Is Othello a racist play, or does it critique racist people?
Identify and Discuss a universal theme you see operating in Othello.
August 3, 2019Discuss what the audience learns about Iago from his soliloquy and how it relates to Iago’s overall understanding of himself and his actions.
August 3, 2019Is Othello a racist play, or does it critique racist people?
Question Description
We have read and discussed both Shakespeare’s Othello. Develop an essay of approximately 1200-1500 words (4-5 double-spaced pages, not counting the Works Cited page). You should rely upon the play itself as your primary source, although you are allowed to use scholarly published articles as references as long as you cite your sources following MLA format. (It is not acceptable to reference other student essays you find online, SparkNotes, GradeSaver.com, Wikipedia, and the like.)
Prompt :
- Is Othello a racist play, or does it critique racist people? Explain. Be sure to consider what the characters in the play say and do, what stereotypes are employed, and the overall storyline. Your interpretation will probably depend on whether you see Othello as a monstrous fool or as an admirable but duped victim.
think about our discussion of this very issue. On the one hand, Shakespeare could be suggesting that racism is wrong because all the villains or dupes in the play dislike Othello or discriminate against him, whereas the play’s “good guys,” including Desdemona, Cassio, the Duke, etc, respect him. On the other hand, Shakespeare could be accepting racist attitudes because of the context of his time period (consider the Great Chain of Being) and because Othello does fall from grace, killing himself and his wife because he is duped into jealousy. Take a side and argue from there, using the text as support for your view.
link is here for the great chain of being
