Aidan Gallegos
Mrs. Lockhart
English 4
12/11/22
Is Othello's race a major part of the play?
Hundreds of years after the first documented performance in 1604, Shakespeare's tragedy
"Othello" is still shrouded in controversy over its title character. There has been a debate
about whether the character Othello's race had a major impact on the play. I believe the race of
the character "Othello" plays a major part because most plays that have Othello are always
African American and because Othello is a moor which most people know as an African
American.
Othello's race has a major effect in the play because In Document A says how "Calling
someone a Moor meant that they had dark skin" which indicates how Othello's race is part of the
play (Document A). When the play includes a Moor most people will assume that it is an African
American. In the play, "There are many (Largely negative) uses of the word "black" throughout
the play" which is also another reason why Othello's race affects the play (Document A). The
scripted words in the play say how Othello is being hated negatively because of his skin.
There might be negatives to Othello's race being part of the play because people will see
it as racist how "The villain of the piece is the white racist who plots Othello's
downfall" (document C). But that's not how most people see it. People see how Shakespeare
wrote it and he wrote the play in a different timeline so it makes people understand how people
were treated back then and how it makes sense. Another way people might think it is racist is by
how in the play it says "There was a convention where you expect trouble to follow" (Document
2C). But I don't see how that's racist because yes a moor is a bad person that causes trouble
but it so happens that the moor, Othello, is African American.
For example, "The fact that Ariel is white has nothing to do with her story about wanting
to be with her love and walk on land", but in Othello, it does explain in the script how he is
African American or that he has dark skin(Document E). Another example is how "there are
complications that come with works that aim to use colorblind casting to highlight people of
color"(Document E). I want to say how this example will also help to determine who is who in
the play and by the script they know the moor, aka Othello, is African American.
In Conclusion, I believe the race of the character "Othello" plays a major part because in
most plays that have Othello is always African American and because Othello is a moor most
People know them as African American. It also helps set diversity and explain in the play why
They treat Othello like that from that time.