Critical Study Essay: Othello

Question: The challenge in this unit has been to evaluate the play after considering what
others think. How has your view on Othello been augmented by other views? Discuss with
close reference to Shakespeare’s original text and at least 2 different ways of considering
Othello.

The preserved textual integrity of William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan

tragedy Othello allows for critical study and evaluation as the issues addressed
within Shakespeare’s play transcend time and still resonate with audiences of
all contexts. Shakespeare accentuates pertinent issues throughout his play
including the marginalisation of ethnic groups, and also explores the intricate
nature of humanity. Hence, through a close study of Shakespeare’s original
text, in conjunction with a consideration of what others have said, we are able
to develop a personal response to the play and an enriched understanding of
the play Othello , the characterisation of Othello and the issue of racism.

Within the play Othello Shakespeare explores the concept of marginalisation and racism
through his characterisation of the protagonist Othello, a moor within the hegemonic Venetian society
in the Elizabethan era. On the surface, Othello is othered due to his “thick lips” and darker skin tone, an
obvious physical contrast to the rest of society. Othello himself states “for I am black”, symbolising his
awareness of his racial difference, and mirrored through other characters who subject Othello to racist
comments and marginalisation throughout the play: “the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor”. The
racism within the text becomes particularly evident in Iago’s constant refusal to refer to Othello by his
name, addressing him instead through racial labelling as “the Moor”, combined with sexually crude
animalistic imagery often associated with the stereotypical views of Moors as savage and brutes: “an
old black ram is tupping your white ewe”. Juxtaposition of the black ram and white ewe expresses the
racial difference between Desdemona and Othello, emphasizing the allegory of black effacement
within Othello. Moreover racism is explicit in Brabantio’s reasoning towards the miscegenation of his
daughter and Othello through Othello being a “practiser of arts inhibited” which emphasises the
stereotypical ideology of black people, in the Elizabethan era, as being demonic. Furthermore use of
the polysemous word ‘black’ accentuates the physical aspect of Othello yet it is also symbolic of the
negative connotations of the word ‘black’ that are semiotic of evil and the devil within the Christianised
society of Venice of Shakespeare’s context. Synonymous to this view contemporary critic Ana María
Manzanas Calvo, increases my understanding of this issue, as she puts forth the notion that “black was

already a partisan colour before the 16th century. It’s meaning included having dark or deadly purpose”
and hence “racial prejudice is the centre around which Iago articulates Othello’s fall.” However, due to
the differing perspectives of Shakespeare’s original audience, that would not have view Othelloas a
play exploring racism, compared to a contemporary view on the play, by interpreting the play through
my own personal context and consideration of modern day critics it has led to racism being a
quintessential element of my understanding of Shakespeare’s play Othello.

Additionally, the characterisation of Othello can be observed where, as Homi K Bhabha states,
Othello is the “ideological construction of otherness”. Within Elizabethan society of Shakespeare’s
context, Othello would have been seen as the typical ‘moor’, an outsider, characterised as “the
Cannibals that each others eat, / the Anthropophagi, and the men whose heads/ Do grow beneath their
shoulders”; where imagery within Othello’s speech reinforces the perceived bestiality the Venetians
often associated with ‘moors’ exemplifying their towards other ethnicities, reflected in their
egocentrism. Such a representation of the character Othello is evident throughout the course of the
play as peripeteia of Othello leads to his demise from nobility and elegance to a reversion back to the
stereotypical depictions of a ‘Black man’. This is accentuated throughout Shakespeare’s play as
Othello’s fragmented speech of “Handkerchief- confessions- handkerchief! …Pish! Noses, ears and
lips” effacing his original eloquence conveyed through “will a round unvarnish’d tale deliver/ Of my
whole course of love.” Shakespeare’s use of monosyllabic words of ‘nose, ears and lips’ is additionally
symbolic of Othello’s deep mental disturbance and destabilisation highlighting Othello’s embodiment
of the violent and aggressive nature often characterised by Moors in Venetian society. Shakespeare’s
use of dramatic techniques, where his stage directions state that Othello “falls in a trance” is both a
literal and metaphorical representation of Othello’s demise. The literal fall of Othello is emphasised in
a modern filmic adaptation ‘Othello’ directed by Oliver Parker (1995) where Othello, falls to the
ground and the foaming of the lips is a literal interpretation of “he foams at mouth”. Such a filmic
adaptation reinforces the nature of Elizabethan audience’s view on Othello as demonic as epilepsy was
not understood as a medical problem and deemed as a characteristic of demonism. The falling of
Othello can also be a metaphorical representation of Othello’s demise and foreboding of Othello’s
regression to violence, reinstated when Desdemona paradoxically states that “my lord is not my
lord” since Othello no longer embodies the characteristics of compassion and tranquility towards
Desdemona. Thus, from Shakespeare’s context in the Elizabethan era, Othello can be viewed as the
typical embodiment of the stereotypical Moor; uneducated, violent and animalistic, and his fall
necessitated by audiences’ expectations and racial stereotyping. Hence, from observing Othello, from
within Shakespeare’s context, my personal interpretation of the play has come to include the
significance racial prejudice and its effect on both the characterisation and ultimate downfall of
Othello.

Conversely, to a contemporary audience the character of Othello can be seen as a hybrid

character or a ‘token white’ who embraces the religious aspects of the state, fighting on the Christian
side against the Islamic Turks, and yet is still an ‘other’ due to his differing ethnicity and culture. This
hybrid character can be seen through Shakespeare’s use of colour connotations when the Duke states
that Othello is “far more fair than black” highlighting that Othello possesses the more virtuous
characteristics that are often associated with ‘white’ people compared to the stereotypical ‘black’ traits
of bestiality and violence. Othello as an amalgam is particularly evident in the Dukes use of high
modality “Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you Against the general enemy Ottoman”, as it
emphasises the importance of Othello to the Venetian State. In addition, use of Othello’s name
emancipates Othello from the general stereotypical views of moors in Venice, which is denied by the
other characters within the play. Othello’s coalesce of ethics is additionally evident in his religion,
through his language as he uses Christian oaths of ‘Zounds’ and constantly refers to the repentance of
sin, asking ‘Have you prayed tonight, Desdemon?’ Shakespeare’s manipulation of Desdemona’s name
into ‘Desdemon’ is furthermore indicative of Othello’s changing outlook of Desdemona as now
exhibiting traits of demonism due to her infidelity. As a result, from a modern day perspective, an
understanding of Othello’s true character can be interpreted as not only an othered moor, but a hybrid
which encompasses traits of the White Venetian society with the Elizabethan/Jacobean Era.

Consequently, my understanding of Shakespeare’s Othello has been augmented by a critical

study of the text with reference to critics and modern day filmic adaptations. The pertinence of racism
as an issue and the character of the antagonist Othello has been predominant in my reading. As a result,
I have come to a greater understanding of the notion of marginalisation, based on ethnic backgrounds,
hybridity within humans and the play Othello.