Essay about Racism and Cultural Differences Exposed in...

Othello, from the onset, is shown to us a play of love and jealousy. There is however more to this play than just love and jealousy; there is underlying racism, hate, deception, pride, and even sexism between these pages. Othello is a transcendent play, one that will survive the perils of time simply because it is still relevant. Even today, over 400 years later, there are still issues of racism and sexism. Hate is as natural as love in humans and Othello gets right to the root of that. We witness this from the very first scene, â€Å"†¦you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse/ you’ll have your nephews neigh to you† (I.i.112-14); to the very last, â€Å"Moor she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor† (V.ii.258). Moor however is†¦show more content†¦I’ll have’t disputed on; ‘Tis probable, and palpable to thinking. I therefore apprehend and do attach thee For an abuser of the world, a practice Of arts inhibited and out of warrant. (I.ii. 63-66, 68-72, 74-80) Brabantio shows his racist ways clearly here; he feels that his daughter could never love Othello unless she had been somehow tricked! When one looks deeper into this mindset we understand how loving Othello, the Moor, could be seen as such an issue to her father. Then and even today color is associated with, â€Å"sin, damnation, and eventually, sexual promiscuity† (Hall, 182). White on the other hand is associated with, â€Å"purity, virginity, and virtue† (Hall, 183). For Desdemona to love Othello she must give up her innocence. For a â€Å"pure† and â€Å"virtuous† woman to love a man such as Othello she must be a â€Å"sinner† and a â€Å"whore.† This â€Å"realization† of his daughter’s lack of purity causes Brabantio to die due to pure grief as Gratiano explains to us: Poor Desdemon! I am glad thy father’s dead. Thy match was mortal to him, and pure grief Shore his old thread in twain†¦ Yea, curse his better angel from his side, And fall to reprobance. (V.ii. 211-13, 215-16) Roderigo also shows racism throughout the play although it is due more to a combination of Iago’s manipulations and his love of Desdemona than his natural feelings. Iago shows racism all throughout the playShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Othello : Race And Performance6373 Words   |  26 PagesPAGE 1 Pass Ilari Pass ENGL 400 Seminar: Literature and Ethics Hood 7 November 2014 Barbary Horse: Race and Performance in Othello Ethics never went out of fashion in philosophy. It did, however, in literary studies. In Critical Terms for Literary Study, Geoffrey Galt Harpham asks, ?What is ethics? The answers to this simple inquiry are complexity itself, for they take us straight to the decentered center of ethics, its concern for ?the other (394). According to Harpham, Read MoreGp Essay Mainpoints24643 Words   |  99 Pageswith whole range of in-depth technical guides but serve as a distraction, hopping from link to link †¢ Distractions due to sheer variety of content and multimedia can be both especially tempting and exceptionally deadly †¢ Clear psychological difference to reading a novel manuscript off a laptop screen and actually cradling the hardcopy edition in one’s hand (simple sentimentalities?) 1b. New: narcissistic Intro: †¢ Gone were the days when the chance of seeing one’s name in a printed publication