Less is Moor? A Critical Evaluation of The Black African Male in Shakespeare’s Play, Othello

As an author Shakespeare is revered as a historical genius and critics refer to his characters such as Othello, Desdemona, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear etc, as true portraits of human nature, valid for all times and in all places.

However it could be argued that this concept of universal appeal is unrealistic and untrue as it makes the assumption that all social systems are similarly universal. It may perhaps be believed that the meaning and significance of his work is reliant upon the 17th Century cultural context in which it was created. Shakespeare comes from a society that valued women as inferior to men and the view that certain races were superior to others. Shakespeare was writing from within the social ideologies of his time and therefore the idea that he could get beyond the racism that surrounded him to create something universal is difficult to accept. But in Othello Shakespeare did create one of the first English portrayals of a black character who had depth and sensitivity.

During 17th century racial tension was commonplace in Western European societies and at this time racism in England was an accepted part of public life. Although Shakespeare set his play in a prejudice Venetian society it was quite simple for English audiences to identify with the racist attitudes of the characters and there were obvious parallels between the English culture that surrounded Shakespeare and the dramatic world he created in Venice.

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In 17th Century Western Europe the depiction of the black African male was drawn from contact between English explorers and native African people in the early to mid 16th century.

Africa and Africans have figured in English Drama from the 16th century, though many of the African settings and characters were inaccurate and could be seen as racist misrepresentations. Historically English writers depicted African characters as simple stereotypes associating them with laziness, lust and treachery.

It seems from this early point of view, that the most basic crime of the African was that he wasn’t European. The white Westerner viewed blackness as a negative and unnatural trait; thus the identities and social values of African people were undermined by a Western European interpretation of African culture.

Othello is not considered to be a stereotypical black character in English drama because he is intelligent, gentle, romantic and heroic. This is quite a contrast to the treacherous and barbaric black characters constructed in other English novels and plays. Nevertheless the other characters in the play such as Iago and Brabantio seem to be influenced by the Western perception of the Black stereotype. Stereotypes get hold of the few, simple, memorable and widely recognised characteristics about a person and culture and reduce everything about that person or culture to those traits. This action creates a generalised overview or a misrepresentation.