Critical Race Studies: The Consequences of Racism in Shakespeare's Othello

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, race is clearly a main theme in the play as the protagonist is a black man who suffers from racism by the Venetians. Although race should be viewed “as a cultural category rather than a biological category,” Othello is clearly set apart in society because of his biological make-up (Parker 318). Roderigo says, “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe / [i]f he can carry’t thus!” (1.1.63-64). Roderigo calls Othello “the thick-lips” as if that was his name. Instead of giving Othello the dignity of a name, or even his title as commander of the army, Roderigo uses a racist and demeaning slur. Roderigo and Iago see themselves as inherently superior to Othello because of their “whiteness.” This “whiteness is” merely “a position of power” that is “masked as a position of biology” (Parker 320). Roderigo and Iago are in no way superior or inferior to Othello on a biological level, as they are all human-beings. However, the white characters use race as an excuse to exert superiority over Othello, because they see race as biological category rather than a cultural construct.

Since race is a cultural construct rather than a biological category, race can be further distinguished as “race” and “racialization” (Parker 321). Race is what people are (black, white, indigenous, etc.) while racialization “suggests something that is done to people” (Parker 321). Racialization causes people to “get defined by preconceptions about a group they belong to, making it harder for others and even for the individuals to see their individuality” (Parker 321). Racialization is certainly played out in Othello as Othello is defined by the group he belongs to. Othello is just “the Moor.” Iago rarely refers to Othello by his name when he is talking to Roderigo; he only calls him “the Moor” or “the…black Othello (2.1.342, 62, 77, 90; 2.3.27). In the same way, Brabantio only calls Othello by his race, when he says, “Look to her, Moor” (1.3.290). Neither Iago or Brabantio can refer to Othello simply by his name; they must emphasize his race, as if that alone is what defines Othello. Iago also makes generalized statements about the Moors when he tells Roderigo that “[t]hese Moors / are changeable in their wills” (2.1.343-44). When he says “[t]hese Moors,” Iago is stereotyping black people, asserting that all blacks “are changeable in their wills.” At another point, the Duke tells Brabantio that his “son-in-law is far more fair than black,” hinting that Othello is a remarkable and honourable person, despite the fact that he is black (1.3.288).

Othello is continually subject to racism by the Venetians around him as he is only seen as an “other” and a foreigner. In his introduction to the play Othello, Edward Percher remarks that Othello “is an alien to white Christian Europe, what we would now call an immigrant, whose visible difference seems to be the defining aspect of his identity, the source of his charismatic power to excite interest and to generate horror” (Percher xi). Othello’s race is used to “generate horror” when Roderigo and Iago use his race to dehumanize him and turn him into an animal. When Iago tells Brabantio that Desdemona has run off with Othello, he says: “an old black ram / [i]s tupping your white eve” (1.1.85-86). Roderigo chimes in, informing Brabantio that “[he will] have [his] daughter covered with a Barbary horse” (1.1:108). Again, Iago uses disturbing bestial sexual language: “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter / and the Moor are making the beast with two backs” (1.1.112-13). Othello is portrayed as an animal when he is called a “black ram,” “horse” and a “beast.” These offensive descriptions make Othello and Desdemona’s relationship one of bestiality. There is also a hint of the fear of the two producing a bestial mixed race of children. Parker would call this fear a desire to protect the “purity” of the race (314). Brabantio tells Roderigo: “O, would you had had her!” (1.1.172). He would rather a white man have his daughter than an “old black ram.”

Brabantio cannot imagine that Desdemona can genuinely love a Moor; he believes that Othello “hast enchanted her” (1.2.63). Brabantio tells Othello that Desdemona would never have “[r]un from her guardage to the sooty bosom / [o]f such a thing as thou” (1.2.71-71). Brabantio clearly sees Othello as a foreigner as he says that Desdemona is from “the wealthy curlèd darlings of our nation” (1.2.68 emphasis mine). He refers to “our nation,” clearly excluding Othello, especially as he calls him “such a thing as thou.” Brabantio tells Othello that he could not possibly have “won his daughter” as how could Desdemona “fall in love with what she feared to look on?” (1.3:93, 98). Othello is continually subject to racism as he is only considered a black foreigner and a thing to Brabantio, and an animal to Iago and Roderigo.

Critical race scholar W.E.B Du Bois' theory of "double consciousness", where one is continually “looking at one’s self through the eyes of others” (Parker 314), is embraced by Othello. At the beginning of the play, Othello seems to be confident in his identity but further on, he begins to view himself through the eyes of the other characters. When Othello sees Brabantio approach to confront him about Desdemona, he tells Iago, “My parts, my title, and my perfect soul / [s]hall manifest me rightly” (1.2.31-32). Even though Brabantio believes that he has stolen Desdemona and enchanted her” (1.2.63), Othello remains confident in the knowledge of his innocence. Later, in a conversation with Iago, Othello remarks he will not “draw / [t]he smallest fear or doubt of [Desdemona’s] revolt, / [f]or she had eyes and chose me” (3.3.190-91). Othello believes that Desdemona sees him as her husband and her lover and that she will remain true to him. However, Iago is able to sow seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind and he begins to take on a double consciousness. Iago says to Othello that he “may fear / [h]er will, recoiling to her better judgment, / [m]ay fall to match you with her country forms, / [a]nd happily repent” (3.3.237-239). Here, Iago hints that Desdemona will happily repent her marriage with a black Moor and marry a white Venetian instead and exchange Othello for Cassio. Once left on his own, Othello reflects on Iago’s words and thinks “Haply for I am black” (3.3.265). Othello decides that Desdemona’s fancies have moved on because he is a black foreigner and Cassio is not. Perhaps Othello looks back on the story he told Brabantio, where Desdemona “loved [him] for the dangers I had past, / [a]nd I loved her that she did pity them” (1.3.166-167). Perhaps Desdemona only had a fleeting fascination for Othello’s otherness and his exploits, but did not truly love him. Perhaps Othello remembers the Duke’s response to his story when he says, “I think this tale would win my daughter too” (1.3.170). Othello begins to take on a double consciousness as he starts to see himself through the racist and demeaning eyes of Iago, which results in devastating consequences.

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Works Cited

Parker, Robert Dale. How To Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural
Studies. Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 2015.

Shakespeare, William. Othello. Edited by Edward Pechter, Second Norton Critical Edition, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.

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