Wednesday, May 14th, 2014
OTHELLO
Othello revolves around a couple of themes such as racism, gender roles, jealousy and revenge. Iago is motivated by his hatred towards Othello to manipulate him into ruining his own life. Three of the most prominent arguments as to what motivates Iago include his jealousy of Othello, Othello’s race, and also revenge. Othello’s race is something that is of interest throughout the whole play. While he is called “The Moor,” which is a reference to his skin color, Shakespeare never directly says where he was from. Phyllis Natalie Braxton, author of “Othello: The Moor and the Metaphor” argues that this was done on purpose.
Discussion Questions:
What reasons could Shakespeare have had in making Othello black? Does it matter what part of the world Othello came from?
Do you think that Othello’s race was supposed to be the focal point of the story or was it supposed to add fuel to the fire?