He has effectively made himself an outsider of Italian Renaissance society by killing Desdemona. Despite all his character has done throughout the play to demonstrate and convince to the audience that he is deeper and more complex than those categories can define, the audience still reverts back to this simplistic view of Othello. Truth and Deception in Othello essay plan. Shakespeares Othello is considered an outsider within renaissance Venice. His alienation from actions and concerns affects his much because his physical appearance along with his character traits is in dissonance with the context of the play. However, the core of these problems and his main tragic flaw is his insecurities. He is an outsider, yet he is accepted by the Venetian people because of his distinguished career as general of the Venetian army. Near the beginning of the play, Othello is a successful, respected military leader that has just been stationed to the desirable posting of Cypress, just made his happy marriage to the love of his life (Desdemona) public and is no longer in hiding, and believes his surrounded by friends who love him (i.e. Othello's Recognition of His Own Position “Rude am I in speech/ And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace.” “For since these arms of mine had seven years pith/ Till now some nine moons wasted/ …in the tented field/ … little of this great world can I speak.” “…sold to The hero looks different in the society where moral and ethical standards deviate considerably from his personal ideas about life and relationships. Postcolonial Theory and Literature. This can be justified as he comments that 'warlike Moor Othello' , which shows how Othello is … ( Log Out /  Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/othello-as-the-outsider/. Not bad at all. Therefore, his alienation and estrangement from the white world is expressed through societal attitude, Othello lack of communication and failure to establish norm human relationships, and the contextual and linguistic peculiarities of the play. He was excluded from what the truth holds and this triggered his failure, together with his jealous nature and stubbornness. Unfortunately, your browser is too old to work on this site. Quotes tagged as "outsider" Showing 1-30 of 120 “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche tags: creative-process, creativity, inspirational, mental-illness, outsider, self-discovery. At this point in the play, he truly is Othello the outsider. However, at this time, it is Emila who is fulfilling this role. Despite all this, though, he is eventually accepted by those in the Renaissance Italian society surrounding him. While describing his and Desdemona ’s love, Othello tells (about himself): “Rude am I in speech/ And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace.” The hero is also an outsider in expressing his thoughts and mann… Othello is truly the tale of an outsider. Bloom states, “[h]is blackness is the cause of Brabantio’s opposition to his marriage, it affects the consciousness of everyone around him, and it has just been pressed upon him by Iago’s insinuations of Desdemona’s unnaturalness” (55). Othello himself seems to have internalized this prejudice. He has all this, despite being of a different race and religion than what was considered normal by European Renaissance society. Because of this, he makes a pact with Iago in which Iago will kill Cassio and Othello will strangle Desdemona in their bed, because “even the bed she hath contaminated (4.1.227). IvyPanda. The way Othello communicates with other members of society and expresses his feelings and emotions is another indicator of his alienation. [A3S3] This particular reason is very obvious, but Othello is also in the position of an outsider at this point because he has committed a crime and been caught. Quotes. Losing a person of that much significance tends to force people into an outsider position, not to mention all of Othello’s other outsider-like qualities. Othello’s characteristics language also provides reasons from being alienating from the society (Clingman 85). It identifies the failure of being assimilated in society and contradicts his racial affiliation. Finally, the language also manages to render Othello’s willingness to appropriate his speech to the Venetian society and his role in it. However, in Act II, Scene 5 of Othello, this hard-won reputation and persona is completely destroyed. He has courage, intelligence, the skill of command, and the respect of his troops. Shakespeare shifts the action from Venice to Cyprus. July 7, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/othello-as-the-outsider/. He is an outsider who is clever and certain in military matters but is socially insecure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Also, on a more personal level, Othello has just killed the woman he loves, and must feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Othello as A Tragedy of Outsiders The most obvious way of being an outsider in Othello is through being a foreigner, and a non-Venetian. Print. However, near the end of the play, when Emilia discovers his murder of Desdemona, all of these things have deserted him. Four Tragedies. The main reason Othello is so much of an outsider at this moment is due to the fact that he has just killed his wife, Desdemona. If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. This essay on Othello as the Outsider was written and submitted by your fellow student. Othello- Gender Quotes ‘thieves, thieves, thieves! Key quotation (Aside) O, you are well tuned now!But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, As honest as I am. As soon as he has done the deed, Emilia walks in, sees that Desdemona is dead. In nearly every case, the prejudiced characters use terms that describe Othello as an animal or beast. Othello Act 2 Scene 2. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. 37 Quotes About Being an Outsider. Othello is presented as an outsider in Act 1 – Scene 1 through Shakespeare’s use of metaphors. Vaughan, Virginia Mason. On the one hand, he is a Christian (probably) and experienced military leader, commanding respect and admiration from the Duke, the Senate, and many Venetian citizens. On the one hand, he is a Christian (probably) and experienced military leader, commanding respect and admiration from the Duke, the Senate, and many Venetian citizens. Othello is a general in the army and a 'Moor'.He begins the play as a respected figure in Venice, but as the play goes on Iago makes him believe Desdemona is in love with someone else and he becomes more and more unpredictable. Shakespeare uses Othello, a black army general, to explore the relationship of an outsider in high Venetian society using a variety of approaches. Upon her death, Othello’s strongest link to the white, European world is gone. Therefore, such acceptance forces Othello to become an outsider and to realize his impossibility to inherit all manners and behavior that are necessary for peer existence. at the time of the play being written there is an ongoing war between the Turks and Christians resulting in the isolation of the Cypriots. He even publicly strips Cassio of his rank and post. In other words, they use racist language to try to define Othello not only as an outsider to white Venetian society, but as being less human and therefore less deserving of respect. August 30, 2017. Othello is a combination of greatness and weakness, in his own words "an honourable murderer" (V.2, 295). Being an outside can be a negative thing to some. Due to the fact that the hero of the play is an outsider, a Moor, we have an idea how blacks were related to in England, in Elizabethan times. The play Othello by William Shakespeare discloses very complicated topics and one of them relates to the representation of Othello as the outsider as a foreigner who fails to be recognized by the Venetian society. ( Log Out /  Cassio and Iago). The fact that Othello is completely unaware of the falsehood of the entire plot makes him an outsider in Iago’s evil scheme, and in a way, an outsider in his own marriage. Here are some great quotes about being an outsider that are powerful to read. Othello- Gender Quotes ‘thieves, thieves, thieves! However, Shakespeare was trying to make a deeper statement with this particular scene than simply saying that Othello is an outsider. October 12–27, 2019 William Shakespeare's 'Othello' directed by Carl Jordan at the Marines' Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. Quotes; 37 Quotes About Being an Outsider. Race is one of the factors that Othello feels makes him an outsider, someone who comes from a foreign land and doesn’t quite belong. Help! Even after marriage with Desdemona, the senator’s daughter, Othello is still perceived as something unusual and even mysterious due to the color of his skin; his affection for Desdemona is also realized in unusual way: “That with some mixtures pow’ful o’er the blood / Or with some dram, conjured to this effect/ He wrought upon her” (Shakespeare 382). One of Othello’s admirable qualities is that he believes that men should be transparent and honest as he is; “Certain, men should be what they seem” (Act 3 Scene 3 Line 134). In this way, Iago taps into social anxieties to further cast doubt into Othello, Othello as an outsider to Venice presumably unaware of Venetian women. Racism seems to be a big issue in Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello. However, by justifying his origin, Othello subconsciously acknowledges that his an outcast of this society and there is a considerable gap between his wild and irrational world and between superior and aristocratic Venetian society: “Haply, for I am black,/ And have not those soft parts of conversation,/ that chamberers have, or for I am declin’d into the vale of years (yet that’s not much), She’s gone” (Shakespeare 438). US: Penguin, 1994. In the play, Othello strives to emphasize that his blackness is insignificant impediment and highlight the advantages of his origin revealing the positive features of his character and behavior. Shakespeare was trying to show his audiences their prejudices against different races and religions and the persistence of those prejudices. Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #1: The Introduction of the Character Othello. The relationship of an outsider to society is also explored through Othello himself, as he recognises the differences between him and those around him. Although racism is a major theme in the play, I do not believe that Shakespeare was a racist himself. He is no longer the husband of Desdemona, but just Othello the Moor. This two-polar opposition could be explicitly viewed when opposing the protagonist with other characters. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. Iago- Contextual, ties into Elizabethan/Jacobean belief in the looseness of Venetian women, known for lax social attitudes and infamous for its courtesans.In this way, Iago taps into social anxieties to further cast doubt into Othello, Othello as an outsider to Venice presumably unaware of Venetian women. Arise, arise!" Othello. Othello Quotes Quotes Othello Quotes. He is simply Othello. In the first scene, Iago and Rodrigo belittle Othello by calling him different racial terms, calling him, “Barbary horse” and “thick lips” In every case, the prejudiced characters use terms that describe Othello as an animal or beast. He is a general in the Venetian defense forces, and, although a foreigner from Africa, he has won this post by excellence in the field of war. Although Othello is a cultural and racial outsider in Venice, his skill as a soldier and leader is nevertheless valuable and necessary to the state, and he is an integral part of Venetian civic society. However, when Othello marries Desdemona, the young and beautiful white daughter of Branbantio, boundaries seem to be broken. Othello: A Contextual History. You can use them for inspiration, an insight into a particular topic, a handy source of reference, or even just as a template of a certain type of paper. It is his rank that makes him noble. As a "Moor," he is black, and the people of Venice are prejudiced... See full answer below. Therefore, he cannot accept because it would alternatively mean the perversion of his love: “But there, where I have garnered up my heart, / where either I must live or bear no life; / The fountain from the which my current runs, / or else dries up: to be discarded thence!” (Shakespeare 473). Shakespeare uses Othello, a black army general, to explore the relationship of an outsider in high Venetian society using a variety of approaches. Racism is one of the most important themes in “Othello”. He takes advantages of his racial distinctions to justify his actions and explain the reasons of his moral and social inferiority. This is not because Othello envies the poise of his polished lieutenant (although Iago certainly does). In nearly every case, the prejudiced characters use terms that describe Othello as an animal or beast. The need for the third gentleman to come and show his thoughts on Othello depicts that, not only does Roderigo and Iago visualize Othello as an outsider, but society as a whole. Othello as the Outsider. Shakespeare, William. For the first few scenes, Othello’s position was clearly that of an outsider. The image of Othello’s world, hence, is reflected through his feeble attempts to imitate the language that he does not know. 3.0 / 5. tags: allegory, jealousy, mockery, monsters, vices. Print. Help! This is IvyPanda's free database of academic paper samples. He is demonized by the European society because of his fixed ideas, racial and cultural differences. Hence, the hero is forced to suppress his nature and being to be recognized by those who openly reject him. In any story with a recurring dark theme there always must be an outsider from humanity who somehow stands out from the seemingly equal community. IvyPanda, 7 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/othello-as-the-outsider/. 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