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William Shakespeares Othello explores the term ‘other’ to achieve his purpose of trying to question the validity of stereotypes. Shakespeare uses the protagonist, Othello to question the racial prejudices during the Renaissance and to question the validity of stereotypes. During the Elizabethan Era in England, a dark-skinned person in a position of power wasn’t part of the norm during the Elizabethan England, the population, at the time, considered dark-skinned people to be seen as a minority compared to the English People who were mainly based on their religious views. By placing Othello as a Venetian General where he has a position of power and where is respected and charitable, Shakespeare brings forth the idea that the racially stereotyped ‘Others’ aren’t as bad as they are described by the population of Venice and Cyprus. However, as the play continues, Othello is shown to lose power and has turned into a monster after killing his faithful wife, which returns him back to the norm of the Elizabethan Era.
Othello is frequently represented as the ‘other’ in the play through Iagos derogatory and xenophobic use of animal imagery such as the Moor, the devil, and a Barbary horse to refer to Othello. Similarly, Roderigo refers to Othello as having ‘thick lips’ which draws a line of isolation towards Othello to discriminate against him based on his difference in physical appearance. Othello is referred to as if he is a hypersexualized beast which ultimately reflects the beliefs held by the community about black men during this time. When Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is informed that Othello is being intimate with his daughter, he finds it hard to believe that his daughter could genuinely love a black man and hence accuses Othello of using black magic on his daughter to marry him. Iago also instills into Brabantios mind that Desdemona isn’t the one at fault for this elopement, it is of course Othello who is at fault as he has supposedly hypnotized her into this relationship with black magic. At this very minute an old black ram is having sex with your little white ewe’, Iago is shown to have hatred towards Othello in this line as he describes Othello as an old black ram who is lustful whereas Desdemona as a white ewe which portrays innocence.
Thus, Shakespeare conveys the racial prejudices occurring in the Elizabethan Era, through Othello which became his hamartia and contributed to his downfall.
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