Exploring How the Symbolism and Imagery of Blackness Help...

Exploring How the Symbolism and Imagery of Blackness Help Shakespeare to Create Meaning in Othello Shakespeare uses various symbol of blackness to express negative and racist attitudes. He does this to meet the expectations of the Elizabethan audience, who held certain misconceptions about black people. Shakespeare uses this early in the play and involves characters such as Brabantio, Iago and Roderigo, this also assist in the construction of imagery. These racist remarks are directed towards Othello and the majority of the racist comments involve references to black stereotypes. Although, one of the plays focuses is the theme of racism, Othello’s demise is not triggered by racism as he ignores†¦show more content†¦In Elizabethan England (when the play was written/set) plays generally was consisted of white people as at that time the world was a ‘white’ society. Othello is called a ‘moor which can suggest Arab descent, however the language used in the play suggest that he is a black African. When the duke says the word ‘black’ in the sentence ‘you son-in-law- is far more fair than black’ to Brabantio there are more than one meanings to it. Shakespeare uses ambiguity with this word. The word ‘black’ could just have the obvious meaning, which is the colour of Othello’s skin. However, we know that Othello is not ‘fair’ therefore this gives us the impression that the Duke is implying that Othello’s personality is that of a white per son. When this play was written (Elizabethan England), the colour black was associated with evil, decay and death, all of which are negative features. For this reason, black people in plays were commonly stereotyped as criminals, Othello is a black man in a white society. Consequently the quote could have been seen as a compliment or an insult as the Duke is saying that black people are evil, but Othello is an exception. As Othello is of a ‘free and open nature’, it allows Iago to influence him later in the play. We discover that even early in the play, people such as Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio are stereotyping black people