Othello: Racial Prejudice to Disguise Personal Inferiority

It is surely unavoidable to address the blatant racial slurs that are present throughout the story. For instance, Iago is the main culprit as he uses specific and derogatory language when addressing Othello when he is not present. The opening scene of the play began with Iago talking to his friend who was in love with Desdemona. Iago instigated the situation by remarking that “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (Shakespeare 2403). Clearly, an analogy to a wild animal is a racial slur. Moreover, Iago again refers to Othello as a wild animal by calling him a “barbary horse” (Shakespeare 2403). These subtle terms exemplify the notion that Iago was using this language because Othello was black. The relationship to a wild animal refers to the perception of uncivilized people in Africa. Even more specific, Roderigo described Othello with the feature of having “thick lips” (Shakespeare 2402). Again, these racial undertones depict clear differences marked by physical features that are distinct to specific races. However, it is also important to look at race on a broader spectrum. 

On the surface, racial prejudice was practiced by every character as a default set of values. However, to the contrary, racial slurs are an isolated incident relating to the specific influence of Iago. For example, Iago managed to use his own personal inferiority to project his same hatred of Othello onto others via their own personal conflicts. For instance, Desdemona’s father develops a hatred for Othello not because of his race inherently; instead, it is because “Iago legitimized and intensified Brabantio’s racism through his initial sexualization and racializing invocation of Othello” (Adelman 126). As Iago interacted with Desdemona’s father, he made Othello look as though he was a monster. This hit a personal chord due to a father daughter relationship and resulted in his dislike for the Moor. However, there is a causal relationship between Iago’s influence and the reaction that was ignited. 

This same strategy of utilizing personal conflicts to glorify Othello’s blackness as a scapegoat was evident with Roderigo and Iago. Roderigo obviously had animosity towards Othello because he was the one dating the woman he adored. Roderigo was also instigated by Iago’s sexualization of Othello. This was not acceptable because Othello was black, and she was white. Naturally, as this racial difference is an easy target for any upset lover, Othello could easily be portrayed as “a black monster, invading the citadel of whiteness” (Adelman 130). The personal conflicts overshadow the racial ones as they seem to be causally related to very specific, personal and emotional conflicts that characters have with Othello. Therefore, while race may not be the main issue at hand, it is certainly a great scapegoat. It was used as a secondary means to justify actions, ideas or attitudes against Othello that reconcile for the deep, personal conflicts that the characters faced. Ultimately, the root cause of this was Iago himself, as he had the worst personal problems with regards to Othello. 

Iago specifically exhibits the most racism mainly because of his own inferiority complex that is evident within his behavior. For one, every character that directly communicated and interacted with Iago appeared more likely to dislike the Moor. The reason for dislike was usually personal while being fabricated as partly racial. But, Iago’s deep personal conflicts with Othello explain why he had such a high level on animosity. For example, he was clearly jealous that he did not get promoted over another soldier, despite being loyal. Iago felt as though his own self-worth was not met in accordance with his rank: “I know my price, I am worth no worse a place” (Shakespeare 2401). Very clearly, his self-concept was damaged because of this. To make matters worse, his superior was a black man who had a better life situation. Consequently, “Othello’s fullness and solidity are the object of Iago’s envy [and] can be gauged by the extent to which he works to replicate his own self-division in Othello” (Adelman 132). That is, Iago sees that his life is not what it is cracked up to be, so he sought to destroy the life of Othello. Given this critical lens of interpretation, it appears as though individual conflict is a far more relevant factor than race in general. 

If racial undertones were the main intent of the play, then we would expect it to be straight forward and universal. However, as mentioned, certain conditions regarding the influence of Iago were the driving force behind problems with Othello. A paradigm example is the conversation between the senator, the Duke and Othello. After discussing the issue with Desdemona, the Turk invasion and other matters, the Duke came to a clear conclusion regarding the valor and character of Othello: “Your son-in-law is far more fair than black” (Shakespeare 2415). Given that this character was not exposed to the revengeful tyranny of Iago, it is no wonder that Othello was judged on the basis on his actions and character. Indeed, Othello was a good leader, a strong soldier and a confident man. His track record was beyond doubt and others like the Duke recognized this. Luckily, the Duke’s perceptions were not poisoned by personal conflicts.

Clearly, race played a complex role in this play because of many factors. However, it was ultimately only a form of scapegoating frustrations onto Othello in place of deep personal conflicts. Despite this, it is hard to avoid the numerous racial slurs that characters used throughout. As Iago was the main catalyst for them, they mostly pertained to comparing Othello to a wild animal or outlining his distinct features in a negative light. Moreover, characters that disliked Othello like Barbantio and Roderigo did so because of how Iago influenced them. They both had deep personal interests in Desdemona and used race to justify why Othello was not right for her. Iago, the villain himself, was seriously guilt of causing the mess mainly because of his own schisms. In fact, he had such a deep animosity because of his life situation that he felt as though he had to convince the world that Othello was just a black monster. It is clear though that these instances are causal to Iago’s brainwashing. Othello’s noble qualities, when not parsed by Iago’s words, were very pronounced and recognized by the community. It is very clear from this evidence that race did indeed have a role in terms of how the characters perceived and treated one another. However, that is not to say that the biggest reason that it was even used was because of personal conflicts. It is very likely that Shakespeare used the context of race as well as personal conflict to show that race is a silly way to guise other problems we have. 

Works Cited

Adelman, Janet. "Iago's Alter Ego: Race as Projection in Othello." Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 48 No. 2, 1997, pp.125-144. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Othello, Moor of Venice. In The Longman Anthology of World Literature: The Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period. New York: Pearson Education, 2009. 2400-2484. Print.