Othello by William Shakespear

Othello

 

"Othello" written by William shakespear. He has Written on, or just after, the beginning of the 1600s (possibly 1603) Based on the Italian short story “Un Capitano Moro” (A Moorish Captain) First known performance, November 1, 1604 in Whitehall, London Written one year before King Lear and Macbeth Follows a theme of the downfall of great/powerful men.

Othello : Moor, North African Some debate about actual skin color

Desdemona: Venetian : Wife to Othello

Othello’s race

Referred to as a Moor Berber or Arab people of Northern Africa Prominent use of “black” however may suggest a darker skin color than the lighter color suggested by North African heritage He is also called “thicklips” at one point, reflecting English stereotypes of sub-Saharan Africans.

Important Themes

Dehumanization

Internalization

Dramatic Irony

The significance of names.

      

Dehumanization

Dehumanization, a central theme of the play, is the process by which a person, or group, is made to feel or act less than human through systematic mistreatment.

Denial of rights often involves dehumanization (think Nazi depictions of Jews as animals, slaveholder depictions of Africans as beasts)

Internalized Oppression

Over time, dehumanization and continued oppression leads to internalization, the process by which the victims begin taking on the traits forced on them by the oppressors.