Othello Blog

In “’Mulattos,’ ‘Blacks,’ and ‘Indian Moors’: Othello and Early Modern Constructions of Human Difference,” by Michael Neill, the argument is made that race plays a larger role in the play than many may believe and that the aspect of race should not be overlooked when viewing the play from a critical standpoint. Michael Neill references an essay written about Othello by Emily C. Bartels which basically states that Othello’s ethnicity occupies one slot and his professional interests occupy another slot. Othello is “a dual, rather than divided, identity” character. Also, it is presumed by the author that when Iago puts the thoughts of infidelity in Othello’s head causing the violent actions of Othello, it is because of Othello’s ethnicity that these actions are able to be carried out. Also, race is used in the play to demonstrate how Othello is visibly different than the population and that even with this difference he is seen as a civil and respected person in the Venetian society. Neill makes references to show the similarity between Shylock from “The Merchant of Venice” and Othello in that they are both outcasts in the society, albeit Othello more visibly due to the color of his skin. He also describes how the term “Moor” has a rather vague meaning but for the most part it was a somewhat derogatory term for dark skinned people.
The article definitely aids in my understanding of the play as I did not really take into much account how race affected the play, or how big of a role it really playing in understanding the play. It is clearer now why Othello had to marry Brabantio’s daughter in the middle of the night because he would have never have received Brabantio’s blessing for the marriage. Also the way Iago speaks about Othello to Brabantio in act one scene one it is clear how much race is important to this society. In lines 113-118 Iago states: “Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not serve God, if the devil bid you. Because we come to do you service and you think we are ruffians, you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse. You’ll have your nephews neigh to you. You’ll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.” Iago refers to Othello as “A Barbary horse” which is a clear derogatory slur about the Moor of Venice and this shocks and outrages Brabantio that his daughter would marry a dark skinned person. In act one scene three they even hold a little trial over the marriage to make sure the claims are true. It really sheds light on the fact that it would be an outrage for a marriage like this to happen and that it must be confirmed; if it wasn’t there would be consequences for Othello and Iago for spreading false rumors of that kind.
I thought the article did a good job of elaborating on the idea of race in the play as well as providing a small background of how race was interpreted and used in the time in which the play was written. Overall the article was very beneficial to my understanding of the play and it interests me very much that there are things within the lines that I may not pick up the first time reading but it is exciting to find new things that have always been there.