresses this issue when Prospero accuses Caliban of trying to rape his daughter(l3). Cesaire is pointing out a classic case of White male guilt projection. History has clearly shown that more White men, supposedly pious slave owners in particular, have taken advantage of Black women, than Black males have of White women. The historical White power structures in America have facilitated the circumstances that have made this kind of sexual exploitation of Black women possible. By using Prospero to accuse Caliban of laziness and sexual impropriety, Cesaire poignantly reveals: the hypocrisy of Whites.
Another manifestation of racism that Cesaire draws to our attention is the woefully inadequate educational opportunities that exist for Blacks in America Caliban indicts Prospero when he says, "as for your learning, did you ever impart any of that to me? No, you took care not to. All of your science you keep for yourself alone, shut up in those big books" (12) While such a statement is historically accurate in the sense that Whites sought to keep Black slaves uneducated so that it would be easier to manipulate them, the statement also addresses the more subtle, but no less evil, form of educational racism that still exists to this day. Jonathan Kozol paints a graphic picture of degrading squalor when it comes
Every person requires water for survival. So what would happen if we ran out? North China is undergoing a serious water crisis, which holds a large part of China’s agriculture and population, with China’s government attempting to gain control of the situation they have decided to bring in water from the south. North China does have many factors contributing to it’s water issue at hand, however, in my opinion there are three main issues which the government should gain control of, or the three biggest causes of China’s crisis. these causes include urbanization, global warming, and the worst for last, industry.
Brubaker snuck into the prison, even after he was named the warden. Nobody in their right mind snuck into a prison, let alone this one in Arkansas. He wanted to see what life was actually like, instead of just hearing what others said (Brubaker). The prisoners believed that one warden or government official was just as bad as the next. They have no reason to believe any different. The prison was basically run by slave labor, using corporal punishment in everyday situations. These situations didn’t even need a reason; sometimes it was done just because.
---. “White Man’s Guilt.” 1995 James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 722-727.
Zilka, N., Stozicka, Z., Kovac, A., Pilipcinec, E., Bugos, O., and Novak, M. (2009). Human misfolded truncated tau protein promotes activation of microglia and leukocyte infiltration in the transgenic rat model of tauopathy. Journal of neuroimmunology 209, 16-25.
The black man is hence for white culture the “the burden of original sin” (Fanon 168). Racism in this way is essentially a kind of defense reaction, which, in a way, explains why racism so powerfully enforces and reaffirms relations of separation and distance – the white man wants as much distance
The Bard of Avon’s tragic play Othello expresses racism; there is no doubt about this among most critics. However, to what degree – to a vulgar extent? Or to an excusable level?
Through a historical lens, Shakespeare’s The Tempest revolves around the evolving times of England during the Tudor Dynasty in 1552-1603. During those times Queen Elizabeth I was the newly appointed ruler of England after her half-sister, the previous ruler had died. This new change was the new beginning for England. It allowed many opportunities to arise such as a new stock company, provisions for the poor, and a chance for many to explore the world with their new wealth. To thank and impress their new Queen, many set sail to conquer new lands. Similar to history, The Tempest did contained a few curious Englishmen and their king discovering new land but the exact location is unknown. At the time of Shakespeare’s
Smith, Huston. The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1994. Print.
Reed, S. M., & Bogardus, A. M. (2012). PHR/SPHR: Professional in human resources certification study guide (4th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc. ISBN-13: 9781118289174
From the article, Davis’s main argument is that the mainstream society has developed the perception the black men are to blame for the
Othello, from the onset, is shown to us a play of love and jealousy. There is however more to this play than just love and jealousy; there is underlying racism, hate, deception, pride, and even sexism between these pages. Othello is a transcendent play, one that will survive the perils of time simply because it is still relevant. Even today, over 400 years later, there are still issues of racism and sexism. Hate is as natural as love in humans and Othello gets right to the root of that. We witness this from the very first scene, “…you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse/ you’ll have your nephews neigh to you” (I.i.112-14); to the very last, “Moor she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor” (V.ii.258). Moor however is used as an insult all throughout the play; not so much the word itself but the feel of the word. Between these pages we see many different ways as to how the cultural differences between Othello and the other characters.
Revenge is at the core of the Greek tragedies Agamemnon, the first play in the trilogy Oresteia (Aeschylus (525 - 455 BC), and Medea (Euripides (431 – 480 B.C.). The protagonists in each play are women who carry out horrifying acts of revenge on their husbands. Both characters – Clytemnestra and Medea – are at once heroines, villainesses and victims.
Slavery occurs on a widespread basis in The Tempest. Occurrence of slavery to many of the characters, all in different ways, helps to provide the atmosphere for the play. The obvious slaves are not the only slaves, as Prospero has basically got everybody entranced when he wants, to do whatever he wants with them. He can also control the way that they think.
The academic recourse I have chosen, titled Racism in Othello, starts out to by talking about how race has been a problem throughout history. About how your race can affect you depending on what race you are and where you happen to be. It then continues on and explains how Othello is a story that heavily grasps this subject. The writer of this academic paper even goes into great detail so as to prove his point. This resource would be very useful to my paper because it goes into great detail about how racism is present in the story of Othello and it does not stop there. It gives the ‘so what?’ The ‘so what?’ of the racism present is that it affects the main character of the story heavily, thus giving it a story.
It is often nice to encounter a piece of prose that challenges our minds to search for deeper underlying truths then finish the text with a sense of accomplishment at having been able to detect these truths with little effort. However, when the creator of the work is under pressure to cater to their society's standards, it becomes more difficult to determine which of the ideas presented are truly accurate and are still currently relevant in our own society. A very common example is when we analyze works by William Shakespeare in high school or in college, or sometimes even just in one's leisure time. In Shakespeare's time, society valued colonialist ideas, which comes through in his work The Tempest when we analyze the roles he assigns for