This suggests that Othello's insecurities are partially rooted in this sense that he is only accepted provisionally by whites, continent upon obeying certain But Othello must take a stance of public humility and effectively be defended by his wife (a potentially humiliating spectacle in a society where women were regarded as inferior) to be taken seriously as a husband.įurthermore, as admirable and as free of prejudice the Duke of Venice may seem, Shakespeare makes it clear that his actions are at least partially due to his military need for Othello, not because of pure altruism. Desdemona boldly notes when her father disputes this that: "you are the lord of duty / I am hitherto your daughter: but here's my husband," arguing that now her loyalty to the Moor outweighs the loyalty to her father (I.3). Although Othello says "Rude am I in my speech, / And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace," he seems to contradict this when he shows how his eloquence won Desdemona (I.3). Othello explains that he has won the heart of Desdemona with his wonderful stories, not used witchcraft as he is accused of doing. Othello for example insists that "the young affects/In me defunct" even while Michael Cassio is later shown to be dallying with prostitutes, with little concern about how this affects Cassio's reputation, although Cassio is worried that drinking to excess is wrong (I.3).įor Othello, however, the idea that a white woman might choose a black man is considered shocking and transgressive and he must demonstrate his worth. It is noteworthy that the Duke does not say that race is irrelevant: rather, he insists that Othello's ability to tell wonderful stories and to command men effectively elevates him above his race: "If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black" (I.3).īlatant prejudice is clearly unacceptable in the eyes of the Duke, at least against a black man as distinguished as Othello, but Othello must 'prove' himself as a black 'other' and cannot take his status for granted, unlike other whites who assume they have a right to do what they please. Brabantio's anger clearly shows that blatant racial prejudice exists within Venetian society: yet the Duke of Venice's measured response to Othello's supposed crime also implies that racism within Venice is more subtle than Iago's language might indicate. His hatred of the general seems to run deeper than pure racial resentment, although he is certainly capable of playing on such ugliness such as when he shouts to Desdemona's father: "Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is topping your white ewe" (I.1). Throughout the play, Iago will make various claims as to why he is extricating such terrible revenge upon Othello. This is because of the subconscious racism Othello has incorporated into his sense of self.Īt the beginning of Othello, Iago claims to hate the military commander Othello because the Moorish general has denied him a promotion. He ends the play entirely subsumed into the crude, devilish Iago's machinations. Othello begins the play a confident author of his own narrative who is able to woo Desdemona with his words and also the opinions of white men. Othello's assimilationist efforts to claim a selfhood within the Venetian community leads, for him, to a fatal hybridity" (Marks 101). This is why it is said that "in Othello, the boundary between Self and Other is famously, and perilously, permeable. Yet, by the end of the play, Othello's enemy Iago plays upon the Moor's insecurities and in fact tries to 'make' Othello into the barbaric creature whites accuse him of being. Othello's apparent nobleness, his military prowess, and his eloquence (despite his protestations to the contrary) all win him respect. The title character begins the play a great and esteemed general, despite the fact that he is a member of an 'othered,' despised race against which some whites have great prejudice. William Shakespeare's tragedy of the Moor Othello is the only major drama of the great playwright in which race plays a major role. Othello: The Tragedy of Internalized Racism
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