StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Othello by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
In October of 1943, America would witness one of the most celebrated and at the same time, one of the most controversial Broadway debuts of a Shakespearian tragedy that the world would ever know. On stage, holding her frail alabaster physique against his broad ebony chest, the great actor, singer, and activist, Paul Robeson as Othello The Black Moor, would ultimately grieve the desperate pleas of Uta Hagen as the fair Desdemona; claiming her innocence and her last breathe in the dramatic climatic scene of the renowned tragedy…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.8% of users find it useful
Othello by William Shakespeare
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Othello by William Shakespeare"

Othello: The Tawny Moor In October of 1943, America would witness one of the most celebrated and at the same time, one of the most controversial Broadway debuts of a Shakespearian tragedy that the world would ever know. On stage, holding her frail alabaster physique against his broad ebony chest, the great actor, singer, and activist, Paul Robeson as Othello The Black Moor, would ultimately grieve the desperate pleas of Uta Hagen as the fair Desdemona; claiming her innocence and her last breathe in the dramatic climatic scene of the renowned tragedy.

No Black actor had played the Black Moor with such critical acclaim, since the day that Ira Aldridge won rave reviews on a London stage in 1833. After a ten minute standing ovation, followed by an amazing ten curtain calls, the world suddenly returned back as it was. Outdoors, the cool autumn New York City air was tinged for a moment with the melancholy sounds of Billy Holliday belting out her first-hand impression of the ever-present scourge of lynching in the Deep South; painfully echoing through the words of a song she named Strange Fruit.

Set in northern Italy during the late sixteen century, William Shakespeare's tragedy has never been able to avoid its powerful racial imagery. Perhaps that is as it was meant to be. However today, in such a multi-cultural and yet arguably still a rather segregated society, it is often difficult for Americans to truly gage racial sensibilities across several centuries and such wide bodies of water. When have we ever been able to gage an honest understanding of the true nature of racism within our own society So it is, that the best that we may hope to do is to put notions of racial antagonism and identity within the proper context of a prominent European city immersed within the waning years of the Italian Renaissance.

Watching from the very first scene, as Iago appears to speak somewhat disparagingly of him as - 'The Moor', and Roderigo mocks his 'thick lips', what are we to make of the contemporary attitudes that are actually being alluded to There can be no mistaking the fact that his marriage to the "fair" Desdemona is repeatedly frowned upon, but wait, notice that no mob seeks to capture Othello and string him to tree. In fact, he is indeed a rather respected military official; in spite of the fact that the Duke makes it clear just who is really in charge.

However still, there can be no mistaken his 'otherness'. He is an outsider and a Black man. None of this can this be disputed. But how are we to view what we are witnessing upon this Shakespearean stage Here perhaps are a few clues. Moorish soldiers are mentioned in battle as early as Livy's History of the Second Punic War (Book 21). Along with Nubians, they were known to have fought gallantly on the side of the Carthaginians, against the armies of Rome from 218-201 AD. In fact, the Moors would own an illustrious history as a conquering army who would occupy and ultimately transform the entire Iberian Peninsula; until that faithful year that Columbus would sail the ocean blue in 1492.

However, this would all begin in the year 711 AD., when the Moorish General Tarik brought with him an army of more than 7000 men crossing from Africa to Gibraltar and into Spain. This would begin an occupation that would ultimately become ingrained within the Mediterranean mind for more than a millennium. The Moors brought with them the knowledge of science and technology; they built libraries, and beautiful cities; they paved thousands of roads, and built thousands of public baths. At a time when 99% of Europe was illiterate, in Cordoba education was universal.

They lifted the Mediterranean world out of the Dark Ages. Ultimately, they brought with them gunpowder as well; and this would eventually prove to become their downfall. Othello exists prior to what was only The Second Rise of Europe. Sometimes history is difficult to reconcile, as it has so often been cast simply as a lie agreed upon. To try and view the racist codes self-evident within the Shakespearean drama, from out of the cultural worldview of racism as we know of it today, is akin to applying the actions of a child to an adult.

The racism that we have become accustomed to, took centuries of chattel slavery to develop. Nevertheless, Othello is cast as a man with emotions that almost seem childlike. The swiftness and ease, with which Iago ensnarls him in deceit, would appear to betray his role as a military commander. His jealousy quickly becomes his downfall, and I am even a little bit suspicious, that he is indeed somewhat drawn with characteristics that are actually intended to be mockingly so. Europe would soon begin the Triangular Slave Trade.

The conquerors had finally been driven away. In time, the conquered would become the conqueror. Suggested Reading Bevington, David Complete Works of Shakespeare. Longman Pub. 6 edition July 2008Duberman, Martin Paul Robeson A Biography Knopf 1st edition February 1989Lane-Poole, Stanley The Story of the Moors in Spain Kessinger Publishing July 2007Livy Hannibal's First Campaign in Italy Macmillan & Company 1879 Original from Harvard University. Digitized April 27, 2007

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1520997-othello-by-william-shakespeare
(Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1520997-othello-by-william-shakespeare.
“Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1520997-othello-by-william-shakespeare.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Othello by William Shakespeare

Masculine and Feminine Nuances in the Play Othello by William Shakespeare

Other Subject: 08 May 2012 Masculine and Feminine Nuances in the Play Othello by William Shakespeare The play, “Othello,” is one among the greatest tragedies written by Shakespeare, which narrates the story of a general, Othello, whose sexual jealousy makes him murder his wife and ultimately leads to his doom.... Thus, while shakespeare shows females as subservient in the society, through the deft portrayal of the traits of his characters and their actions, he subtly projects the strength of femininity over masculinity....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Othello Act 2 & 3 A Review

Reference Othello by William Shakespeare, Web, May, 2013 http://www.... For instance he says ‘I'll pour this… (shakespeare,1622) giving the reader a view of what was to come.... Iago tells him that he would send Desdemona to talk to him regards his demoted position and innocent Cassio says ‘ I never knew a Florentine… ‘(shakespeare, 1622) Cassio is engulfed in a sea of misfortune without knowing it, when he succumbs to the conniving plan of Iago....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Themes in Othello, Everyday Use and The Lesson

The three works, Othello by William Shakespeare, Everyday Use by Alice Walker and The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara are quite different in their story outline but there is resemblance in the themes of the three genres.... shakespeare forced his audience to see Othello with the “bodily eye” of Iago.... In this essay, the themes of isolation and othello's being an Alien in Venice and the gulf of culture, race and complexion—that exists between him and the Venetians—in an important theme in the tragedy in othello....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Significance of Othellos Military Association in Othello

In the expository lines of the first scene, Othello as described by shakespeare evokes images of an exotic warrior who has won the… Also known as the Moor, he has all the characteristic elements of a romantic, chivalrous hero- a person of noble descent rising to importance as a military Othello's occupation balances his status or social position in the play with Desdemona.... In his essay Othello's occupation: shakespeare and the romance of chivalry, Mark Rose states: “Othello's blackness is the index of a different orientation toward the chivalric figure....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Season of migration and Othello

hellip; According to the research findings Season of Migration is depicted as a story that has been derived from Othello by William Shakespeare.... Although Season of Migration by Tayeb Salih was written in novel form and Othello by William Shakespeare was written in play form, the two pieces of literature have a lot of similarities in terms of character representation and the themes discussed.... william shakespeare concentrates his story around Othello, and he mainly tries to highlight the destructive part of Othello....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Compare lago's wife, Emilia, and the Wife of Bath from Chaucer's Cantebury Tales

She did not like the last two very much. Emilia is a woman who Comparison between Emilia and Wife of Bath in the Canterbury Tales Emilia is the wife of Iago in the play Othello by William Shakespeare.... william Caxton.... Iago is the ensign of Cassio.... Emilia loves Iago very much and even though she does everything to please him, Iago does not love her back in the same measure....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Analysis of Othello by William Shakespeare

The paper "Analysis of Othello by William Shakespeare" highlights that killing Emilia action was a clear indication that Iago was only interested in attaining his avenges and getting what he wanted most, the lieutenant position that Moor had denied him.... hellip; It is important to note that Iago pretends not to know anyone and goes ahead to question othello on how secure he thinks his marriage while trying to instill fear in him at the same time.... In his reply, othello shows no fear for the wrath of his father-in-law that he stands to face because of his actions....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

A Literary Analysis of the Jealousy in Othello by William Shakespeare

This is "A Literary Analysis of the Jealousy in Othello by William Shakespeare" essay.... nbsp;Othello by William Shakespeare, or a tale littered with jealousy.... Below is a literary analysis of the jealousy in Othello by William Shakespeare, the different actions the characters do, and the consequences that follow due to jealousy.... nbsp;… Out of jealousy, Iago plots othello's doom after he is overlooked of promotion....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us