ENG 4U1
April 7, 2014 Othello- Racism Short Paper We are all brothers and sisters, God made each and one of us unique and are own personal selves. Skin colour is becoming more variant in the modern day, and is not really frowned upon as it once was. Today race is becoming becoming more diversified and there is less of a gap in the community and wealth. Skin colour however is very prominent in the play Othello. One person in the play who we see being ridiculed and discriminated against throughout the play would have to be Othello. Othello is a black man, who is called a moor, or in other words Black Muslim throughout most of the play when really Othello has a past of Egyptian heritage and a hint of Christian religious beliefs. Skin colour is one of the reasons why Iago decides to overthrow Othello. Othello’s intents of Desdemona were brought to question when her father found out that she was going to marry a moor. Even Othello himself has self-hatred for his skin and it begins to increasingly bother him. Racism is prominent from Iago, Brabantio and himself.
The plot in Act 1 in Othello is a small scene that starts us off through Iago’s eyes and his deceit to Othello and how man will believe a friend over a lover or loved one. One of Iago’s reasons for trying to overthrow Othello is because he hates that Othello is black or as Iago said, “I have told thee often, and retell thee again and again, I hate the moor.” (1.1.lines 349-350)
Another time in act one where Othello is seen being harassed, is by Desdemona’s Father and some of the court. When Desdemona’s father, a senator named Brabantio, finds out that Othello and Desdemona are getting married, he bursts instantly in to a fit of rage and brings Othello in front of the court accusing him because he is a moor, and for allegedly playing with witchcraft on his daughter. In scene 2 we experience a rant from Brabantio, “o thou foul thief, where hast thou stowed my daughter? Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her… if she in chains of magic were not bound… that thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals. That weaken motion… I therefore apprehend and do attach thee For an abuser of the world, practicer of arts inhibited and out of warrant.” (1.2. Lines 62-79)
Brabantio intends to send Othello to prison because he believes that since Othello is a black