Prejudice And Racism Exposed In Shakespeare's Othello

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One reason we sympathize with Othello is because of the harsh racism that he experiences. The increase of trade and slavery in the Elizabethan era brought a clash of cultures, leading to discrimination. Othello, a moor in Shakespeare’s play Othello, is often victimized by these standards because of his appearance, bringing forth his insecurities. His love for his wife Desdemona, a white woman, is looked down upon far too often. Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, is especially unsupportive of their relationship, claiming that his “daughter is not for [Othello]” (1.1.109). He believes that his pure white daughter should not be involved with a “black ram” such as Othello, claiming that it would be morally wrong (1.1.97). On account of constantly being surrounded by this criticism, Othello begins giving into it. He believes that because he is black, he does not “have [the] soft parts of conversation”, …show more content…

After killing his beloved wife Desdemona out of jealousy and misunderstanding, Othello realizes what he has done and cries out “o fool! fool! fool!” in pain and agony (5.2.382). Othello begins to feel guilt and shame for his appalling actions. After realizing that he cannot undo his actions, he experiences sorrow. After coming to terms with his actions and realizing what damages he has caused, he declares that he is “not valiant neither” (5.2.291). He attempts at visualizing his life without his beloved Desdemona and understands that it is not complete and recognizes that he wouldn’t be able to live freely with this horrible deed shadowing his every move. As he thinks more and more about his future life, he realizes that it would cause him too much pain and that his sadness would be insurmountable. He decides to end his life to be with Desdemona once again. This is the point at which the audience regains their love for Othello once again because he realizes all of his wrong

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