Racist Comments Towards Othello example essay topic

Right from the beginning of the play we notice a racist tone from Iago in reference to Othello. In only Iagos 2nd piece of dialogue he mentions Othellos "moor ship ancient". Showing Iagos obsession with Othellos race and colour. Also in this opening conversation he says how he is trapped with Othello".

Whether i in any just term am affin'd to love the moor". This line is very important to the plot in my opinion. I say this because it shows that there is only one way to get out of his relationship and that is to get rid of Othello himself. And again, the fact that he calls him a "moor" is offensive and shows a certain amount of dislike towards him. On the other hand however you can not label Iago a racist just by the fact that he calls him a "moor". The time period that "Othello" is set in is naturally racist, so his opinions and the fact that he calls Othello a moor is of a regular nature.

This, perhaps is why he has no shame in calling him a moor infront of anyone. Also Iago does have a hatred of Othello so he is looking to make offense of him any chance that he gets, and calling him " the moor" is just the easiest thing to do. Iago is under the impression that Othello has slept with his wife so he has reason to hate him. "he betwixt my sheets". This gives him some sort of right to be offending him in the easiest way possible. It is clear that Iago does have racist views because for the first 2-3 acts he rarely if ever refers to Othello as Othello, it is always "the moor" or just "him". This shows that in his mind that Othello is insignificant because of his race as he does not deserve a name.

I have found another author that shared some of the same views about the subject: - One of the tragedies of the play is the extent to which Othello takes in negative opinions of his race. In the first three scenes, the discourses of Iago, Rodrigo, and Brabantio set up the following dichotomy: black, dark, evil, animal, hyper-sexual, versus white, fair, virtuous, human, chaste. Much of the play resists these categories. However, these racist dualism's are re inscribed all the more forcefully by being expressed in Act 3 Scene 3 by Othello himself [When he says that Desdemona's name "is now begrim'd and black / As mine own face"], Othello marks his acceptance of the racist categories which correlate skin color with the presence or absence of virtue. His inability to maintain trust in Desdemona is directly related to his inability to trust his own racial identity and self-worth.

-- Valerie Traub, Desire and Anxiety (1992) I agree with this statement to a certain extent but i wouldn't say that it was one of the tragedies of the play. Without such lines as " a black ram t upping your white ewe" we would not be able to pick into Iagos true feelings. The subtle imagery portrayed in lines like this (even though they are of racist content) give an in-depth look of his hatred for Othello before he makes it official. However the rest of her analysis i agree with. Especially the part where she talks about how Othellos coming to terms with his race and the remarks aimed towards him led to his inability to see his own self-worth. Iago is not the most racist character in the play.

Brabantio makes a lot more heart-felt and serious racist comments towards Othello even to the point where he says them infront of the high court". thou hast enchanted her". Anything to do with magic and Othello was considered racist and devilish. So Brabantio is at the top of the racist ladder and right at the bottom is Michael Cassio. He makes no racist comments towards Othello. Could show loyalty to him but then again it does show how much of a good guy he is.

Even when he is thrown in jail he makes no racist comments towards Othello. This just shows to me that Iago is no more racist than the community that he is based in. It was acceptable to a certain extent at that point in time, in the present however it is highly frowned upon because it is not part of our lifestyle. That is the main difference. So on that note i conclude that Iago is not really a racist, i would class Brabantio as a racist as he is excessively racist compared to the community he was brought up in. Iago is on a par with the mindset he was brought up in, the fact that he has personal hatred of Othello is simply a catalyst to his already racist mind.

He just stands out as a racist in comparison to Cassio.