On the surface, Othello, the Moor of Venice (1604) by William Shakespeare and The Season of Migration to the North (1966) by Tayeb Salih are very similar. The main character of Othello, the Moor of Venice, is a man of color whose marriage to a white woman, Desdemona, is tested by his father, Brabantio. The Northern Migration Season revolves around Mustafa Sa'eed, an African man facing the same challenges in wooing white women. It is precisely Othello's foreign origin that seduces Desdemona. Mustafa falsifies his own story in order to seduce several white women, namely Ann Hammond, Sheila Greenwood and Isabella Seymour. However, Mustafa's wife and only love, Jean Morris, is therefore not because of his foreignness, but in spite of it. Othello is convinced by his ensign, Iago, that Desdemona is having an affair. In Season of Migration to the North, it is Jean herself who arouses Mustafa's suspicions. Othello and Mustafa end up killing their respective first wives in “the bed they contaminated” (4.1.195-196). Othello subsequently commits suicide, while Mustafa serves a prison sentence. Through intertextuality, Season of Migration to the North deconstructs the simplistic management of race relations in Othello, the Moor of Venice. Othello, the Moor of Venice and Season of Northern Migration both feature interracial romances, tempered by parental disapproval. Continuation of the news of the marriage of Othello and Desdemona: Brabantio: My daughter! O my daughter! All: Dead? Brabantio: Yes, for me. (1.3.59) Similarly, in Season of Migration to the North, Sheila tells Mustafa, “my father would kill me if they knew I was in love with a black man” (p. 115). Yet a more appropriate counterpart for Brabantio would be Ann's father, Colonel Hammond, who "said he considered himself a liberal and unprejudiced person." However, he was a realistic man and he understood that such a marriage [between Mustafa and Ann] would not work” (p. 57). Both fathers betray racism in their inability to conceive of a healthy marriage between a white woman and a man of color. While Brabantio suspects, without reason, that Othello "enchanted [Desdemona]" (1.2.63), Mustafa himself admits that he "deceived [Ann], by seducing her by telling her that we would marry and that our marriage would be a bridge. between north and south” (p. 57). Yet, unlike Brabantio, Colonel Hammond not only has the opportunity to condemn his daughter's "deceiver" in court, but he instead opts for neutrality. To varying degrees, Othello and Mustafa find their romantic prospects hampered by parental disapproval. However, in Othello, the Moor of Venice, this disapproval is unfounded but enduring and in Season of Northern Migration, this disapproval is well placed but tempered by sympathy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Despite societal objections, Othello and Mustafa manage to appeal to women with their respective origins, fictional or otherwise. Othello says of Desdemona: “She loved me for the dangers I had passed through” (1.3.167). In Othello, the Moor of Venice, this relationship is presented in a positive light, only meeting an unhappy end due to external pressures. However, a white woman falling in love with a man because of his origin which is foreign to him almost amounts to fetishism. It is precisely this fetish that Mustafa exploits. Mustafa seduces women with his “life story”, a capitalization of racist stereotypes. Her conquests would say “that in my eyes she saw the mirage of mirages in the hot deserts, that in my voice she heardthe cries of wild beasts in the jungles” (p. 120) or would describe his skin as “the color of magic and magic.” mystery and obscenities” (p. 115). Mustafa “felt like he had been transformed in [Isabella’s] eyes into a naked, primitive creature” (p. 33). Mustafa's relationships with Ann, Sheila and Isabella are depicted as superficial and end in suicide. These relationships show the dark side of Othello and Desdemona's "love". Mustafa even “saw tears welling up in [Isabella’s] eyes” (p. 33) during her “education”; Othello “often brought [Desdemona] to tears when I spoke of a painful stroke from which my youth had suffered” (1.3.156-158). The parallel becomes explicit when Mustafa tells Isabella: “I am like Othello – Arab-African” (p. 33). Thus, Mustafa's seduction tactics are a parody of Othello's seduction of Desdemona. Desdemona seems to be the only person Othello has ever been in love with; on the other hand, the only woman to whom Mustafa confesses his love seems opposed to his origin. John tells Mustafa that he must let her destroy a Wedgwood vase, an Arabic manuscript, and a silk prayer rug from Isphahan (pp. 129-130) – “the den of the deadly lies that [he] had deliberately constructed” (pp. 121) – in order to win his love. Jean is not only immune to Mustafa's racial seduction tactics, similar to those of Othello, but he actively mocks them. Jean being the only person Mustafa develops real feelings for is a further insult to the relationship between Othello and Desdemona. Othello and Mustafa question the fidelity of their respective first wives. In Othello, the Moor of Venice, Iago sows doubt in Othello's mind without directly involving Desdemona, for example: Iago: In Venice, they let God see the pranks they do not dare show to their husbands; their best conscience is not to leave them aside, but to keep them unknown. Othello: You say so? Iago: She cheated on her father by marrying you (3.3.202-206) In Season of Migration to the North, John fills the roles of Desdemona and Iago, causing Mustafa to question his own loyalty. Mustafa tells the narrator, "She liked to flirt with all the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys when we were dating" (p. 133), but Mustafa never caught her seeing the flirting through to the end. When Mustafa found someone else's handkerchief in their house, Jean was as evasive as Iago: "'Supposing it's not your handkerchief,' she said, 'what- What are you going to do about it?' » (p. 134). A handkerchief also serves as proof of an affair for Othello, the Moor of Venice. Othello gives Desdemona a handkerchief, which Iago leaves in Cassio's lodgings. When Othello sees Cassio with the handkerchief (4.1.150), it confirms his suspicions that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Mustafa comes to suspect his wife by means similar to Othello's, but while Mustafa's suspicions are probably correct, Othello's are not. Convinced of their infidelity, Othello and Mustafa both set out to murder their respective wives in bed. Othello kisses Desdemona before killing her, but Mustafa and Jean go even further. As Mustafa recounts: “I leaned over and kissed her. I put the edge of the blade between her breasts and she wrapped her legs around my back. Slowly, I pressed. Slowly. She opened her eyes. What ecstasy there was in those eyes! In Othello, the Moor of Venice, the kiss is Othello's last indulgence before sending his wife to hell. However, in Season of Northern Migration, Mustafa and Jean seem excited by the murder itself. The romance of these climactic scenes is not purely physical. SO. 1156-1238.