Analyses of Race and Gender Issues in Othello
The discussion of race in Shakespeare's Othello has received a great deal of critical attention. Virginia Mason Vaughn, in her book Othello: A Contextual History, surveys this critical history, beginning with Marvin Rosenberg's 1961 book The Masks of Othello (a book documenting the nineteenth-century tendency toward representing Othello as light-skinned), and continuing through to Jack D'Amico's 1991 book The Moor in English Renaissance Drama. According to Vaughan herself, "The effect of Othello depends . . . on the essential fact of the hero's darkness, the visual signifier of his Otherness" (51). Arthur L. Little, Jr., in his article "'An essence that's not seen': The Primal Scene of Racism in Othello," claims that "The three crucial structural elements of Shakespeare's play are Othello's blackness, his marriage to the white Desdemona, and his killing of her" (306, emphasis added) as if there were no other "crucial structural elements." It is not my intention to undercut or undervalue the attention that has been given to the discourse of race, the opposition of black and white, in Othello; however, I contend that an exclusive focus on this discourse radically reduces and simplifies the play, and I wish to focus on a different discourse, a different opposition in the play-the discourse of honesty and whoredom, the opposition of falseness and loyalty.
Dympna Callaghan, in her book Women and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy, makes the point that "Mysogynistic discourse . . . leads, directly or indirectly, to the death of the female tragic transgressor [among whose number in Renaissance drama she counts Shakespeare's Desdemona and Cordelia, and John Webster's Duche...
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... White Devil. New Jersey: Humanities Press International, 1989.
· Gataker, Thomas. "A Good Wife God's Gift," Certain Sermons, First Preached, and After Published At Several Times. London: Printed by John Haviland for Edward Brewster, 1637.
· Little, Arthur, Jr. "'An essence that's not seen': The Primal Scene of Racism in Othello," Shakespeare Quarterly 44 (1993), 304-324.
· Raynolds, John. A Defence of the Judgement of the Reformed Churches. Printed by George Walters, 1610.
· Swetnam, Joseph. The Araignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanitie of Them, Choose You Whether. London: Printed for Thomas Archer, 1616.
· Anonymous, An Apologie For Womenkinde. London: Printed by Ed. Allde for William Ferebrand, 1605.
· Vaughan, Virgina Mason. Othello: A Contextual History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Peter Jackson’s film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” revolves around a young hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins and his unique group of companions. They go on a journey to destroy the One Ring of Sauron (the Dark Lord). In short, the One Ring has malevolent powers to whomever wears it.
Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the first book in the fantasy-based trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. The book begins with Bilbo Baggins celebrating his one hundred and eleventh birthday. After his party, he then decides to leave everything behind and join a Fellowship, which has a task of destroying the ruling ring, which will give supreme power to whoever has possession of it. Just before he leaves, Gandalf asks Bilbo for this ring. Due to the power in which the ring possesses while it is in his possession, he does not want to give it up. The novel ends with the destruction of the Fellowship due to the power in which the ring contains. One of the prime facts of the Middle Earth is power. Power is not neutral, but is always evil. It gives wicked the chance to dominate. The good is corrupting and inescapable. This is shown repeatedly throughout the novel, from when Bilbo gives up the ring, to when Boromir tries to take the ring, and finally, to seeing the control that the ring has over Frodo. One incident in the book, which corresponds with how power is evil, would be when Bilbo had to give up the Ring. The ring is very powerful. The power is so enticing that Bilbo is very weary to give up that ring. When Gandalf asks Bilbo if he wishes to give up the ring, Bilbo seems unsure saying yes and no. When it came to having to give it up he didn't like parting with it at all and didn't see why he should have to . Due to the power in which Bilbo feels that the ring had given him, he doesn't want to part with it. By no means does Bilbo want to use the power in an evil manner to dominate all. It is just the thought of power itself that causes this greed to come over him. Although Bilbo in general is a good character, the power of ring corrupts his ways, showing his thirst for power, which he deserves. Another incident, which portrays this corruption of goodness to evil, is when Boromir approaches Frodo and tries to take the ring from him. Boromir has authority, which is being heir to the throne of Gondor, but not the supreme power that he desires.
The two hero’s Harry Potter and Frodo Baggins are two very ordinary people before discovering what lay in store for them. Harry lived with his aunt and uncle in terrible conditions after his parents were murdered and Frodo lived with his uncle after his parents drowned. Harry learns of his true powers when he is twelve, he someone tells him that he was the one who killed Voldemort "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived"(Rowling). Harry’s parents were murdered but there love for him protected him, and when Voldemort tried to kill him, his spell backfired and nearly killed him. Harry doesn’t find this out until he is twelve years old, old enough to go to wizardry school. In the Lord of the Rings, middle earth can not agree on what to do with the ring. They finally decide to destroy it, but now can not decide who will carry it. Frodo volunteers to carry the ring when all the other races can not agree who will take it.
One day the old wizard Gandalf comes to the Shire, and he tells Frodo of an evil named Sauron who wants to capture the Ring for himself. In ages long past Sauron stole the Ring from the Elves, to protect him from the Powers of Good; but the Ring was stolen from him by a creature named Gollum, and then stolen from Gollum by Bilbo, who finally gives it freely to Frodo. "Sauron has been searching for the Ring for years," Gandalf tells Frodo, "and now he has sent his nine Black Riders, to the Shire to look for it." Frodo and Sam consult with their loyal friends Merry and Pippin, and when the Black Riders appear, the hobbits trick them into going into a mushroom-patch, disorienting the Black Riders just long enough to escape the Shire.
The book I read was titled The Hobbit. J. R. R. Tolkien wrote the book. It was first copyrighted in 1937. It was published by Ballantine Books. The main character in the book is Bilbo Baggins, who is a hobbit. Hobbits are humans a little smaller than dwarves. There are other main characters in the book, too. Gandalf is a powerful wizard who arranges the adventure the book is about. Thirteen dwarves also take part in the adventure. Thorin is the head dwarf who leads the party when Gandalf is away. The book takes place in a world known as Middle-Earth. Middle-Earth is a fantasy world where hobbits, dwarves, trolls, wizards and many other types of people exist.I think that the theme of the book is "You should always try new things, because you never know what will come of them." I think this is the theme because Bilbo never did anything out of the ordinary, and being pushed into an adventure made him very wealthy, and a great deal wiser. My favorite part of the book was when Bilbo found the ring which made him invisible whenever he put it on. I liked that part of the book because at first Bilbo did not know that the ring made him invisible, and it was interesting to read how he escaped the cave once he figured it out. J. R. R. Tolkien wrote three other books, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, that continues the tale that The Hobbit begins.
It is likely for one to assume that a classic piece of literature set in a fantasy oriented stage will have no merits to the youths of today. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, however, with its crafty of usage symbolism, displays its relevance to issues that often trouble teens. As the story progresses from a children’s tale to an epic, the main character Bilbo undergoes a series of development, his experiences often overlapping with ordinary people. Reading the Hobbit will provide teens with opportunities of exploring the importance of several common but serious topics. People may encounter many of the themes presented in the book elsewhere repeatedly, but it’s possible that they never appreciated the applications it might have on themselves. When teens read the Hobbit, they perceive it as a simple fiction of adventure. Under proper guiding, they will be able to recognize and utilize the lessons of the Hobbit, and improve their attitudes and ideas about life.
Frodo Baggins begins to know the evil of the Ring. He feels it pulling on him and sees the destruction while he is seated in the Seat of Seeing. Frodo’s quest as the Ring Bearer is to take the Ring to the one place where it can be destroyed, the Cracks of Doom, before Sauron gets it and takes over the world. Inscribed inside of the Ring seen only after it has been place in fire is as follows:
The trilogy is about a hobbit named Frodo Baggins that has to go on a quest to destroy an evil ring known as “One Ring.” The reason for destroying the ring is because it is consumed with evil, it was formed so that the Dark Lord, Sauron, could put his life force to it. To destroy the ring the hobbits have to bring the ring to the place where the ring was created, The Lord of the Ring trilogy is broken up into three movies, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The Fellowship of the Ring gives the background of the story and introduces the each character. The Two Towers continues with the plot of Frodo destroying the ring, and on the way meets new companions. In the final film, The Return of King, Sauron launches his final stages for conquest. His army is strong so the people who are trying to defend the world are losing, so it is up to Frodo to destroy the ring (Wikipedia, 2014).
The chosen character Frodo is entrusted to be given the ring and go to the Cracks of Doom and destroy due to it’s hideous power. It is by the influence and curiosity that he wears the ring and is exposed to it’s heinous power. Frodo becomes addicted to the evil that Sauron has corrupted him with by the ring, and he cannot help but succumb to it. He hurts those that are close to him, including his greatest and longest friend Samwise. By the end of the novel the ring has corrupted Frodo so much that it’s Samwise that completes the mission and destroys the ring of power. But though he does this, Frodo’s focus of character and his influence does not end there.
The book begins with Bilbo Baggins celebrating his one hundred and eleventh birthday. Many "Hobbits" show up at his party including his third cousin, Frodo, which is the main character of the novel and a powerful wizard named Gandalf. Biblo possed a powerful ring known as the "Ruling Ring" which gives "Supreme Power" to whoever has possession of it. At the end of the party, Bilbo uses his magical ring to turn invisible and stun his guests. Gandalf, the powerful wizard, then meets up with Biblo at his house and takes the ring from Bilbo, which is corrupting him. Gandalf examines it, realizing that the ring Bilbo has is the powerful "Ruling Ring". Knowing that the forces of evil are in search of the ring, Gandalf sends Frodo, a relative of Biblo, to destroy the ring in the only place it can be destroyed, "Mt. Doom". Overhearing the talk between Gandalf and Frodo, Sam, a "Hobbit", that is good friends with Frodo is forced on the quest to aid Frodo.
Shakespeare’s Othello features racism throughout the play. The overwhelming evidence of racism brings attention to all of the characters immorality. In Othello, the audience’s knowledge of the tragic hero depends on Iago’s and Roderigo’s description of him. For the first scene, the audience only knows that the Moor does something to enrage Iago. The audience understands what kind of person Iago is with his racializing report to Brabantio referring to Othello as, “an old black ram”. Through the primal scene, the structural elements of the play, and the racist ideology visible in Venice the racism in Othello is clear.
Racism has always been a prevalent social force in European society; it is a lens through which every person living within has an altered view of the world around them. In literature, this topic has been widely explored, but few works provide as bold and as insightful commentary on the role of race as relative to the time period in which they were written as Shakespeare’s play “Othello.” In this tragic drama, the powerful racism hanging over the Venetian State in the 16th century contributes to the deteriorating self image of Othello, leading him to enact his own tragic downfall. This emphasizes the work’s theme of jealousy as an all-consuming evil that can make even the greatest of men succumb to their own wickedness and corruption.
A Hobbit named Smeagol was enchanted by the power of the Ring. The Ring tricks Smeagol into doing evil things. In utter disgust the other Hobbits start calling him “Gullum”. He leaves his home and lives inside the misty mountains. The Ring begins to tear at his mind. The Ring ends up possessing him, he hated it but could not let it go. After having the Ring for so long, Gullom starts to fade away. He eventually loses his ring. In order to get the Ring back Gullom becomes one of The Dark Lords servant. The Rings new slave is a Hobbit named
...ce Sauron as true evil. Leaving Lorien, the Fellowship proceeds by boat along the Aduin, the great river. Eventually the party finally meets Gollum who has been following them ever since they left Rivendell. They decide to do nothing about him and instead pity him for what he has become. The party finally reaches the Falls of Rauros and must decide whether to head toward Mordor or go directly to the city of Minas Tirith, the capital of the Southern lands. Boromir ultimately becomes consumed with the Ring's power and he decides to take it for himself. He confronts Frodo and Frodo is forced to fend off Boromir. Realizing the power of the ring and his inability to trust other people, Frodo decides that he must go on to Mordor alone. He tries to leave discretely but Sam notices him trying to flee and follows him, and so the two set out together for Mordor.