Exploring How the Symbolism and Imagery of Blackness Help Shakespeare to Create Meaning in Othello

Exploring How the Symbolism and Imagery of Blackness Help Shakespeare to Create Meaning in Othello

Shakespeare uses various symbol of blackness to express negative and

racist attitudes. He does this to meet the expectations of the

Elizabethan audience, who held certain misconceptions about black

people. Shakespeare uses this early in the play and involves

characters such as Brabantio, Iago and Roderigo, this also assist in

the construction of imagery. These racist remarks are directed towards

Othello and the majority of the racist comments involve references to

black stereotypes.

Although, one of the plays focuses is the theme of racism, Othello’s

demise is not triggered by racism as he ignores these remarks. If

Othello had taken notice of the abuse, the story would be different as

Othello would have left Desdemona to escape from the prejudice.

However, he stood by her, claiming that he loved her, not for sex or

to upset her father, but he ‘loved her’. Iago comprises of many stereo

typical views of Othello portraying him since the opening lines of the

play as an animalistic and barbarous foreigner. Even Othello himself

begins to convey pessimistic views on non-Europeans. He also believes

that the Venetians are superior to the ‘turbaned turk’.

At the beginning of the play, the impression we get off Othello is

that of a worthy character. When Casio is complementing Desdemona

Casio describes her as an ‘exquisite lady’, and then he goes on and

describes her as a ‘most fresh and delicate creature’. It is clear

that Casio respects Othello and he believes that Othello deserves such

an ‘exquisite lady’. He also appears to contradict the...

... middle of paper ...

...ng panic into Brabantio when he says

‘even now, now, very now, an old black ram/ Is tupping your white

ewe’. Iago refers Othello as a ‘black ram’ and he refers Desdemona as

a ‘white ewe’, this use of animals and their colours clearly shows us

the difference in their skin colours and their social status. Othello

is depicted as a ram. Rams have horns, this symbolizes demons and the

colour black symbolizes death and evil. On the other hand, the colour

white is seen as sure and innocent. By scaring Brabantio with comments

such as ‘your daughter/ and the moor are now making the beast with two

backs. We can see that this quote is saying that Othello is having sex

with Desdemona as they have ‘two backs’. This immediately places an

image into Branbantio’s mind, which consequently forces him to react

negatively towards Othello.