Racism In Othello

The main focus of the visual essay is on the issue of race in Othello by William Shakespeare. The visual essay highlights the struggles Othello has to face in the play because of his race and nationality. The essay includes visuals about the use of vivid animal imagery to express the racial hatred towards Othello, for example, Iago refers to Othello as a “Barbary horse” when reporting to Brabanito about his daughter’s relationship and says “You’ll have your nephews neigh to you”. This animal imagery of the horse is included in the essay to demonstrate the hatred towards Othello in the play because of his race. Similarly, Othello is subject to racial discrimination again when Brabanito accuses that Othello used “spells and medicines” (1.3.68) to seduce Desdemona because “Sans witchcraft could not ... fall in love with what she feared to look on?” (1.3.67-101). This is included in the visual essay through the use of the
Othello is the general of the Venice army and also mentions that he comes from a royal family which makes him as noble as Desdemona. Additionally, he says that “I love the gentle Desdemona”; despite all this the only person that is able to see the caring, strong and valuable side of Othello is Desdemona. Therefore, the visual essay compares the true side of Othello with the Othello that characters like Iago, Roderigo and Brabanito perceives. The play Othello also addresses many real life racial problems. For example, during the Shakespearean era readers of the play found the racial relationship between Othello and Desdemona very interesting. However, many were disturbed by what they saw during the play even though the actor playing Othello was most likely a white actor wearing black face paint. The legal map also demonstrates how little progression there has been since the Shakespearean era until only few decades