Othello Is the New Black

Nicholas Mockabee

Professor Richter

Classics 320

12 December 2014

Othello is the New Black

“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe!” proclaimed Iago.

This is the tone from the beginning act of Shakespeare’s Othello. Othello, the protagonist Venetian general, is the ram, and the problem is not that he is “tupping” a white ewe, but rather the fact that he is black. Othello being black is certainly the most important part of the entire story. His blackness is what makes it so interesting and compelling. Replacing the black general with a white man would not simply change a small, racial detail within the play. It would completely alter the entire Shakespearean tragedy. Most of the major conflicts arise because of Othello’s blackness. So if Othello wasn’t black, the events would be entirely different, and there likely would not have even been a conflict in 1603 Venice, Italy. The color of Othello’s skin definitely affects the way the characters behave and the way the plot unfolds throughout the narrative. Shakespeare intentionally makes the main character of African descent in order to symbolize difference. This is a way of adding complexity and controversy to the plot, but most importantly it’s about the psychological parallel that Iago draws between himself and Othello.

Like any good tragedy, there is an outsider trying to assimilate, and in this case it is Othello. He is a symbolic figure for difference in 17th century Italy. Not only are there very few black people during this time, there are very few people, in general, representing any race that is not Venetian. The Venetians know this, and they are very aware that they live in a world with outsiders and unnatural, extraneous forces. Surprisingly though, Othello is not a peasant or a slave because of his skin color. In fact, he is quite the opposite. He is a well-respected and highly proclaimed war general. He is a hero that commands his troops with authority. He gets along well with the people, he’s very eloquent and popular, and he even goes to Senator Brabanzio’s house for several dinners. Othello recalls that “her father [Brabanzio] loved me; oft invited me. Still question’d me the story of my life…I ran it through, even from my boyish days, to the very moment that he bade me tell it” (Shakespeare 1.3.473-478). Although he is an outsider, people generally like him. In the beginning of the story, it’s almost as if he is not even black. He, himself, does not even seem to pick up on the significance of the fact that he’s black. Othello does not see himself the way others see him. He carries on with his normal life until he ends up sleeping with and marrying a white woman named Desdemona. However, this is where the line is drawn. Despite all of Othello’s majestic feats in battle and the fact that he generally seems to cope pretty well with society, a distinction is made and problems arise when Brabanzio finds out that he has married and run off with his white daughter. Brabanzio, along with the rest of Venetian society, finds it impossible that Desdemona would have willingly gone off with Othello. Othello is different, so he must’ve used that difference to fool her. Upon catching up to the eloped couple, Senator Brabanzio shouts, “thou [Othello] hast practised on her [Desdemona] with foul charms, Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals” (Shakespeare 1.2.293-294). In the midst of all this, the Duke is present and currently sending Othello to the island of Cyprus to defeat the Turks, whom everyone regards as barbarous and inferior. The way Venetian society understands difference in the story is worth noting. There is a symbolic connection between Othello’s blackness, the concept of magic, and the Turks. These three outliers are cast off by society as negatively impactful, and Shakespeare finds a brilliant way to connect them all. Shakespeare makes Othello black to emphasize how difference, in Venetian society, is understood and how it adds to the story.