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problems with racism in literature
comment on the character of desdemona in william shakespeare othello
comment on the character of desdemona in william shakespeare othello
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In the aftermath of the death of Desdemona by Othello, Emilia vehemently attacks
Othello for his wrongdoing. In act five scene two, Emilia says this to Othello: "O, the more angel she, And you the blacker devil!" (V.ii.129-131). Emilia is not only mad that the pure and immaculate Desdemona was killed, but is enraged that the devil (i.e. Othello), has slain an angel. This scene suggests that the word black was used as a metaphor for the devil and darkness since Othello killed Desdemona in the shadows. Emilia also sees Othello as a monster who cannot control is own anger (possibly due to his Moorish characteristics). Race in Othello is only used to propel more important themes in the play (e.g. love affairs). The racial thematics are not only
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The utilization of color imagery enhances the play, causing the audience to look past the words and search for a more profound understanding behind the scenes, besides race. In the realms of the play, the color black has always been used to create the mood for evil and deviousness, as we will see, since Iago is portrayed as satan and a trickster. Iago constructs most of his hellish plans in the dark of night to eventually influence the bestiality of Othello to protrude out and cause his demise. In the case of the devil, the color black is used to illustrate the vice and villainous nature of Satan. In act two, Iago assures Cassio that the best way he can get his job back, is to attract Desdemona, then Cassio is sent away. While Iago is alone on the stage, Iago asks the audience why he is evil, since his advice to Cassio is “honest” and free. Iago answers his question and then states, "When devils will the blackest sins put on, / They do suggest [tempt] at first with heavenly shows, / As I do now" (2.3.351-353). Iago knows that he is a hellish hypocrite, but he seems to be getting a laugh out of it since he is represented as …show more content…
7). The use of light in this context signifies not only Desdemona’s life as pure and innocent and but the goodness and moral status of the situation. When Othello says “putting out the light” he is killing the pure and innocent and bringing out the devil to send to hell. Thus, Othello is labeled as being a blackamoor or black devil for creating this lack of light, and unveiling the dark to illustrate his Turkish side to the audience. Othello once again uses light in a metaphorical way, stating: “if I quench thee, thou flaming minister/I can again thy former light restore/ should I repent me. But once put out thy light/Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature/I know not where is that Promethean heat/That can thy light relume.” (V.ii. 8-13 ) This suggests that if Othello were to extinguish his candle, he would be able to relight, if he regret his decision. But if Othello makes the choice to kill the innocent Desdemona, he knows he would not be able to bring her back. This also illustrates the fact that Othello could go to hell if he puts out the light (i.e. pure and immaculate Desdemona), and that killing Desdemona would create the darkness that Othello does not want to
His two pillars of motivation for his plotted chaos is being passed over for the lieutenancy position, and more importantly, his wife's alleged cheating on him. At the beginning of the play Iago is displayed as having some redeeming qualities to keep the audience wondering whether or not they should sympathize with him. There are lines early on that allude to his devilish nature when Iago compares himself to Satan, “When the devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with the heavenly shows, as I do now.” (3.2.371-373). He is saying that he could be comparable to the Devil in the way that they are both sneaky in their mischievous deeds, first presenting themselves as upstanding allies. Iago is finally presented as a true villain beyond reproach or his mere jealousy on being cheated on or being passed over for the lieutenancy position, as seen when he monologues to the audience whenever revealing his plots as if immensely proud of himself. The explicit proof of this is the murder of Emilia by Iago as soon as she becomes defiant against him, his last words to her being, “Villainous whore!” (5.2.273). His display of a lack of care for her proves how little he cares for that which he calls his wife, and finally quells the audience of any inkling Iago’s actions will be
...ate a plan to bring Othello down. Iago literally regulated Othello throughout the play like a puppet. He projected racist beliefs into Othello’s psyche (Adelman 144). He made Othello so hesitant and frail about his race that he loses his own life and killed his wife. Othello’s blackness turns into a powerful vehicle for Iago (Adelman 140). Iago was just driving Othello all around Venice causing chaos.
The motif hell is very important in Othello. There are multiple references to the devil and hell in Shakespeare’s play. For instance “the devil will make a grandsire of you” (1.1.91) is one of the first references to hell. The devil is commonly associated with hell, because that is where in a person’s mind, the devil resides. In this quote Iago is referring to Othello as the devil. He is says to Brabantio that the devil—Othello—will have children with Desdemona, and that you will be the grandfather of those young devils. Iago referred to, Othello, as the devil to put fear into, Brabantio, so that Brabantio would act faster. Furthermore, the motif hell is mentioned in the quote “Hell and Night.” (1.3.392). When Iago says “Hell and Night”, he is probably referring to Othello. This is possible because in most of Iago’s references and talk of hell, he is always mentioning Othello as the devil. In the quote “Hell and Night”, Night could perhaps be a reference to Othello’s skin color because the night is black just like Othello’s skin tone. Mentions of hell usually put fear in a person. Iago uses the motif hell multiple times, and most of those times he is referring to Othello, which suggests that he wants people to be afraid of
1.) In the play “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice” written by Williams Shakespeare, he reveals the main themes in Othello’s final speech. The two main themes Othello illustrates in his final speech are reputation and jealousy. In Othello’s speech he says, “When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, speak of me as I am.” (Shakespeare 355), showing the importance of his reputation. He is unable to cope with criticism due to his low-self-esteem and therefore, cares what other individuals have to say about him. Othello’s dark skin is the reason why he does not have high-self-esteem and becomes jealous when Iago tells him about his wife having an affair with Cassio. Othello loves Desdemona but he feels that he is not good enough for her
...n the end of the play. Iago is not really evil or the vice character he is the misunderstood and wonderful character who can only be seen through a certain lens before it all goes back to black and white and good and evil fights one another for the main stage again. Shakespeare pulled many themes into this story but in all truth I believe that Iago is true main character, not Othello or Cassio, but Iago with all of his problems and vices, he is the truest expression of being human.
Othello: The Moor of Venice is probably Shakespeare's most controversial play. Throughout this work, there is a clear theme of racism, a racism that has become commonplace in Venetian society which rejects the marriage of Othello and Desdemona as anathema. The text expresses racism throughout the play within the language transaction of the dialogue to question the societal ethos established by Othello, thereby making him nothing less than a cultural "other." Furthermore, the character of Desdemona is displayed as mad, or out of her wits, for marrying such an "other," and the audience sees her slip from an angelic state of purity to that of a tainted character. Also, the menacing Iago, a mastermind of deviant rhetoric, is able to play Othello and Desdemona against one another until their marriage fails, while at the same time destroying his adversary and friend, Cassio. Thus Iago has a specific agenda, not only to get back at Othello for choosing Cassio instead of him, but also to make Cassio the victim of his plan to destroy the forbidden marriage referred to by Brabantio as a "treason of the blood" (1.2.166-167). Essentially, Iago is a representative of the white race, a pre-Nazi figure who tries to inform the public of the impurity of Othello and Desdemona's marriage. He demonstrates how this miscegenation is threatening to the existing social order. Thus, through analysis of racism, the play represents the hatred possessed by mankind -- a hate so strong that society sees the mixing with an "other" to be a curse to humanity and a terrible threat to Aryan culture.
Othello is a nobleman, a decorated soldier, very well respected by his men (with the exception of Iago). One of the few characteristics that harms, rather than helps him, is that he is dark-skinned in a society utterly dominated by men prejudiced against those with dark skin. At the start of the play, he appears confident that, "My parts, my title, and my perfect soul / Shall manifest me rightly." (1, 2, 36-37) But Iago makes sure to use Othello's race against him as much as possible.
	Throughout the first act of the play, Othello is shown as many different characters depending on who is speaking. Iago complains of Othello's pride and "bombast circumstance" and is angered by the appointment of Cassio, an educated military theoretician of Florence to lieutenant, instead of himself. As Iago speaks to Brabantio about Othello, he uses the term "white ewe" to represent Desdemona, and "black ram" when referring to Othello. By using these terms, it shows that he is trying to give a bad impression of Othello when he is speaking to the royal family in Venice, because Othello is a Moor, or a Negro. Iago shows his black hatred for the Moor and his jealousy of Cassio in his first soliloquy and also reveals his evil intentions.
The audience at this point know nothing of Othello that is gained by their own opinion, instead we are lead to believe from Iago’s race related description that Othello is a threatening and evil moor, whose beastial sexual appetite, conveyed by Iago’s cries to Brabantio, telling him that ‘an old black ram is tupping’ his ‘white ewe’ (1.1.89), is something of a rapist. Iago’s coarse animal related language conveys Iago’s feelings against Othello’s marriage in a much more pronounced way. The image of an ‘old black ram’ gives the audience nothing but negative images of Othello, especially when this ‘old black ram’ is being associated with the innocence of a ‘white ewe’. Iago then associates Othello with the image of ‘the devil’ (1.1.92) because of Othello’s colour, Iago warns Brabantio that he has ‘lost half [his] soul’ now that Desdemona is married to Othello. Iago here emphasises the biracial nature of the marriage, already showing his ability to manipulate people, in this case he is manipulating Brabantio, to believe in Iago’s own opinions and in theory to eliminate all thoughts that Brabantio might of had of his own about the marriage.
An initial reading of Othello would suggest that animality and darkness are indeed in opposition to beauty and light. This view is affirmed by looking at the language and actions of Iago, 'Though I do hate him as I do hell-pains' in contrast to Desdemona, (or even the early Othello),'Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend.'
In the tragedy Othello, Shakespeare creates a mood that challenges the way a person sees his or her self and the world. Subjects like racism, sexism, love, hate, jealously, pride, and trickery are thoroughly developed in the play of Othello to enable the audience to view the characters and also themselves. The Shakespearean tragedy of Othello was written in a time of great racial tensions in England. According to Eldred Jones, in 1600 just three years before Othello was written, Queen Elizabeth proclaimed an Edict for the Transportation of all "negars and blackmoores" out of the country ("Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays 39). It is in this atmosphere that Shakespeare began the masterpiece of Othello, a drama about a noble black Arab general, Othello, who falls in love with and marries, Desdemona, a young white daughter of a senator. From the above knowledge one may conclude that Shakespeare wrote Othello to express that all people, of all ethnicity, are basically the same in human nature. Shakespeare borrowed the idea of Othello from an Italian love story by Giraldi Cinthio. However, Shakespeare focuses more on the differences in color and age between Othello and Desdemona than Cinthio. Shakespeare does this to escalate Othello’s isolation from the rest of Venetian society and to display Othello’s vulnerability due to his color. In the tragedy not only is Othello susceptible to weaknesses but so is every major character . The tragedy reminds humans that even one’s good nature can be taken advantage of for the worse. The drama Othello expresses, through relationships and emotional attitudes, a theme that all humans are vulnerable to destruction even if they are in positions of power and glory.
The satanic character of Iago is depicted well though different types or imagery. His sadist intend is depicted through suffocating imagery “I’ll pour pestilence into his(Othello’s) ear” (II iii 356) says Iago in a soliloquy in as he is outlining his malicious intent and nature. This continues throughout the play with lines such as “The Moor already changes with my poison” (III iii 322) and “Not poppy nor mandragora, | Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world shall medicine thee to that sweet sleep | Which thou did owdest yesterday” (III iii 327-30). His malicious character is likened to a snake through this imagery of poisons like a snake has and then Lodovico calls him a “Viper” (V ii 281) which indicates how Iago’s character is that of a snake, and in those times a snake was considered a creature of pure evil. The Machiavellian persona of Iago can also be seen through his use of reputation imagery to Cassio and Othello. To Cassio he says “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition” (II iii 267-8) and as a paradox, to Othello, he says reputation is everything to a man and he is nothing with out it. Iago is also likened very much, though imagery, to the Devil.
References to black and white carry the most weight and contribute much to the actions of the characters; those colors often are used as a comment on race, on good and evil, on sexuality, or a combination of the three. The play does not proceed far into the first scene without a racial statement, where Iago informs Brabantio that Othello and Desdemona have run away together: “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/ Is tupping your white ewe” (1.1.85-86). Iago refers to Othello as a “black ram” and to Desdemona as a “white ewe,” pointing out the differences in skin color (since Othello is a Moor). A ram, since it has horns, can also be symbolic of the devil; therefore, Iago makes Othello devil-like and racially different at the same time. Additionally, the color black is often seen as evil or bad, whereas white is seen as good and pure. Since the black ram is “tupping,” or mounting, the white ewe, Iago is making a reference to the sexual act of Othello, black, taking Desdemona's virginity, white and pure. Planting an image like this in Brabantio's mind causes him to react negatively towards the marriage, and because Othello is darker-skinned, it makes the situation worse....
By analyzing this play, we can come to understand the dangers of racial injustice. If I may take the liberty of paraphrasing: "O beware, my lord, of racial prejudice! It is the green-eyes monster, which doth damage the society it thrives in." In the character of Iago, Shakespeare demonstrates the dangers of holding racial prejudices. Othello is the victim of the pervasive social stereotypes which lead to his downfall. This play should serve as a warning of the horrid plague of racism which festers in our society.
Othello, due to his Moorish nature but at the same time morally white and untainted, can be considered grey with the opening of the play, but possesses the potential to become either the most brilliant white or the darkest black. From the way that he is described by Iago and sometimes Brabantio, he is a dark beast lurking in the shadows, but he is as white as he can be by the Duke. Grey is a color not quite white nor black, hesitation and confusion wavering behind his eyes. This confusion is caused by his naiveté at trusting people too easily, and Iago eagerly takes this weakness to his advantage. So that when Iago manipulates Othello, Othello unknowingly gives in to the temptation, even going as far as telling Iago "I am bound to thee for ever" (III. iii. 242). Othello at this point is completely taken in with Iago's mind poisoning and willingly submits to him, yielding to his trickeries. Inevitably with a little push from Iago, Othello slowly goes down the path of dark and pure blackness, with murder evident in mind. With Iago's tampering of his inner moralities, Othello turns black like a speeding snowball, once Iago set him on the right path. Everything else Othello had done the damage himself; Iago only suggested the notion in the most subtle of ways. Thus he sometimes "breaks out to savage madness" as Iago put it, when being put under such pressure (IV. i. 65). He is so far gone that he even has epileptic fits hearing of Desdemona's infidelity.