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

The mixed marriage in Othello emphasises the opposition of black and white which creates a gap between the lovers. Yet, Shakespeare makes the use of ‘black’ as negative signifier problematical. Othello’s face is not in fact ‘begrimed’, since it is naturally dark. The association of blackness with staining or impurity recalls Iago’s attempt to portray Desdemona’s purity as being polluted by Othello’s blackness and his love. Yet their relationship is strong and their love seems true and genuine until Iago interferes. So it is in fact the white male characters whose personalities are dark and they portray the negative traits associated with blackness. Co9uld this be the subtle point Shakespeare was trying to make?

It is clear from this play that Shakespeare was aware of the racist views that surrounded him but the idea that Shakespeare himself was not in agreement with these views may be most evident in the dramaturgic strategy he uses to introduce his lead character, Othello.

The audience are not acquainted with Othello until the second scene, crucially his entrance is delayed. Instead, the audience’s first impressions of Othello are derived from the other characters reports rather than his behaviour. The dialogue in the first scene includes harsh racial language which is exchanged between Iago and Roderigo  These remarks inform the audience that Othello is rampant, ravenous and an appalling character and we must assume Shakespeare’s 17th Century English audiences had no trouble believing this description. However, when Othello makes his entrance in scene two he appears to be the opposite of the animalistic villain that the other characters have described him as. He is refined, logical, gentle and distinguished and he confirms his good character and his ability to love.

Shakespeare used Iago as a vehicle to voice the racist and prejudice views of his 17th Century audiences and they allowed Iago’s attitude and racial language to arouse their distasteful intolerance of anything ‘other’. But the audience is taken by surprise when Othello is eventually delivered as dramatically different to the expected black stereotype. The reason behind this strategy may have been to shame the racist ideas of the audience and encourage the movement away from the collective consciousness of the stereotype. The delayed entrance compels the audience to become active and decide whether to accept or reject the racist perspectives of Iago, Brabantio and Roderigo.

Othello has been described as a play about jealousy but this play examines much deeper concerns about the subjects of race, self doubt and assimilation.

Othello is an outsider in Venice and part of his tragic character is his awareness of his racial ‘difference’ and the inherent potential for race-related tensions between himself and his wife Desdemona. The awareness of ‘otherness’ or racial difference is only highlighted when a race becomes the minority. It is assumed that Othello did not consider himself as ‘other’ or different in his native culture it was only when he entered Venetian society that he suddenly became aware of his ‘difference’. Therefore it could be said that his downfall was his emergence into Western culture

The original time period of Othello and the current ideas surrounding race at that time may be one of the reasons why theatre and film directors have found it difficult to create a modern, accurate portrayal of the character Othello. Each interpretation of Othello is a reflection of the social values and ideologies of 17th Century Western Europe. Therefore, some of the more modern productions and films of Othello may attempt to omit the issue of race because in 21st Century Western culture the idea of a mixed marriage is no longer such a taboo subject.

Any audience in any culture will have its prejudices and social value systems. The dramaturgic strategies which are evident in Othello will either work toward or against the audience’s attitudes. Othello and Drama in general should be used to mobilise the cultural awareness of an audience and make them reflect upon their own ideas of the society that surrounds them.