Othello

This was my first time reading and experiencing Othello and I really enjoyed it. This play was similar to Romeo and Juliet to me, because of the relationship between Othello and Desdemona, which is my favorite play. Also, when comparing Othello and Titus Andronicus with the Shakespeare plays I already know, I have noticed a lot of trends that I hadn’t realized existed before, or at least hadn’t been conscious of. Shakespeare seems to write a lot about Italy considering he is not from there, and also inserts several Moorish characters and concepts of those people. There is a connection to Hamlet in this play, as well, in 2.3.376 when Iago talks of pouring poison in Othello’s ear. In this situation, Othello is like the late King Hamlet and Iago is like
I find it interesting that we have been looking at the racial implications of Shakespeare’s plays especially in regards to Othello because, like I stated in class, I didn’t realize he was black until I was a bit into the play. I think that race could be taken out of this play, however the Loomba points we began discussing in class are very convincing. (The first point about Moors not having a God, lawe, religion, or common wealth…” doesn’t really seem to stand out in any part of the play. Othello follows the system of command for the Venetians that he is working for. The second point lends itself to the debate that Desdemona’s father was scared that she would bring black blood into their family line, or was he really just afraid about her going out and tarnishing his political life. The third point makes me think of the end of the play after Othello has killed Desdemona. At this point he is “a spectacle of disobedience to all the world,” but any individual that has just murdered their spouse could be thought of in the same way; therefore, this argument doesn’t really stand to strongly for me. It is much easier to look at the portrayal of Othello as the fourth point says, “ugly and repulsive,” in the movie because we actually see him. The tattoos that he had on and around his head would probably fit this definition because the other characters in the play did not have the same. He stood out from the crowd.) If race were to be taken out of the play, Iago would hate Othello mostly because he wanted his military standing and Brabantio would hate Othello only because he had stolen his daughter, the events could still go on as they have.