Orientalism, Racism, and Othello

October 15, 2008

Jim Schulz

Our discussion in class regarding Orientalism, racism, and how they tie into Shakespeare's "Othello" makes a person look at things in a whole different perspective. Although we discussed Orientalisn in Non-Western Literature I guess it took another lesson for me to get a better picture. Now that it has been brought to my attention again, it seems to be a little more clear. The comparisons that were made of the West to the East are quite true and when I think about it, I guess I can say I've heard or seen these comparison many times. I believe we are so used to these comparisons that we don't look at them as derogatory or racist. We just look at them as their culture, which isn't true.

Regarding Shakespeare's "Othello," I missed the whole racist theme in act one. I read it, but it took our class discussion to bring this to my attention. I naturally saw that Othello was black in the movie but I'm never sure if this is something modern or added to make the movie more dramatic. I guess my question is; why do I miss important things such as this? I suppose there could be many reasons but I guess I never felt racism could play a part in Shakespeare's work. I also believe the time period would play a part in this, somehow I never really thought a sixteenth century play would feature racist remarks. I can see that I need to evaluate what I read more closely.