Othello's character, although we haven't met him yet, has been portrayed a strong leader, but despite this, other characters don't always seem to agree with his acts and decisions.
Ha! well let me explain...
Throughout the first scene, we find that no one - yes - no one- uses Othellos name when referring to him! Not only does this completely take away any form of humanity and individuality, it continually highlights the fact that Othello is different; that is to say, he is the only black man in the play - the ONLY "Moor".
The continual use of the word to refer to him is extremely powerful, and allows us -(without ye old Bill Shakespeare turning round and saying it) - to develop these concepts and ideas about what other characters are like, what Othello must be like and how these ideas - these opinions - are going to effect the cascade of the tragedy...
There is also this powerful imagery that is used throughout the performance in the characters language - a strong racially based image. Iago's description of "an old black ram tupping your white ewe" is not only crude, but an outright jibe at Othello's age and colour, also implying an animalistic characteristic of Othello (again, degrading and dehumanizing). Clearly, Iago's killing two birds with one stone here - not only is he getting away with insulting his master Othello, but he also gets to wind Brabantio up!
...and this just keeps going...
nowadays any form or racism is frowned upon in society, - but hey - not then and Roderigo and Iago carry on, throwing out insults here and there, like "the thick lips" - implying that Othello is not only physically different, but that his words themselves are poisonous, spreading lies and so on and so forth...
My personal favourite, is Iagos (dare i say...clever?) referal to Othello as "His Moorship"..
yeah...I'm going to go ahead and call him clever (or rather, Shakespeare and his literary genius)- he's managed to take "lordship" and "Moor" AND make it sarcastic and condescending! An excellent example of a clever pun to create an idea in the readers/audiences mind about what Iago's true feelings and intentions are...
Obviously....
Othellos not stupid (or so we presume) - he knows hes different...
In this case, we used three different types of mentality that Othello may have - his conscious attitudes, his repressed attitudes and his outward attitudes....
Consciously , Othello must have to bare in mind that people are scared of whats different, that he is a strong leader and that he can achieve what other Venitians may achieve.
His repressed attitudes can be predicted to be that he is not worthy of Desdemona and that perhaps he may not be as good as other Venetian men because of the colour of his skin.
Most of these attitudes would be negative, and probably about himself....
Outwardly, Othello must have to be strong and powerful, exerting an authority over the soldiers he leads and protect Desdemona.
Soooo..... who knows?- maybe Othellos colour won't be an issue...but from the looks of Iagos and Roderigos attitudes, and even Brabantio, this could be the pivotal factor in the tumbling tragedy of Othello.......
Kira
This was easy to understand and brought back everything that we learnt in that lesson, you've explained everything in detail so we also get your opinions on it all which helps. Fatima
ReplyDeleteTis' a detailed, strong summary on what we had learnt in our lesson yesterday. The attitudes of racism towards Othello are extreme. Roderigo and Iago especially, obviously have passionate hatred towards Othello. It seems like that they are doing everything in their 'power' to destroy Othello's life. Especially when, Iago is trying(and thinking that he is succeding to order Brabantio(Desdemona's father)around. He makes snide comments such as ''your daughter and the moor are now making the beast with two backs.'' Iago is stating that his daughter is having sex with Othello, relating the 'baby; they are supposedly making as a beast. This is referred completely to Othello, and his race. He is selling out Othello and Desdemona's lives, by saying something, which isnt necessarily true.
ReplyDeleteThe only way that the audience has heard of Othello so far is negative. However, the audience still manage to know that this isnt true, that Othello is a strong, independant leader, who has two jealous weasels on his back.
Great facts and opinions, great blog!
Holls :)
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ReplyDeleteAn easy-to-understand blog that has loads of detail. From this point in the play we develope more of an understanding of Iago and Roderigo than the man they are describing: Othello. We can see that both are selfish men, aiming to get their own goals by pulling others down further than they are. Also we learn a lot about the racism (and acceptance of it) during the time period, as the words 'Moor' and 'thick-lips' are thrown around easily without any critisism.
ReplyDeleteThe audience do, despite the negativity around Othello, get an idea that Iago is setting up a bad image of Othello that isn't true. This is because Othello has managed to surpass a widely accepted prejudice and lives a very equal life to most white people. Emma