Examples Of Social Stratification In Othello

Shakespeare 's plays hold cultural significance throughout the world. The social stratification of his plays make them important to be performed because there is a certain prestige about his works but I feel that one play that should not be performed is Othello. Black actors especially should not play Othello because it only reinforces negative stereotypes by having them become actualized over the course of the play. The play is very problematic. Hugh Quarshie, a British actor who has played Othello, spoke about why he has abstained from playing Othello which is because of its underlying racist suggestion of the notion that "black people behave as they do because of their ethnicity," (1:15 youtube). Quarshie also mentions that whenever there

Meaning that there was a large enough presence in England during the time. The consensus was that they did not belong so they were being expelled. Perhaps Shakespeare wrote this in efforts to affirm the stereotype of moors reinforcing the idea that moors do not belong in the same society lest they meet the same tragic end. This also means that more than likely Shakespeare knew or at least met some moors. So he did not have to just rely on other 's accounts of moors and their behaviors. Their behaviors were attributed to the sun and heat, which they also believe caused their darker skin complexions. The heat caused men to become jealous, quick tempered, and violent. Loomba also explains that moors with lighter complexions were seen to have been more polite and well mannered. This colorist perspective was due to racist sentiment so the whiter the better. Moors came from areas where it was very hot, Africa and the middle east. We do not really know where it is that Othello originally came from so we are not sure if Shakespeare meant for Othello to be a dark skinned moor or a lighter skinned moor. Othello was well spoken and tried his hardest to be polite and eloquent. He was very much the white ideal version of a

It is a very negative play. It is the destruction of a black male in white society. It gives to the idea that black men cannot thrive in white society and they will fail to assimilate. Black men are gullible and cannot think for themselves. There are so many more negative characteristics that can be drawn from this play. People will subconsciously take in these ideas and generalize people with it. The perpetuation of these harmful ideas is only aggravated by the fact a black man is willing to perform such a play. I do not believe that white men should perform this play in blackface either because then it makes it even more racist. There are also so many factors in accounting for how this plays into people 's perceptions on blacks. A play by someone such as Shakespeare who is held in such high regard must know more than your average person. So looking at it from that perspective, people will fall into the belief that that is how blacks must act. It seems very elementary but that is how a lot of people who are not educated think. I feel that the play should be rewritten in such a way that the downfall of Othello is not in the fact that he is essentially reverting to being a brutish moor but the manipulation of a man 's mind. It should be a play based on jealousy