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Rhet 4301/5301 Theories of Rhetoric and Writing Dr. Earnest Cox Subrinia Bogan

Shakespeares Taboo:
An examination of race in Shakespeares Othello

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I have chosen to do an ideological criticism of Shakespeares Othello. An ideology is a pattern or set of ideas, assumptions, beliefs, values, or interpretations of the world by which a culture or group operates. (Foss) An ideological criticism is interested in what a rhetorical artifact suggests about the beliefs and values found in that particular society. The purpose of this criticism is to make visible the dominant ideology of that artifact (Othello). It also takes a look at how rhetoric can and does create and sustain a specific ideology. The Shakespearean tragedy Othello is a tale of manipulation and racial prejudice. It reinforces an established set of stereotypical beliefs about black men that are still in existence today. Those stereotypes are both evoked and problematized. (PBS) Written between 1602 and 1604, Othello was to some extent the product of Shakespeares imagination. The language used in the play was racially inflammatory to say the least, but in the minds of many it had a ring of truth to it. The Rhetoric of Blackness in the Elizabethan Era Shakespeare explores rhetoric of blackness. (Harris) Within Othello, the word black is used with denotations. It was used to designate a Moor, a Negro, one of African origin: the black Othello. Black was also used to denote the soil of filth or grime. Her nameis begrimed and black. (3.3.386-87) Finally, Shakespeare used black for the morally foul: blackest sins (2.3.334) black vengeance. (3.3.447) (Adler) He drew on the negative connotations that black represented; the proverbial black sheep, the black and burning pit of hell, and the black devil of legend. (Adler) There was a powerful, widespread, and ancient tradition of associating black-faced men with wickedness, and this tradition was followed right up to Shakespeares time. (Hunter) This reinforced the common sense attitudes held by those in the Elizabethan era toward blacks, especially black men. Sexual potency, pride, guilelessness, credulity, easily aroused passions, and savagery are some of the words that were used in this era to describe them. (Looma) Shakespeares characters, including Iago, Brabantino, Emilia, Desdemona, and even Othello himself evoke the word black and its subtle stereotypes and meanings repeatedly. Iagos initial comparison of Othello to an old black ram (1.1.89) emphasizes the common perception of the bestial black. Blacks were seen not as men but as animals, and therefore lacking human reason and possessing base animalistic desires and urges. Furthermore, the use of ram invokes horns,

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reaffirming the Elizabethan idea of the black devil. In Act I the Duke reassures Brabantio that his son-in-law is more fair than black (1.3.286). The Duke implies the apparent irony of a black man who does not have a black soul; it is as if these two are inextricably linked, that outward blackness must signify inward depravity. (Coyne) This way of thinking was not just limited to the stage. On July 18, 1596 Queen Elizabeth issued a warrant to deport eighty-nine blacks from England. Her argument for the deportation centered on the fact these outsiders would cause unemployment. But the real concern was the baseless fear that black men would want of service from her white female citizens. She evoked the myth of a rampant black sexuality; she feared for the purity of her subjects. (Looma) Racism was an accepted part of public life; men of color were often thought to be brutal barbarians incapable of being tamed or reformed. Shakespeare would have encountered no societal pressures against presenting this perception. (PBS) Attitudes towards black people in Othello indicate both the older tradition of racial hatred and a newer expediency, a more complex ideology of racism. The attitudes of modern audiences/readers may not be identical with those of Shakespeares original audience. Contemporary color prejudices are interlinked; they draw upon and rework this earlier history. Othello: Then and Now Over the centuries a number of Shakespearean plays have been remade to fit the modern ideals of society. Recently a reworking of Romeo and Juliet made its debut on the Broadway stage. What I found to be very interesting about this reworking is the fact that the actress playing Juliet is African American. This makes a huge statement on how far this society has come in terms of racial identity. Its important to note that just as technology changes so do cultural ideologies. When people become more open minded the old ideas of yesterday will pass away. This is what society hopes will happen, but sometimes the old ideas do find their way back into our modern world. Othello has been performed countless of times since that first appearance at the Court in the autumn of 1604. In doing research for this paper I found that out of all of those performances those racist themes centering on black men were still there. In some cases, to add insult to injury, white actors would portray Othello in blackface; brining back the ghosts of the racially

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insensitive minstrel shows. The racial ideologies from the past were back. Even though different actors have played Othello the main message remained the same. The black man was still the sexual deviant and the black devil that he was in Shakespeares time. In the latest adaptation of Othello the location may have changed, but the ideology is still the same. O is a 2001 retelling of Shakespeares play. The characters still have the same motivations the names maybe different but message is loud and clear. O lends itself to the notion that the black man is basically a savage on the inside, and he will revert back to his true nature. Not only is the original philosophy present, the newer version adds a few new elements to it. O (Odin James) is the only black basketball player at a white high school in the South. This is one of the main stereotypes that afflict the black man. What was the reasoning that lead to the creation of this character being a basketball player? Why couldnt he have been a member of the debate team or the swim team? Why is the setting at an all white school in the South? Again the stereotype is not something that has a neon sign on it, but its still there. This gives in indication that white schools are better than the average mixed school and that the only thing a black man can do is play basketball. Analyzing Othellian Stereotypes: I have touched upon what I think are some of the stereotypes that are being presented in Othello. For the second part of my analysis I will be looking at how Shakespeare dealt with the subject of interracial marriage and its implications. It is my belief that Shakespeare wrote Othello to be a paradox. A paradox is a statement which is contradictory, but has a deeper meaning. A statement that seems through examination it will reveal some truth. (StylisticDevices:Important Stylistic and Rhetorical Devices in Shakespeare's Othello) Shakespeare wrote Othello during a period of time when racism was the norm. He decided to write a play that made a black man the hero and in some circles the victim. As I have previously stated, black men were considered savages, infidels, and sexual perverts. Yet he makes Othello this grand commander of the army and he has all of the accolades that come with it.

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I dont think that Shakespeare really intended for his audience to believe the Moor was going to be this upstanding citizen. It was contradictory for Othello to be presented the way he was. Members of the Elizabethan society considered blacks to be inferior, so in reality Othello would have never been the commander of the army. I think the audience was shown that this outsider could be acclimated into the white society. But at the end of the play he reverts back to his true nature. Othello became what he always was deemed to be a savage. The idea that black men are overly passionate and dangerous was cemented in the minds of the audience. This idea is supported by the rhetoric that Shakespeare uses to describe Othello: Iago: Because we come to do you service and you think we are ruffians, youll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; youll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans. I am one, sir that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs. Youll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; Youll have your nephews neigh to you. (1.1.7) (Shmoop) Shakespeare wrote the character Iago saying these words about Othello. Iago uses animal imagery in his racist rant against Othello. He also had Othello using racist language against himself. Othello: My name, that was as fresh as Dians visage, is now begrimed and black as mine own face. (3.3.54) What is interesting about this passage is Othellos use of a racist discourse. He associates the blackness of his own skin with something that is dirty and stained, which is exactly the kind of thing that the racist Venetian characters (like Brabantino) have been saying all along. Othello begins to internalize the racist ideologies of the other characters.

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In these two passages Othello is again compared to the devil: Othello: Shes, like a liar, gone to burning hell: Twas I that killd her. Emilia: O, the more angel she, and you the blacker devil! (5.2. 36)

When Othello kills Desdemona, he enacts a racist stereotype----that black men are violent, savage and to be feared. (Shmoop) Just from the few passages that I have presented shows a pattern of rhetoric that reinforces the racist and stereotypical views of what society believes about the black man. I will conclude this section by saying the prejudicial views of the Elizabethan era were not something out of the norm. These views were carried over into the literature of that time. Shakespeare was writing about an ideology that had taken root in the minds of its citizens. Xenophobia, the fear of foreigners, played a major role in the shaping of this idea that the black man was something to be feared. Angels and Demons; (Othello and Desdemona) Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe. This was the statement Iago used to inform Brabantio that his daughter had just eloped with Othello. Shakespeares take on interracial marriage is an examination of some long held myths. It has to be said that not all Renaissance narratives of interracial relationships were treated the same. Many of these texts suppress the narratives of black women being seduced or raped by white men. Othello has endured the centuries because it reproduces a conservative ideology that suggests both implicitly and explicitly the white woman is the ultimate prize. There is also the notion that the white woman who engages in interracial sex is not really white. She has fallen out of her race so to speak. (Daileader)

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Another reason that Othello continues to endure is because it neatly narrativizes the tragedy of interracial marriage to the exclusion of broader definitions, and more positive visions of interracial eroticism. (Daileader) It is only when race is connected with interracial sexual and marital unions that it becomes a heated emotional issue for the Venetians, and for audience members from the seventeenth century to the present day. (Coyne) The reaction of Desdemonas father has a dual meaning to it that keeps him from comprehending why his fair maiden of a daughter would lie and marry this thing. Brabantio is set in his prejudices of black people, and will not trust Desdemonas judgment once it contradicts his own racial beliefs. His use of the word fear reflects the notion of black people as savage and barbaric, but perhaps more derogatory is Brabantios substitution of thing for man or person. In calling Othello a thing, Brabantio strips him of his humanity, taking his agency and defining Othello as subhuman. (Coyne) Racism is the hegemonic or dominant ideology throughout this society. Shakespeare went to great lengths in his use of the language to not let us forget that the black man was considered an animal. Even with all of the bells and whistles the black man was a beast. Society has unfortunately refused to let go of the stereotypes about black men. Was the concept of Othello some kind of psychological experiment; constructed by Shakespeare to see how the people in his era would react to the content of the play? The idea of a black man and a white woman in a relationship still has negative connotations to it. Even though we all like to preach how open-minded we are, interracial relationships are still considered something of a taboo. In the black community the most prevalent belief about interracial relationships is that in order for a black to consider himself successful is to date or

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marry a white woman. She is his connection to the white world and all of its questionable benefits. What is most interesting about this is there is also a hidden ideology that can be found along with the dominant one. Again in the black community there is the idea if one marries outside of ones race then you have turned your back on your race. This ideology is also dominant in some sections of the black community. Interracial relationships or marriage is still a very divisive issue in both the black and white communities. In Othello, the rhetoric used to describe Desdemona is a conscious and deliberate effort on Shakespeare part the show the physical differences. Desdemona is described as a maid so tender and fair and happy She is described as white, blond and beautiful and most of all virtuous. Desdemona was considered so pure in color and nature that her father believed that Othello had bewitched her into eloping with him. That only furthered the fact the Othello blackness had to be connected somehow with evil or wickedness. When Othello takes Desdemonas life because of her supposed cheating the ideological belief that black men were evil, dangerous, and sexually perverted was brought to life. A rhetorical structure or recourse to the language of rhetoric can and very frequently offers clues to problems apparently opaque when approached from a different set of assumptions or editorial biases. At the end of Othello a message was sent and even today it is still being consciously entertained. When Othello strangled his wife this was proof positive that white women should never entertain the idea of having any kind of relationship with a black man. If you were engage in a relationship with a man of color you are putting your life in danger. The language of rhetoric does offer clues to problems that were opaque. In this case, the idea of white women wanting to

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be with black men had to be stopped; the curiosity had to be put down. By having Othello kill Desdemona was the best way to do it. The Conclusion: Ideologies change with the times, but there are some that have stood the test of time. In the Elizabethan era the dominant or hegemonic ideology was that black men were animals and white women were pure as the driven snow. These two worlds were to never mix; no matter how the black man presented himself to the world. In the end no decent white woman would ever sully herself with a black man because he was the face of pure evil. These ideologies may not be as blunt as they were in Shakespeares time, but they are still there. They only way they will change are if we change our own ideas and beliefs. (Foss)

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Works Cited
Adler, Doris. The Rhetoric of Black and White in Othello. n.d. Web site. 15 November 2013. The Rhetoric of Black and White in Othello is an essay written by Doris Adler. It takes a very detailed look at the language used by Shakespeare in his writing of Othello. Miss Adler traces the different meanings of the word black and applies that meaning to the text. Coyne, SM. "Shakespeare's Othello: The Black Other in Elizabethan Drama." 11 May 2006. Yahoo website. Document From Web site. 5 December 2013. Daileader, Celia R. "Racism, Misogyny, and the "Othello" Myth: Interracial Couples from Shakespeare to Spike Lee." Shakespeare Quarterly Vol.57, Number 3 (2006): 361-363. Journal Article. Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism. n.d. Book. Harris, Bernard. "A Portrait of a Moor." Shakespeare and Race. n.d. 23-36. Book section. Hunter, G.K. "Othello and Colour Prejudice." Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2004. 248-262. Book Section. Looma, Ania. "Sexuality and Racial Difference." McDonald, Russ (editor). Shakespeare: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory 1945-2000. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 794-816. Book Section. PBS. Othello Essay: On Race and Religion. n.d. Website. 7 November 2013. Shmoop. Othello Race Quotes. n.d. Web site. 17 November 2013. "StylisticDevices:Important Stylistic and Rhetorical Devices in Shakespeare's Othello." 10 10 2010. StylisticDevices. Document From Web Site. 19 November 2013.

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