Othello is a play revolving around Othello, a Moor who lives amongst the Venetians. Although he appears to be quite highly ranked among his peers, his self-consciousness or anxiety about being accepted or “overcoming” his differences (being a black man surrounded by white men), has been the basis for much scholarly research on the topic of race in Othello. I will particularly be focusing on the arguments of the significance of the handkerchief in the play, Othello’s alienation because of his race, and the effects of racism evident within the play.
Professor of English at Lafayette College and author of Race and Rhetoric in the Renaissance: Barbarian Errors, Ian Smith focuses not only of the importance of Othello’s handkerchief, but argues that the handkerchief itself was colored black. Smith points out that Shakespeare never in fact stated in the play that the handkerchief was white, but that there is a tendency to relate the handkerchief’s whiteness to Desdemona’s purity. Farah Karim-Cooper, who oversees the higher education program, and leads research and scholarship at Shakespeare’s Globe, identifies the red and white of the napkin as symbols of the “Anglo-European feminine ideal” found in Desdemona: “It is as red as roses and strawberries, and as white as the lily or as snow; it is as red as blood, and as white as flesh.” In Smith’s opinion, this disregards the fact that the handkerchief belonged to Othello before he met Desdemona, and the artifact meant a lot to him, as it’s presented as a portable version or extension of Othello that Desdemona keeps “evermore about her to kiss and talk to” (3.3 297-98). “The handkerchief’s role as substitute for Othello is reinforced by its African provenance, established by the Egyptian who gave it first to his mother; transmitted to the son, it was then passed to the wife, Desdemona being the only non-African in the sequence.” (Smith) Smith argues that what we do know from the play is that Shakespeare “includes an important description of the handkerchief’s manufacture (3.4 66-71), a sibyl sewed it in a moment of “prophetic” and artistic “fury” (l. 68), at the height of creative and expressive energy.” In Lynda Boose’s (author and editor of Shakespeare, the Movie: Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, and Video) analysis, Boose suggests that Shakespeare “insistently created for his audience a highly visual picture of a square piece of white linen spotted with strawberry-red fruit.” She continues, “What Shakespeare was representing was a visually recognizable reduction of Othello and Desdemona’s wedding-bed sheets, the visual proof of their consummated marriage.” Smith suggests the fixation among critics on a white handkerchief with red strawberries is an assumption that Shakespeare made “a significant departure form his source in Cinthio’s Gli Hecatommithi, which speaks only of a “a handkerchief embroidered most delicately in the Moorish fashion.” Smith notes that Othello also describes the handkerchief to Desdemona, “And it was dyed in mummy” (3.4 l. 65) “Mummy”, as Smith explains, to be a black bituminous substance identified in medieval and early modern medical discourse. Smith explains that the impact of race on our reading practices that has conditioned critics and readers collectively for so long to see a “white” handkerchief in the play is a form of racial subjectivity. Or to put it in different words, Smith implies that assuming the handkerchief to be white is almost an unconscious lowering or belittling of Othello’s (or his race’s) significance.
Another large argument surrounding Othello is Othello’s alienation because of his race. Alpaslan Toker, Assist. Prof. Dr., International Burch University, Department of English Language and Literature, examines this topic in his article, Othello: Alien in Venice. Explaining the racial context of the Elizabethan times, Toker says, “The Elizabethans often concluded that God had created them from his own reflection – i.e. white – therefore people with black skins must be either lower in breeding or an abnormality of some sort. They did not have any high opinion of foreigners and have placed all these outsiders under the umbrella term of ‘Moors’.” However, Toker reminds that in the opening of the play, Othello is noted to be a distinguished soldier and honored guest – his services win him the Venetian acceptance. But, that changes quickly when his marriage to Desdemona is found – proves that his “acceptance” is not in fact securely held. “The so-called civilized Venetian society is not ready to accept the marital union between an African with a “sooty bosom” and an Italian girl with “whiter skin than snow,” and such matrimony sets the racial problem in its most extreme form.” (Toker) This in turn, Toker explains, makes Othello that much more aware of his ‘otherness’ and makes it seem especially necessary for him to integrate himself with Venetian society. Virginia Mason Vaughan, in her book entitled Othello: A Contextual History, states that “Othello can be colonized by Venice – he can be put to use. But he can never become wholly Venetian.” Essentially, he’s trapped within his race in Venice. Toker also argues that he is an alien to Elizabethan citizens/audiences, being that he didn’t fit into the two “normal Moor” characters of the time – the villain, or the Moor whose blackness was not emphasized in the text. He was a Moor who was the noble hero in the play – something not yet explored.
Some critics, including Alpaslan Toker have associated the effects of racism to Othello’s jealousy. Toker explains that due to Othello’s realization of otherness and alienation, he turns out to be absolutely anxious and apprehensive. “Factors, such as his mature age, his life as a mercenary soldier, and his insecurity about becoming racially and culturally an alien and stranger can only stimulate his uncertainty of self.” (Toker) However, in his article “Theorising Early Modern Jealousy”, Marcus Nordlund argues that Othello’s pure jealousy is what leads to insecurity, “It will be Iago’s supreme achievement to gradually turn his emotionally stable, loving, and self-confident commander into the howling murderer that confronts us at the end of the play.” Nordlund suggests that it’s only when Othello has already become jealous that he looks for personal faults that might explain his wife’s supposed adultery. Derek Cohen, author of “Patriarchy and Jealousy in Othello and The Winter’s Tale”, argues the same point as Toker, “The nature of Othello's doubt explains his susceptibility which, once articulated, becomes a means toward his confirmation of the essential reasonableness of Desdemona's betrayal.” His explanation to himself of her unfaithfulness leads him to declare himself to be an unfit husband, in part due to his race, “Haply, for I am black, and have not those soft peirts of conversation that clamberers have, or for I am declin'd into the vale of years" (III.iii.263-66). Essentially, Cohen implies racism in part leads Othello to justify Desdemona’s “clearer judgment” to come out, he’s been “found” for what he is – a Moor.
In conclusion, many critics have highlighted race as one of the major themes of Othello. There are large arguments about the significance and characteristics of the handkerchief that Othello gives Desdemona, much focus put on Othello’s alienation because of race, and exploration of the effects of racism, or the true meaning behind Othello’s jealousy. Othello was one of Shakespeare’s most controversial yet historical plays, and continues to be studied because the themes deal with issues still prominent in our culture in today’s society.
Professor of English at Lafayette College and author of Race and Rhetoric in the Renaissance: Barbarian Errors, Ian Smith focuses not only of the importance of Othello’s handkerchief, but argues that the handkerchief itself was colored black. Smith points out that Shakespeare never in fact stated in the play that the handkerchief was white, but that there is a tendency to relate the handkerchief’s whiteness to Desdemona’s purity. Farah Karim-Cooper, who oversees the higher education program, and leads research and scholarship at Shakespeare’s Globe, identifies the red and white of the napkin as symbols of the “Anglo-European feminine ideal” found in Desdemona: “It is as red as roses and strawberries, and as white as the lily or as snow; it is as red as blood, and as white as flesh.” In Smith’s opinion, this disregards the fact that the handkerchief belonged to Othello before he met Desdemona, and the artifact meant a lot to him, as it’s presented as a portable version or extension of Othello that Desdemona keeps “evermore about her to kiss and talk to” (3.3 297-98). “The handkerchief’s role as substitute for Othello is reinforced by its African provenance, established by the Egyptian who gave it first to his mother; transmitted to the son, it was then passed to the wife, Desdemona being the only non-African in the sequence.” (Smith) Smith argues that what we do know from the play is that Shakespeare “includes an important description of the handkerchief’s manufacture (3.4 66-71), a sibyl sewed it in a moment of “prophetic” and artistic “fury” (l. 68), at the height of creative and expressive energy.” In Lynda Boose’s (author and editor of Shakespeare, the Movie: Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, and Video) analysis, Boose suggests that Shakespeare “insistently created for his audience a highly visual picture of a square piece of white linen spotted with strawberry-red fruit.” She continues, “What Shakespeare was representing was a visually recognizable reduction of Othello and Desdemona’s wedding-bed sheets, the visual proof of their consummated marriage.” Smith suggests the fixation among critics on a white handkerchief with red strawberries is an assumption that Shakespeare made “a significant departure form his source in Cinthio’s Gli Hecatommithi, which speaks only of a “a handkerchief embroidered most delicately in the Moorish fashion.” Smith notes that Othello also describes the handkerchief to Desdemona, “And it was dyed in mummy” (3.4 l. 65) “Mummy”, as Smith explains, to be a black bituminous substance identified in medieval and early modern medical discourse. Smith explains that the impact of race on our reading practices that has conditioned critics and readers collectively for so long to see a “white” handkerchief in the play is a form of racial subjectivity. Or to put it in different words, Smith implies that assuming the handkerchief to be white is almost an unconscious lowering or belittling of Othello’s (or his race’s) significance.
Another large argument surrounding Othello is Othello’s alienation because of his race. Alpaslan Toker, Assist. Prof. Dr., International Burch University, Department of English Language and Literature, examines this topic in his article, Othello: Alien in Venice. Explaining the racial context of the Elizabethan times, Toker says, “The Elizabethans often concluded that God had created them from his own reflection – i.e. white – therefore people with black skins must be either lower in breeding or an abnormality of some sort. They did not have any high opinion of foreigners and have placed all these outsiders under the umbrella term of ‘Moors’.” However, Toker reminds that in the opening of the play, Othello is noted to be a distinguished soldier and honored guest – his services win him the Venetian acceptance. But, that changes quickly when his marriage to Desdemona is found – proves that his “acceptance” is not in fact securely held. “The so-called civilized Venetian society is not ready to accept the marital union between an African with a “sooty bosom” and an Italian girl with “whiter skin than snow,” and such matrimony sets the racial problem in its most extreme form.” (Toker) This in turn, Toker explains, makes Othello that much more aware of his ‘otherness’ and makes it seem especially necessary for him to integrate himself with Venetian society. Virginia Mason Vaughan, in her book entitled Othello: A Contextual History, states that “Othello can be colonized by Venice – he can be put to use. But he can never become wholly Venetian.” Essentially, he’s trapped within his race in Venice. Toker also argues that he is an alien to Elizabethan citizens/audiences, being that he didn’t fit into the two “normal Moor” characters of the time – the villain, or the Moor whose blackness was not emphasized in the text. He was a Moor who was the noble hero in the play – something not yet explored.
Some critics, including Alpaslan Toker have associated the effects of racism to Othello’s jealousy. Toker explains that due to Othello’s realization of otherness and alienation, he turns out to be absolutely anxious and apprehensive. “Factors, such as his mature age, his life as a mercenary soldier, and his insecurity about becoming racially and culturally an alien and stranger can only stimulate his uncertainty of self.” (Toker) However, in his article “Theorising Early Modern Jealousy”, Marcus Nordlund argues that Othello’s pure jealousy is what leads to insecurity, “It will be Iago’s supreme achievement to gradually turn his emotionally stable, loving, and self-confident commander into the howling murderer that confronts us at the end of the play.” Nordlund suggests that it’s only when Othello has already become jealous that he looks for personal faults that might explain his wife’s supposed adultery. Derek Cohen, author of “Patriarchy and Jealousy in Othello and The Winter’s Tale”, argues the same point as Toker, “The nature of Othello's doubt explains his susceptibility which, once articulated, becomes a means toward his confirmation of the essential reasonableness of Desdemona's betrayal.” His explanation to himself of her unfaithfulness leads him to declare himself to be an unfit husband, in part due to his race, “Haply, for I am black, and have not those soft peirts of conversation that clamberers have, or for I am declin'd into the vale of years" (III.iii.263-66). Essentially, Cohen implies racism in part leads Othello to justify Desdemona’s “clearer judgment” to come out, he’s been “found” for what he is – a Moor.
In conclusion, many critics have highlighted race as one of the major themes of Othello. There are large arguments about the significance and characteristics of the handkerchief that Othello gives Desdemona, much focus put on Othello’s alienation because of race, and exploration of the effects of racism, or the true meaning behind Othello’s jealousy. Othello was one of Shakespeare’s most controversial yet historical plays, and continues to be studied because the themes deal with issues still prominent in our culture in today’s society.