How Does Othello s View On The Color Of His Skin Affect...

Guy Lopez Shakespeare’s Characters Professor Berg 12/6/15 Race in Othello How does Othello’s view on the color of his skin affect the racial and social tensions between him and the other characters? What does it mean that Shakespeare uses a Moor as a protagonist? In Elizabethan society race played a prominent role in social status and the relationship between people. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, race is key in understanding the complex relationships between characters. The work Othello was based on a story by Giraldi Cinthios, Tale of a Moor, which was a mellow drama about a moor and his doubts about his wife s fidelity. In Shakespeare s play the Othello is convinced by his â€Å"friend† and aid Iago that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful, Iago’s jealousy is motivated in part by Othello’s choice to promote Cassio and also by the praise Othello receives even while being a Moor. So what does it mean that Shakespeare chose to use a moor as the protagonist? To answer this question we have to explore the use of the term Moor and blackness in the play, including connotation as well as denotation. Othello may be connected with the Moors who stayed in Spain after the fall of Granada in 1492 until 1609, or with t he people of ‘Barbary’ in North Africa. Iago calls Othello a ‘Barbary horse’ (1.1.110), referring to the famous horses of the Arab world, but also playing on the associations of ‘barbarian’ with paganism and savagery. Shakespeare could have known of Moors inShow MoreRelatedothello questions5252 Words   |  22 Pagesï » ¿Othello Questions ACT I 1. While Shakespeare presents the world of Venice as a place of civilization, is slow turns into a place of un-civilization and disputes. For example, Roderigo and Iago wake up Brabantio and tell him that there are thieves in his house. In reply, Brabantio says This is Venice. My house is not a grange. This shows how Venice is not usually a place with interrupting events. . Shakespeare also shows how Venice is slowing becoming corrupt. This is demonstrated when DesdemonaRead MoreLangston Hughes Research Paper25309 Words   |  102 PagesHughes was seventeen years old, he spent the summer with his father, Jim Hughes, in Toluca, Mexico. Langston had not seen his father since he was a small child, and he was excited about making the trip. However, during this visit, no affectionate bond would develop between Langston and Jim. Jim Hughes was a cold, difficult man, who was driven by ambition to make money and achieve respect. He had moved to Mexico to avoid segregation and racial injust ice in the United States. As the manager of an electric