Examples Of Stereotypes In Othello

Similarly to Othello, racial slurs were used to describe Shylock, often by Antonio, as he refers him to a ‘Jew’ rather than calling him by his name (Derek Cohen). Although, by Antonio calling him a ‘Jew’, it is not explicitly a racial term but it becomes racial because of the repetition of Antonio calling Shylock a ‘Jew’ rather than his name. As he is called a ‘Jew’ 58 times and his actual name 17 times which again shows Shakespeare stripping Shylock of any identity other than of being a Jew.
However, the contrast between the portrayal of Othello and Shylock is that there seems to be fewer stereotypes related to ‘Moors’ than there is for the ‘Jews’ as the word ‘Moor’ is discriminating against the colour of Othello face whereas the stereotypes associated with the ‘Jews’ is much greater as it is discriminating their beliefs and not just their race.
A blank verse contains unrhymed iambic pentameters and is usually used for the nobility and other significant characters as it is a formal way to speak for high status characters. Whereas, he uses prose for the characters that are of a low status and uses this form of speaking to achieve specific effects in his writing. This is proven as we see Othello speaking in verse form which shows that he well educated and has a higher status than the other white characters suggesting that black people can also have a high status. Whereas we see Iago speaking in verse when speaking to Othello which shows Othello has a higher authority over Iago and therefore has to respect him. However when Iago speaks in prose to Roderigo as he states “work on, my medicine, work thus credulous fools are caught…” (IV.i.42-45) suggesting he is from a low status background which may mean that Shakespeare was being a social reformist buy allowing Othello have a higher