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Essay / Othello – a black outcast in a white Venice
“Our ideology is intolerant…and peremptorily demands…the complete transformation of public life according to its ideas. » This quote was said by Adolph Hitler; it describes how the ruling class of society can conform to the views of its people. In the play Othello, Shakespeare identifies the racial inequalities experienced by the main character throughout the play and illuminates the other characters' views and what they think of Othello's appearance, traits, and behavior. The Venetian rulers and his wife, Desdemona, view Othello from a postcolonial European perspective. He is constantly perceived as the Other, the Moor, and characterized as the Orient. Shakespeare depicts the character of Othello around the principles of essentialism and shows how his character is inferior yet exotically different from a postcolonial perspective. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Due to his European ideals, Othello is a well-respected general in the Venetian army, but considered an outsider in society . Othello was rarely mentioned by name and was seen in their eyes as a colonized African. Othello's physical darkness provoked the doomed judgments of the Duke and Brabantio. Brabantio reclassified Othello as the Moor and accused him of witchcraft for seducing his daughter. According to Shakespeare: “As damned as you are, you have enchanted her! For I would refer to all sensible things, if she were not bound by the chains of magic, if a maiden so tender, so beautiful and so happy, so opposed to marriage... of such a thing as you - to fear, not to fear. pleasure". Brabantio would never have thought that his young daughter would fall in love with an old black ram. Othello's physical appearance did not make him ideally attractive in the postcolonial era, and his racial identity was far from the characteristics of 'an ideal European handsome man Brabantio's thoughts were adjusted by Iago's manipulation of Othello's animal sexual stereotypes with Desdemona Brabantio is not satisfied with the interracial love his daughter endowed Othello with. as an honorable general and highly respected for his military achievements, but he nevertheless subjected Othello to racist insults In Act I of Shakespeare's Othello, "...noble lord, if virtue lacks delighted beauty, your son-in-law. is much more handsome than black' The Duke suggests that Othello's race has a negative association, suggesting that due to his physical appearance, Othello is an exception to the ruling class of Venice due to his bravery on the battlefield. Othello is a black man in Venice conforming to the stereotypes and ideals of the ruling class, and he is considered an outcast due to his difference and his appearance which is considered inhumane. Othello is continually criticized for his Moorish identity and characteristics. . The constant burden of feeling less of a man in Venetian society weighs on him, and he is constantly seen as a lower-ranking subordinate compared to Desdemona in society. According to Edward Berry of Rice University, "Shakespeare's protagonist is not only richly complex, but also individualized and distinct from Venetian society in almost every respect...". Othello continues to be denounced as a man because he fell in love with a white woman believed to be a Venetian goddess. “Honest Iago” begins to manipulate Othello into believing that Desdemona will no longer love him after falling in love with a more handsome European man in Venice. Othello is mindlessly manipulated by Iago; this attacks virility.. 1248-1350.