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How did historical events affect american literature
Racism in literature
A few ways that historical events have influenced literature
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Isolation is a theme commonly illustrated across many texts. Setting is the most important factor that contributes to the completeness of a story. This report will investigate the connections of settings and the causes and consequences of isolation across four texts, ‘Othello’, ‘The Imitation Game’, ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ and ‘The Social Network’.
‘Othello’ by William Shakespeare is a timeless tragedy. It is the tragic love story between Othello, an African American general, and Desdemona, a noble lady of Venice. It was set during the Venetian and Turkish war in the 16th century, a significant time at the start of the slave trade. Age, race, and experience constantly undermine their relationship. Racism is important to the
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Many heroic stories are set during this time. ‘The Imitation game’ directed by Morten Tyldum, tells the story of Alan Turing, a Cambridge mathematics alumnus, who was recruited by the British Intelligence Agency to crack the Nazi’s code known as Enigma. This effectively won the war for the Allied Forces. Interestingly, both ‘The Imitation Game’ and ‘Othello’ are set during the time of war, setting the theme of lost and despair, which corresponds to the terrible destinies of the protagonists from both texts. Moreover, the main setting of the film is Bletchley Park, a British secret camp, symbolising his isolation from the outside world, (similar to the setting of ‘Othello’ on the island of Cyprus.) Essentially, Turing invented and developed the computer and the concept of artificial intelligence. Sadly, his machine was never perfected, though it generated a whole field of research into what became known as "Turing Machines."(Today’s "computers”) Yet, his aptitude set him apart from other people. Turing’s isolation is caused by autism, a mental condition characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships. Alongside his mental condition, Turing’s homosexuality was also an isolating feature. Both Othello and Turing are isolated by their differences, creating juxtaposition to the social norm. However, Alan Turing was a historic proof that “one’s sexuality has no bearing on one’s accomplishments.” Turing named his enigma decryption machine after Christopher, his boy crush who passed away, showing an emotional connection between him, Christopher and the machine. Unfortunately, Turing found himself in the time where society held the greatest prejudice against homosexuals. “Between 1885 and 1967, approximately 49,000 homosexual men were convicted of “gross indecency” under British law.” Turing’s resulting insecurity is similar to how racism, at its worst time, affected Othello. “After a year
Of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, the story of the rise and fall of the Moor of Venice arguably elicits the most intensely personal and emotional responses from its English-speaking audiences over the centuries. Treating the subject of personal human relationships, the tragedy which should have been a love story speaks to both reading and viewing audiences by exploring the archetypal dramatic values of love and betrayal. The final source of the tragic action in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice has been attributed to various psychological, mythical, racial, social sources: Othello’s status as racial outsider in Venetian society, his pagan roots in Christian society, hubris and/or hamartia in Othello or in Desdemona.
Isolation is a forced or voluntary physical or mental separation from our surroundings. It is often used as a main theme in stories that are involved with tragic endings. Juliet's growing sense of isolation plays an important role in the development of the plot in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the story, Juliet separates herself from her friends and family physically as well as psychologically as a result of her newfound love, her own actions, and betrayal of the people she trusts.
Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times.
As time advances 400 years and scenery shifts 5000 miles west, a story is bound to change. Othello was written in the 1600’s and takes place in Venice, Italy. The new version would be written in 2014 and would take place in an American society. With that being said, there are clear differences that would come out of the two versions. In the past race was a tremendous issue in the American society. In 2014 it has developed to a point where people use racism as more of a joke than they use it to be serious. In 2014 authors writing new plays take a bold initiative to incorporate as many people of different races, ethnicities and minorities. It’s not unacceptable and it’s more common in this society because of the cultural adaptations and the history behind it.
In Act three, Scene three, Desdemona agrees to speak to Othello in Cassio’s behalf) As Desdemona and Cassio discuss Cassio’s loss of rank and trust in Othello’s eyes. Iago brings to Othello’s attention the discussion taking place between Cassio and Desdemona. Iago knowing full well why the discussion is happening. Iago hints the pair seems to be spending a lot of time together. Iago plants the seed of doubt in Othello’s mind Othello begins to ponder the idea of whether Iago suspicions are true.
Many characters in movies, books, and stories isolate themselves from other characters. Consequently, they feel as though being alone is a better alternative to sharing their feelings with others. Many books read this semester exemplified themes consisting of isolation. Some characters isolate themselves based on personal beliefs, while others were tethered to someone or something. The people who were tethered to someone or something, many times isolated themselves from others based on what they were tethered to.
“[A prince] needs to not depart from good, when possible, but know how to enter into evil, when forced by necessity” (The Prince 70). Here Machiavelli mentions an underlying principle that an ideal ruler must establish a balance between moral good and necessary evil. Yet, can an individual keep balance between good and evil acts? Shakespeare would argue otherwise. Through Shakespeare 's portrayal of Othello, one can observe that once an individual enters into evil, he or she is bound to evil and therefore should avoid entering evil at all. Ultimately, Shakespeare 's presentation of self-division, one where an individual is only capable of controlling either good or evil, but not maintain both, is more plausible than Machiavelli 's presentation
William Shakespeare’s “Othello” is a change from the norm in regards to play write in regards to race. Because Othello is black, Shakespeare was able to open up to new means of producing extreme emotions from the cast. These emotions entail rage, passion, jealousy, and love. All these emotion are attributed to the race of the main character and the tension that arises. Iago’s hatred for Othello relies solely on his race and provides a vehicle for which Iago can exact his hatred. Because of this malicious intent due to racism, “Othello” is possible.
Racism in William Shakespeare's Othello. The play, Othello, is certainly, in part, the tragedy of racism. Examples of racism are common throughout the dialogue. This racism is directed toward Othello, a brave soldier from Africa and currently the supreme commander of the Venetian army.
Have you ever thought about how much Othello’s race and the racism around him affected his life? Othello struggled a lot during the play because of his dark skin color. He was called several racist names like “the Moor,” “old black ram,” “Barbary horse,” and “thick lips” (Shakespeare 1.1.40; 1.1.88; 1.1.111; 1.1.66).The term “racism” has been around for several years; it started in the twentieth century (Bartels 433). By the way the Elizabethan era viewed black people was similar to how racism is today with all of the racial comments, and stereotypes. Being a black person in a mostly white ethnicity area at that time had to be challenging based on Othello’s experience. Othello was the black sheep crowded around a herd of white sheep, he was an outcast. Racist comments were made by many of the characters like Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Emilia. If there was an award for most used racial comment towards Othello, Iago would win. Racism in Othello had a tremendous impact on Othello. 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.
In the Sixteenth century, as we see clearly from Othello and other works of both Shakespeare and Cinthio's original version of Othello, race was a topic of great debate and discussion. Today, in the twenty-first century the debate retains its controversy and passion. However, attitudes towards race have taken a dramatic turn during the last century. In the developed world people are now living in an increasingly cosmopolitan society would undoubtedly be more tolerant and would reject or even be offended by racial discrimination to any person or sections of the community. Openly 'racist' people today are seen as outcasts. Taking this into account, the way a modern audience would react to race and racism in Othello is dependent upon the way in which that modern audience would interpret 'Othello'. This prompts the questions of what sort of message Shakespeare wanted to send to his audience and was Othello the moor portrayed as a tragic hero or did his character eventually come to resemble the prejudices of which he was a victim. Shakespeare also discusses the issue of race with other characters such as the hateful Iago and the prejudices hidden deep in Barbantio.
Then we travel forward in time to the 1940’s and Alan Turing. Breaking the Code tells the story of his life and his life shows us the genius of these men and his overcoming society. Nevertheless, also his story shows the cruelty and prejudice of society. His story has inspired multiple movies, plays and book, not because of him being gay but for his genius. He was the building block of the modern day computer. He was inspired by this strange thought of consciousness and if he could give a conscious to a machine, this is what inspired the computer, not the normal society ideas of mechanics. Alan Turing did not constitute an outspoken and upfront person, he was shy and stutters when he talked, and he was not exalted in social crowds and was bluntly honest. Nonetheless, this outlook on life gave him a view of the world more in numbers and sequences than emotions and societies, which was needed at the time. He needed to turn off his humanity and make
Shakespeare’s fictional character Othello, General of the Venetian Army, has an eminently respectable reputation as a result of his plentiful exploits in battle and because of his notoriety to command “Like a full soldier”. Nevertheless, the rough-and-ready commandant is not as emotionally callous as, not only his war-time resume would suggest, but also how Iago and Roderigo portray his as a character in Act 1, Scene 1. Despite his triumphs, numerous characters throughout Othello do not shy away from the casual racist jab towards their black-skinned General. Exposure to repetitive, often overt, verbal-degradation leads Othello to believe that he is racially inferior as the play progresses – this infectious discrimination of Elizabethan racists
Interracial couples are one of the seemingly less talked about victims of generations of racial discrimination, as they are often looked at in disdain by those who hold on to racist ideologies. Andrew Carlson touches on this issue with a quote from a patron who watched the play in 1786, saying “I could not separate the African color of the man, nor prevent that disgust and horror which filled my mind every time I saw him touch the gentle Desdemona.” This relationship is further explored in the film with Jago posting Othello’s address on a neo-Nazi website and using their interracial relationship as bait to incite anger (27:40). Jago’s use of the anti-black ideology of Nazi’s combined with their hatred of interracial couples just adds to the numerous issues the protagonist is facing at the time. By introducing that faction, it also shows that there is a group of people who share the antiquated view of an 18th century patron in the 21st century, showing that the systematic problems of older generations continue on to modern
In the Shakespearean act Othello, the image of slavery was referred to significantly. This act was written in a period where England became involved in the slave trade. During that period racism and the opposition towards slavery arise. The word slave in this act; however, was not all about slavery. The word “slave” in Othello was not only used to describe a social practice, but it was also used as an insult and it presented subjection in certain scenes.