Othello Story Racist?

Is the story, “Othello” Racist? When reading the play Othello, a modern day reader cannot help but wonder if the play is racist. After all, there are several places found throughout the story that reference derogatory terms towards people of African descent. Comments such as, “Blacker devil”(5.2. 131), “an old black ram” (1.1.9), and, “Moor are now making the beast with two backs” (1.1.7), may leads the reader to believe that story is racist towards black people. However, this may not be true for a number of reasons, one being that these terms are only used out of spite or anger towards Othello. These types of comments aren’t seen too often during the story and are never used because the character generally has a racist view of Othello. Only when these characters are angered is when these racial slurs come about. In addition, Othello was written with the main protagonist to be a black man, and the antagonist to be white people. Therefore, this story can be interpreted in multiple ways with regards to racism. In some cases, it can be argued that Othello is very much a racist play. Shakespeare starts off the story in the beginning by jumping right into the dialogue between Iago and Roderigo. Not long into the conversation does the reader encounter racist slurs such as, “moor”, and, “an old black ram”. Shakespeare neglects to even mention Othello’s name in the dialogue between Iago and Roderigo before saying these offensive remarks about Othello. This provides an important clue to those who believe Othello is a racist story. The beginning scene of a play/book usually sets the tone for the reader/audience and gives them a basic idea of what is going on and whom the protagonist/antagonist may be. It is peculiar then that Shakespeare would start off the beginning of the book with a conversation between the two main antagonist characters (Iago and Roderigo) degrading the protagonist (Othello) with remarks concerning his ethnicity. Not once does Iago or Roderigo refer to Othello by his name or rank. To them, Othello can be identified by, “thick lips” and calling him “the moor”. This shows the audience that in Shakespeare’s time, one’s skin color was strongly linked to their identity in society, also proving the notion that Othello is a racist story. Another textual reference to racism in Othello is found when Iago and Roderigo tells Brabantio, “thieves, thieves, thieves! Look to your house, your daughter and your bags…you’re robb’d” (1.1.81-83). This quote reveals a number of things in terms of the ideology of black people. Shakespeare seems to be highlighting the concept that people of darker races were treacherous criminals and not to be trusted. However, this would not have been the case if Othello were a white man. In contrast, Desdemona’s marriage to someone of his rank and accomplishments would have been highly encouraged and even sought after. This is a significant because Shakespeare seems to be imposing this question on his audience and society back then: is a person’s merit in society solely based upon their skin color and not by the things they have done to benefit the community as a whole? The answer to this is yes. Yours skin color determined numerous things growing up back then, such as how you were treated, where you lived, and whom you married. The story Othello was written in 1603 by Shakespeare. At this time, foreigners in Elizabethan England were alienated and widely regarded as inferior. They were criticized, ignored, looked down upon, and experienced much racism. Through his play’s, Shakespeare was able to express the predominate ideologies of society back then towards people of other races (especially for blacks). As a result, Shakespeare wrote some of his plays (such as Othello and The Moor of Venice) in a racist point of view to reflect what the audience’s prevailing beliefs were towards blacks back then. In this era, black people were first forced from their homes and brought back to England as exotic creatures that possessed no human rights what so ever. However, later on blacks began to gradually gain a place in English society. However, they were stilled looked down upon and generally referred to them as moors or other disparaging remarks. As Bernard Harris puts it, “To Elizabethan Londoners the appearance and conduct of the Moors was a spectacle and an outrage, emphasizing the nature of the deep difference between themselves and their visitors, between their Queen and this 'erring Barbarian.” In order for Shakespeare’s plays to become even more popular and widely respected in his society, he needed to reflect at least some ideas of his society’s attitude back then towards things such as different races. Shakespeare needed to conform to societies’ wants/attitude in order for people to like his plays even more. Thus, he included racism in his stories to please his audience. Thus, through this evidence presented, it is clear why some critics would like to pin the play Othello as a racist story. On the contrary however, many say the exact opposite. Othello is not a racist story; it is a story that uses racism to help move the plot forward. At a time when people of other races (especially blacks) were widely regarded by whites as barbaric, animal-like, and uncivil, Shakespeare presented Othello as a man to be respected. Othello, a black man, was the general of the army, was engaged to the daughter of the senator of Venice (Brabantio), was favored by the duke, and was presented as very civil and well-mannered. All throughout the story, Othello is presented in a favorable light that sways readers/the audience to like him, regardless of his race. For Shakespeare to present a black man in this way (being just as good as white people) was a revolutionary idea back then when blacks were usually regarded as low lives. In addition, Othello was casted as the tragic hero and the main protagonist in the story, while the main protagonist (Iago and Roderigo) was white. People who believe Othello is not a racist story look to this key clue as a symbol that they are correct. In many stories involving black characters back then, African Americans were portrayed as the malicious villains in the story (such as Aaron in the story Titus Andronicus). Shakespeare decided to take a stand against this view that blacks are bad and casted Othello as a civilized black person and that the white people in the story were the evil villains. Thus, this shows that Othello was not a racist story, but to the contrary it challenged the overbearing belief in the Elizabethan society that blacks people were bad and suggested that perhaps “moors” are just regular people. Supporters of the view that Othello is a racist story like to point out all the degrading comments towards people of African descent (specifically Othello) and how often this language is used throughout the story. However, these comments are only said when the characters are angry with Othello. For example, after Emilia found out Othello killed Desdemona, she called him, “the blacker devil” (5.2 131). This is the first time Emilia uses racist comments towards Othello, and it is only because she is horrified and furious that Othello would murder Desdemona. Comments like these are just said in the heat of the moment; it doesn’t really reflect Emilia’s overall attitude towards blacks. The same goes with Iago; the only reason he uses such offensive language towards Othello behind his back is back he hates him. Iago uses these offensive remarks about Othello’s race as a way to express his spite and anger towards him and may not actually reflect his true feelings towards black people. In addition, it can also be proven Othello is not a racist story because Shakespeare wasn’t necessary a conformist. What I mean is that Shakespeare wasn’t really the kind of person that wrote plays just to please his audience/ fit in with what society’s general ideology about something was. While other poets wrote poems about women who were white and perfect, Shakespeare wrote poems about women who were black and not so beautiful. Shakespeare even wrote a sonnet about one of his mistresses, saying, “If snow be white, why then her breast be dun". While the English people of that time ignored people of different races, Shakespeare took it upon himself to play an active role in society and visited various cultural and public service institutions. As a result, he had plenty of time to observe the relationships/interactions between the whites and the foreigners, which he then implemented into his plays (such as Othello). As said before, he overall role of African Americans in literary works/plays of that time were usually the antagonist characters. However, Shakespeare took a stand against this and casted Othello as a black man widely respected and in a seat of authority in the story Othello. As a result, it is unlikely Shakespeare would make an exception and conform to the racist views on blacks at the time. He did have to add a racist comment here and there throughout the story so that it wouldn’t unsettle the audience too much. However, story Othello as a whole is not racist. Thus, through these points, it can be logically seen why some people believe that Othello is not a racist story at all. As in most of Shakespeare’s works, the stories he writes can always be interpreted different ways, as with the case of racism in Othello. Is Othello a racist story? Some say yes; others say no. Both sides provide viable evidence proving their point and disproving the other’s claim. In my opinion, I don’t think Shakespeare intended Othello to be a racist play. However, he did use racism throughout the story to help advance the plot. Nevertheless, whatever the answer may be, I am certain that many scholars and Shakespeare fanatics alike can all agree one thing: that Othello is a classic Shakespearean story dealing with tragedy and that it will be remembered as one of the many great works of William Shakespeare.

Works Cited
King, Warren. "Shakespeare & Racism." No Sweat Shakespeare. No Sweat Shakespeare, 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
Mahmoud, Nisreen. "Racism in Shakespeare 's World." Racism in Shakespeare 's World. Blogspot.com, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
"Race in Othello." Learning and Writing. N.p., 2 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
"Racism - Othello." Racism - Othello. Google Sites, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
"Racism in Othello." Racism in Shakespeare 's World. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .

Cited: King, Warren. "Shakespeare & Racism." No Sweat Shakespeare. No Sweat Shakespeare, 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . Mahmoud, Nisreen. "Racism in Shakespeare 's World." Racism in Shakespeare 's World. Blogspot.com, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . "Race in Othello." Learning and Writing. N.p., 2 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . "Racism - Othello." Racism - Othello. Google Sites, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. . "Racism in Othello." Racism in Shakespeare 's World. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .