Othello Essay

Racism, an alarming issue found in every modern-day society, occurred through much of the
world’s history. Beginning in Mediterranean regions, and stretching around the globe, racism has grown
into a vicious cycle. Racism not only takes away one’s sense of self worth, but disturbs the social
function of a community. Psychologists have even recently traced racial discrimination and oppression
to many mental dysfunctions. In William Shakespeare’s tragic tale of Othello, this issue is evidently
confronted. One can learn through Othello and Shakespeare that both cultural and institutional racism
were evident problems in Elizabethan England. Shakespeare tried to end this issue, and presented new
ideas to his readers. These ideas tried to gain equality in society for all.
In Othello, the issue of racism is presented very early. Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is very
upset, disappointed, and appalled when he learns from Iago at the beginning of the play that Othello has
married his lovely daughter. He claims that a disrespected white man is much better than a respected
nobleman and army general who just happens to be of a different race. Iago, the plays villain, even
compares Othello to a horse. Because Brabantio is so influential in his occupation as a Venetian senator,
his opinion represents the government of Venice, and many of the citizens within the city. Therefore,
Shakespeare implies that racism was a terrible problem in Europe.
In Elizabethan England, specifically from 1558-1603, it was not uncommon to see people of
different races engaged in normal life. The main groups of different races migrated to England from
Africa, Asia, and Italy. People of different races were often discriminated against starting in the
workplace through institutional racism. Institutional racism is the differentiated access to opportunities,
jobs, goods, services, and social features people of other races are provided with. In Elizabethan
England, this racism occurred in every one of these aspects. People of non-white were not offered clean
jobs and were paid much less than the average salary for white people. Their low wages limited the
number of children they could provide for. Perhaps these low wages were purposely set in place to
prevent the population of non-white citizens from growing. In theatres, black people were often only
allowed to play the role of a monster or a beast. This discrimination not only created a sense of
resentment of people of other races, but created a mostly white community lacking positive
diversification in art, literature, and fair government. Once institutional racism began in England, it was
often difficult to stop its effects. This was mainly due to the policies of theatres, companies, merchants,
churches, and government. These policies were often strict and hard to ignore. If somebody of another
race wanted an opportunity a white person could only have, they would have to gain rare, large groups
of support in order to defeat the racism they faced.
During the Elizabethan Age, religion was a major factor in people’s lives. In Catholic and
Protestant faiths, the color white was seen as the symbol of purity and innocence. The common white
wedding dress even symbolized virginity. White was also commonly worn by the royal family, showing
their rareness among the people of the earth, as well as their acceptable rulings. This is where cultural
racism began. This sacred color of the church transferred to the view that people of non-white races
were not Christians and were very unreligious. This belief led to overall hatred of people of other races
during this time period. Even though many people of other races in England were raised in Muslim
communities, not all of them conformed to that faith. In Othello, Othello is a Christian and thanks God
for his achievements. However, he is judged to be a non-Christian. It was very dangerous for a person of
another religion to be in England during the Elizabethan Era. Failure to adhere to the “favored” religion
often resulted in imprisonment, or even execution. Because people of other religions were automatically
viewed as non-Christians, they were often killed and punished, even if totally innocent.
Shakespeare, who attempted many times to demolish racism, twisted the belief that all people of
other races were very unmoral and lacking in good character. He placed the moor into being the tragic
hero of the play. Othello was certainly the tragic hero because he was noble, honest, and trustworthy.
The play’s villain, Iago, used all of these characteristics to manipulate Othello into believing that
Desdemona was cheating on Othello. Perhaps Shakespeare also created this strange situation in order to
show that people of other races could be of good statue, while white men could be villainous, presenting
the fact that skin color does not determine the personality, religious status, or class ranking of a person.
Shakespeare also portrayed this idea through showing that people of different races could be gentle and
love just as white people did. Othello loved Desdemona more than anyone in the world at the beginning
and middle of the play. As the play goes on, and Othello begins to lose his love for Desdemona because
of Iago’s manipulation, he is torn apart. His tragic flaw, his jealousy and extreme love for Desdemona,
lead him to his downfall as a tragic hero. This downfall also includes him killing Desdemona, and later
killing himself. Yet another attempt by Shakespeare in his writing of Othello to end racism and show the
absurdness of the issue was his characterization of Othello. Othello was very smart, and had a great
work ethic. Shakespeare placed Othello in a very important position by making him a general in the
Venetian army. Shakespeare wanted to demonstrate that a person of a different race was certainly
qualified to perform well in an important job. All of these attempts by Shakespeare are indicative of the
problem of racism in Elizabethan England.

The racial aspects in Othello are not used to discriminate against people of other races. They are
instead meant to teach us about racism both during the Elizabethan Era and today, and its horrible
effects, hopefully ending racism throughout the world.

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Racism, an alarming issue found in every modern-day society, occurred through much of the

Shakespeare implies that racism was a terrible problem in Europe.

of support in order to defeat the racism they faced.

problem of racism in Elizabethan England.

effects, hopefully ending racism throughout the world.

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