Introduction to Racism in Othello
Othello, the most innocent tragedy where deus ex machina does not appear, has become perhaps the most controversial in terms of racial discrimination and prejudice as shown through this analysis about racism in Othello. Even the most modern performances and readings of Othello have elicited such responses where race and its associated features are given a prominent place. Writing on the performance of Othello in America, Kevin Young has discussed the question of racial hatred, racial prejudice and the performance of Othello. However, he has used a very pointed argument saying “Othello was a handy sobriquet when white Americans needed a metaphor for b**ck criminal behavior (41). This shows that racial hatred is deep-seated in the very psyche of white people, for Young has listed various newspaper reviews of the performance of Othello to come to the conclusion that, in fact, it is the white supremacy in America that has created this version of meanings regarding Shakespeare and his creation, Othello. In fact, racism in Othello has various dimensions including the Othellophilia and alienation and isolation as its psychological impacts.
Racism in Othello: Difference
Othello and its modern performances and readings have elicited diverse responses. If compared to two diverse responses, Martin Okrin says that South African and European visions differ regarding racism in Othello. He alleges that this is purely a Eurocentric concept and in the case of Othello, it is even English Eurocentric that Elizabethan audiences in English used to experience racism and attributes b**ckness with “barbarous, treacherous, libidinous, and jealous” (167) behavioral qualities. That is why Iago uses racial slurs against Othello in the early scenes such as “the Moor” (I. i. 57) which is used against the aliens and then “the thick lips” (I.i. 66) which is specifically used against the b**ck men. Both of these terms show barbarity that is associated with Moorish people and then libidinous attribute that is associated with sexual dominance. He even uses “an old b**ck race” (I. i. 88), which shows prejudicial behavior existing in English and English audiences at that time. In other words, Martin Okrin’s point is correct that this is an English Eurocentric view about racism. However, this is specifically associated with the b**ck color, another perspective of Othello that is still prevalent.
Racism in Othello: Color
B**ck color is associated with various bad behavioral traits but first, this b**ckness is considered the foundation of bad behavioral traits as Kader Mutlu has argued in his paper that in Othello, “the portrait of race and being b**ck can be seen more explicitly (136). He is of the view that the hatred in the heart of Iago is due to b**ckness. However, the marriage of Othello to Desdemona, a white woman, further intensifies this hatred, leading him to utter entirely racial slurs as pointed out earlier (136). In other words, he means that this inter-racial marriage that has caused Iago to feel jealousy and hence weaves plots against Othello, leading to his downfall. It means that inter-racial marriage is another perspective of racism in Othello.
Racism in Othello as Othellophilia
A very interesting point has cropped up in the book of Celia Dialeader which she has penned down on racism with reference to Othellophilia or “Othello Myth” saying that it means love or marriage between a b**ck man and b**ck woman. In her review of the book, Christy Desmety has praised Celia Dialeader saying that this is the first time that Celia Dialeader has raised this point with reference to inter-racial marriages (281). She argues that Celia means that such marriages in canonical narratives involve white women with b**ck men. In other words, she states that this inter-racial sexual interest and ensuing social prejudice is less with men than with white women. She has, in fact, singled out white women and their perception of b**ck men and the projection of their sexuality (281). It is very interesting that she has drawn rather a positive point of racial attraction rather than racial prejudice; nevertheless, it is associated with racism. However, the negative point of alienation has been ignored by her.
Impacts of Racism in Othello
Racism and racial hatred or prejudice cause the subject to feel various psychological issues including but not limited to alienation. Alpaslan Toker has termed this as “racial alienation” (33) with reference to Othello after deducing it from various theoretical studies regarding Othello. He has concluded that alienation, in fact, is a “mode of experience in which the person experiences himself as an alien” (33). Commenting on it further, he further says that a person suffering from such alienation often becomes estranged from his own personality (33). In other words, he means that Othello is feeling alienation in the Venetian society which makes him “estranged from himself” (33). However, Toker refers to Roderigo’s words against Othello to prove his argument that his an outsider and is considered of “here and everywhere” (qtd. Toker 33). Touching on the systematic study of the Orient as Orientalism, he concludes that though different interpretations of Othello exist, “the question of race is at the heart of the play” (36). However, he has not concluded that even racism has a multiplicity of perspectives which has made Othello as memorable and controversial as Hamlet is.
Conclusion
Briefly stating, it could be concluded this racism has not been compartmentalized vis-à-vis its associated behavioral traits of the racial victims or the attraction of the white women. Even the modern-day interpretations are so much diverse that they have also the tinge of the same old English Eurocentric vision as Kevin Young has written in his review of Othello in America. Celia Dialeader’s Othellophilia has taken another direction that is about the white women and racism in Othello, a markedly different but significantly positive point. However, the rest of the psychological issues such as alienation and subsequent estrangement of the victim itself point to the strangulation of Desdemona by Othello and his own final suicide. In fact, he wins positivity through marrying Desdemona but could not contain his own self-estrangement which makes him an assassin as well as a murderer. Finally, the prevalent racism in Venice forces him to end his own life.
Works Cited
- Desmet, Christy. “Racism, Misogyny, and the ‘Othello’ Myth: Inter-Racial Couples from Shakespeare to Spike Lee.” Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England, vol. 20, Jan. 2007, pp. 281–284. EBSCOhost, url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=26650487&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
- Mutlu, Kader. “Racism in Othello.” Journal of History, Culture and Art Research, vol. 2, no. 2. Jun. 2013. DOI: 10.7596/taksad.v2i2.243.
- Orkin, Martin. “Othello and the ‘Plain Face’ Of Racism.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 2, 1987, pp. 166–188. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2870559.
- Toker, Alpaslan. “Othello: Alien in Venice.” Journal of Academic Studies, vol. 15, no. 60, Feb. 2014, pp. 29–51. EBSCOhost, url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=95380257&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
- Young, Kevin. “Not Just B**ck or White.” Canadian Musician, vol. 39, no. 4, July 2018, pp. 49–56. EBSCOhost, url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=131039605&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Relevant Questions about Racism in Othello
- How does Othello’s experience with racism in the play influence his actions and decisions, and what impact does it have on the unfolding of the plot?
- In what ways does Iago exploit racial stereotypes and prejudice to manipulate characters and advance his schemes in Othello?
- How does Shakespeare’s portrayal of racism in Othello reflect the societal attitudes and biases of the time in which the play was written, and what insights does it offer into the broader issue of racism?