How Race Played a Huge Role in Othello

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slurs. In Religion and the invention of Racism by George M. Fredrickson, one-part states that "even before the discovery of America, some Iberian Christians were more likely to conceive of blacks as destined by God to be "hewers of wood and carriers of water." (pg. 29) This meant that black people were already seen as slaves or a race that already has a purpose in life. That purpose for black people being "slaves". This part of the book took place around the 16th and 17th Centuries. book. No wonder why the idea of racism existed even then. Like Frederickson's book, Othello was written around the 16th century which also made it clear why Shakespeare also included race as the main plot in Othello. For most of the play, Othello resists, ignores, or seems to not care about all the racist slurs thrown at him. But eventually, he gives in to Iago's and others' idea that his blackness makes him a barbarous and savage person. This belief, as much as his conviction of Desdemona's guilt, ...

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Othello. Another characteristic of Iago is how much of a jealous person he is to Othello. His jealousy is the root cause of the plot in the play.

Just like the characters in this play, there are motifs throughout the play that plays a huge role in affecting Othello's race. One motif used throughout the play is the use of animals. There are many names that the characters designate Othello. Some names include "Barbary horse, Old black ram, and the beast". These are very demeaning to Othello. The characters like Iago use these slurs as a weapon of the sort to bring down Othello as much as possible. When animal references are used concerning Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect ...

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