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.
“A unique, wholly realized other world, evoked from deep in the well of Time, massively detailed, absorbingly entertaining, profound in meaning.” This is a book review that New York Times wrote for the book “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien.“The Hobbit” tells a story about Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit that live in his sweet house, has invited by the dwarves and his friend Gandalf to a adventuresome journey for get back the kingdom that the dwarves deserved. In their journey, they met different people, such as human, elf, and orcish. The most important thing is that Bilbo Baggins found a magic ring that could make him invisible. “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien is a classical masterwork because it use a subtle writing skill
William Shakespeare’s Othello gains fame for its thematic conflict between appearance and reality, Iago’s motiveless malignity, and the downfall of Othello when he naively believes Desdemona’s without any substantial proof. While all these factors are important, the historical aspects of Othello are even more important because they are the foundation of the more complex concepts the play explores. The context in which the play is written has underlying distinctions between races. Race plays a huge role in Othello because it sets boundaries that cause the tragic hero’s downfall. The introduction to racism occurs when Brabnatio finds out about the marriage of Desdemon and the Moor.
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.
This novel cannot be easily summarized; it is a trilogy composed of 1031 pages, not including the numerous appendices, maps, and the index. This fantasy is one of the most detailed in existence with various other works. The Lord of The Rings is the tale of a courageous journey taken on by an unlikely fellowship and focused around one unexpected and tragic hero. This tragic hero is Frodo Baggins, a hobbit who has lived in paradise his entire life. The pleasant, laid-back life of Frodo abruptly comes to a close when his dear friend, Bilbo Baggins, disappears at his own birthday party. Frodo is then left with all of Bilbo’s extravagant belongings which included Bilbo’s most ‘precious’ possession; a golden ring. Gandalf, a humble wizard as well as a close companion to the Baggins, reveals to Frodo the truth about this seemingly meaningless ring.
William Shakespeare's Othello is only moderately interested in questions of race and racism. For Shakespeare, Othello's blackness was mainly a plot device. Though the bard did demonstrate concerns about racial and religious prejudice, in Othello and The Merchant of Venice, his interest in the tragedy of the Moor was principally psychological. For Shakespeare and his contemporary audience, Othello was about jealousy, hatred, and vindictiveness.
Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” Nineteenth Century Literature March 1966: 102-106. Jstor. On-line. 10 Nov. 2002.
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.
Orkin, Martin. “Othello and the “plain face” Of Racism.” 2nd ed. Vol. 38. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 166-88. Shakespeare Quarterly. Folger Shakespeare Library in Association with George Washington University, Summer 1987. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. .
In the Sixteenth century, as we see clearly from Othello and other works of both Shakespeare and Cinthio's original version of Othello, race was a topic of great debate and discussion. Today, in the twenty-first century the debate retains its controversy and passion. However, attitudes towards race have taken a dramatic turn during the last century. In the developed world people are now living in an increasingly cosmopolitan society would undoubtedly be more tolerant and would reject or even be offended by racial discrimination to any person or sections of the community. Openly 'racist' people today are seen as outcasts. Taking this into account, the way a modern audience would react to race and racism in Othello is dependent upon the way in which that modern audience would interpret 'Othello'. This prompts the questions of what sort of message Shakespeare wanted to send to his audience and was Othello the moor portrayed as a tragic hero or did his character eventually come to resemble the prejudices of which he was a victim. Shakespeare also discusses the issue of race with other characters such as the hateful Iago and the prejudices hidden deep in Barbantio.
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.
Frodo’s adventure is not one of originality. It follows a cookie-cutter character through its journey to save that which is dear to him. In the case of Frodo he must protect the shire from devastation, and potentially all of Middle-Earth, by throwing the ring back into the fires of Mordor. This quest takes Frodo through a series of plot elements that famous Greek heroes have followed, his mission to rid Middle-Earth of ominous forces.
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.
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).
R. R. Tolkien. The books are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The novels and films take the audience through Frodo Baggins and his companions’ journey to destroy the One Ring. Long before the trilogy sets off, nineteen rings of power were forged by the elves. Three of these rings went to the elves, seven went to the dwarves, and the remaining nine rings went to the race of men. One additional ring was forged by the Dark Lord, Sauron, in the pits of Mount Doom. This ring, known as the One Ring, was forged to put those who wore the other nineteen rings of power under Sauron’s control. Sauron failed to deceive the elves and the dwarves but succeeded in deceiving the nine men who bore the rings. Thousands of years after these events is when the Lord of the Rings trilogy takes place. Frodo Baggins, the trilogy’s main protagonist, is passed down a ring from his guardian, Bilbo Baggins. After thorough research and inspection, a great wizard, Gandalf the Grey, finds out that this ring belongs to Sauron, the trilogy’s main antagonist. Hobbit Frodo and his good friend, Samwise Gamgee, are given the task to destroy the One Ring at Mount Doom, where it was forged. Shortly into the two hobbits’ journey, they meet some faces willing to help. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and Boromir all make up the Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship’s main goal
The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.