Everyone in the world is born with a blank slate, not knowing anything about the world, or about yourself. How can the act of one person effect their entire culture as a whole? Where suddenly a Tourist who is Muslim turns all Muslims into terrorists. In the play Disgraced By Ayad Akhtar there is a strong view of how Americans privately hold onto their tribal identity. This is shown in the character Amir who is a South Asian Muslin, but over the years parted ways and became critical of Islam. He hides behind a Hindu name and identity to avoid the attention from his Muslim-ness but still manages to hold onto a piece of his tribal identity through his nephew, Abe. Similarly in the the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, there is a strong relationship …show more content…
It may be visiting there homeland country, or continuing to celebrate their homeland cultures here in America. In the play, Amir is well off living his life as any American man. He is a lawyer, living in upper east side. Having features of a Muslim man, does not discourage him for what he does. Amir puts himself out there into the public or the hands of security at the airport because he claims that “they’re looking at [him]” (Akhtar, 1185). Amir explains how airport security have progressed. “He volunteers himself. Goes right to the agents and offers himself up” (Akhtar, 1185). There have been recent reports on Muslim majority countries, who where prevented from boarding their planes to the US. Racism is an on-going problem, and Muslims are a huge target at the moment due to terrorist attacks in the US. Amir enters the airport with confident as well as fear. Confident that he has done nothing wrong, but fears to be miss-judged and be blamed for another mans actions. In order for him to overcome this feeling, he volunteers himself up to security. This way they know who he really is and gives him a sort of relieve that they already checked …show more content…
But Abe claims that life has been a lot easier since he has made this change. Abe stated that it is in the Quran, “you can hide your religion if you have to.” (Akhtar, 1161). The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. Abe believes that him changing his name to be Americanized, plays an effect on the way others view him. He uses the Quran to justify his actions and holds his foot down when Amir suggests to “lay off it with [him] and [his] folks at least.” (Akhtar, 1162). Abe disagrees and mentions how important it is to only go by one name. Because having two will make a person confused when in shock of a sudden incident. In the play by Shakespeare, Othello, we see a similar distinction between racial identity. Othello being a Black Moor and is seen inhuman to Iago. Othello and Desdemona are deeply in love. Consequently, society did not approve of Othello, being a man of color, to be with Desdemona while was seen as a perfect innocent human being. Iago describes Othello as an "old black ram" that “is tupping your white ewe” (Act 1 scene 1). Iago is referring to a hideous animal, as well as not being a real human. Society is applying stereotypical views onto Othello, although he has done nothing
First of all coloured people are viewed as lesser human beings by the white community. In Sears’ play Harlem Duet Othello strives to be accepted by the white community, since the ideology that whites are better than blacks exist in his environment. When arguing about affirmative action, he tells Billie
Racial prejudice against Othello is introduced early in the play and is present throughout. Iago and Roderigo approach Brabantio with news about his daughter Desdemona. They inform Brabantio his
At the beginning of the play, the audience is made aware that Othello is a Moor working in the service of Venice. During the time the play was written, racism was strong. Despite Othello’s carefully built up life in which he managed to rise from being very poor to a powerful general, he still experienced racism from characters such as Roderigo and Brabantio. In Act One Scene One, Brabantio is appalled at the idea of his delicate daughter Desdemona secretly marrying a black man without his consent. He openly insults Othello, oblivious to Othello’s power: “That thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals.” Brabantio is accusing Othello of witchcraft and trickery, and suggesting that no one could ever love him without the influence of his evil witchcraft. The audience feels pity for Othello because they know that Othello loves Desdemona and that he is a kind man, and is receiving these insults because of his race. The audience realises that he is already at a ...
Othello, from the onset, is shown to us a play of love and jealousy. There is however more to this play than just love and jealousy; there is underlying racism, hate, deception, pride, and even sexism between these pages. Othello is a transcendent play, one that will survive the perils of time simply because it is still relevant. Even today, over 400 years later, there are still issues of racism and sexism. Hate is as natural as love in humans and Othello gets right to the root of that. We witness this from the very first scene, “…you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse/ you’ll have your nephews neigh to you” (I.i.112-14); to the very last, “Moor she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor” (V.ii.258). Moor however is used as an insult all throughout the play; not so much the word itself but the feel of the word. Between these pages we see many different ways as to how the cultural differences between Othello and the other characters.
The interracial marriage of Desdemona and Othello is in the forefront of the play. As mentioned above, this was extremely unusual in Elizabethan England. In fact there is one case when an English woman, Millicent Porter, a seamstress, slept with a black man and had to do a public penance for it (Elizabethan England Life). Also just three years prior to the release of Othello in 1603, Queen Elizabeth threw all of the Africans out of England ("Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays 39). All of this makes the marriage of Othello, a famous black general, and Desdemona, a senator’s daughter, who is white and beautiful, very bizarre to the viewers in Elizabethan England. Most if not all of the characters seem to be just as appalled at the interracial marriage as the audience. Specifically the racism the other characters show toward Othello is apparent. Rodrigo, a man who pays Iago to hel...
The play, Othello, is certainly, in part, the tragedy of racism. Examples of racism are common throughout the dialog. This racism is directed toward Othello, a brave soldier from Africa and currently supreme commander of the Venetian army. Nearly every character uses a racial slur to insult Othello at one point in the play. Even Emilia sinks to the level of insulting Othello based on the color of his skin. The character that most commonly makes racist remarks in Othello is Iago. It is very apparent that Iago uses racism as a scapegoat to hate and blame Othello. Societal racism takes its toll on its victims. The effect of racism on Othello is quite evident and is one of the main causes for his insecurity about his marriage. However, Othello is not wholly the tragedy of racism. The theme of jealousy is also extremely important in Othello. Racism may play a large part in the tragedy, Othello, but it certainly does not adequately explain the entire play.
Aaron within Titus Andronicus is a character that is both bound and not bound to his colour. Though his actions can be "blamed" on his colour, there are two paths to follow in this thinking. First Aaron's actions within the play can be blamed on the fact that he is black and as he is black, he is naturally a bad person as black people are stereotypically people prone to causing trouble and have black souls which match their outward appearance. This answer would have been acceptable within Shakespeare's times, however it seems that it doesn't fit with Othello as the villain in that play is a white man, who's soul is nothing but pure evil. If one were going by the terms of colour dictates your soul, that would have made Iago a good man, and he definitely wasn't a good man. The other way in which one could take Aaron's misbehavior, which seems to be the more logical one is that his actions though are a result of his skin tone are not an inbred condition. His actions, deeds and thoughts are not dictated through his skin colour, but because of the ostracism and the hate he has felt through his life due to his skin colour he now has built up a resistance to the hate. By throwing hate ba...
To begin with, Othello’s race and the racism around him ruined his marriage with Desdemona. Othello and Desdemona made a good couple, but you know what they say, all good things must come to an end. Almost everybody had a problem with their relationship. In that time, interracial relationships and marriage was not allowed. While Brabantio (Desdemona’s father) was sleeping, Iago and Roderigo woke him up saying that Othello was having sex with his daughter Desdemona at that very moment (Shake...
Othello was the black sheep crowded around a herd of white sheep. Racist comments were made by many of the characters like Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Emilia. Iago got the trophy for the most used racial comments. Racism in Othello had a tremendous impact on Othello. Being the only black person in a mostly white ethnicity area influenced him in a bad way. He was judged by the color of his skin and not his personality. Othello’s race and the racism around him affected his life by ruining his marriage with Desdemona, alienating him from everybody in Venice, and by making him an easy target to be manipulated by Iago.
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.
The tragedy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. As it hath beene diuerse times acted at the Globe, and at the Black-Friars, by his Majesties servants. Written by William Shakespeare set in Venice. The plot is based on a story about two people who love each other dearly and the problems and conflicts they face from the start. The conflicts are, for the most part, tied in with racial issues and questions of loyalty. These conflicts stem from the society around the couple, as well as from the couple themselves as they too are part of this society, but with very different backgrounds: The female protagonist is the daughter of a highly-respected Venetian senator: Brabantio. Othello--also known as the Moor--is a foreigner, black in color, has a past
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.
He illustrates that in many example, such as, Baba, however, never calls Ali, Hassan’s father, his friend, because of their ethnic and religious differences. Also the culture can play an important part in this novel. For an example, when Hassan is getting raped by Assef and hi friends, Amir refers to the sacrificial act of the lamb because Amir is Pashtun and Hassan is Hazara (Pashtan is Sunni Muslim, but Hazzara is Shi’a Muslim). At that time, Assef says Amir is part of the problem for being friend with Hazara. For another example, when Amir and baba moves to America, they communicate with the Afghan group there because the search about people look like them, and behave with the same
A society consists of different cultures with people of diverse looks, values, and beliefs. In a world with one predominant culture, those perceived as different from the norm are associated with negative images, treated inferior to the superior culture. The negative images associated with color, specifically blackness, has a detrimental effect on the victims who are racially stereotyped. The character of Othello is a unique character in English literature, because unlike the other members of society, Othello was an outsider in Venice, a black man living in a white world, marrying a white woman, and leading white men as a soldier. Othello is persuaded that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him leading him to
The play has a main character who is black, he's married to a white woman, and he is a general. In Shakespeare’s time there was no such thought for an interracial marriage or any sort of black leadership. Othello, before this play started, overcame the standard of his ‘kind’ by rising through the ranks and becoming a respected general. Everyone, in the play, knew he was black and still listened to him, aside from Iago and Brabantio and Roderigo. He found the love of his life in Desdemona, and that may have been ruined because he may have been unsure of