Othello - Critical Theory
In Gender, Race, Renaissance Drama (1987), Ania Loomba suggests the central conflict in
Othello is ‘between the racism of a white patriarchy and the threat posed to it by both a black
man and a white woman’
Loomba argues that Othello has a split consciousness and is ‘a near schizophrenic hero’; his
final speech ‘graphically portrays the split – he becomes simultaneously the Christian and the
Infidel, the Venetian and the Turk, the keeper of the state and its opponent’
Loomba suggests Othello is an honorary white at the beginning of the play but becomes a ‘total
outsider’ because of his relationship with Desdemona, which ruptures his ‘precarious entry into
the white world’.
Loomba insists, however, that Othello ‘should not be read as a patriarchal, authoritative and
racist spectacle’. Instead the play should be used to ‘examine and dismantle’ ideas about racism
and sexism.
Karen Newman says the play exposes the ‘fear of racial and sexual difference’ of Renaissance
culture
Newman argues the white male characters in Othello , especially Iago, feel threatened by the
‘power and potency of a different and monstrous sexuality’ which Othello represents.
Newman suggests ‘by making the black Othello a hero, and by making Desdemona’s love for
Othello … sympathetic’, Shakespeare’s play challenges the racist, sexist and colonialist views of
his society
Vaughan - “In choosing a foreigner she has violated the Venetian norm of arranged endogamous
marriages… and rejected her father’s authority”
Vaughan - “She exonerates Othello by claiming that no one has murdered her except herself”
Ryan - “[Othello and Desdemona are] prisoners of a time when racial prejudice and sexual
infidelity are so ingrained that even their heroic hearts are tainted by them”
Ryan - Barbantio perceives that there’s much more at stake in this interracial union than the
violation of his honour”
Loomba - “Othello is both a fantasy of interracial love and social tolerance and a nightmare of
racial hatred and male violence”
Vaughan - Feminist critics underscored Desdemona’s initial independence and Emilia’s strength,
and outlined the ways both women - as well as the courtesan Bianca - were constrained by the
male characters patriarchal suppositions.”
Kiernan Ryan - So endemic to venetian culture are such attitudes that Othello and Desdemona
can’t help absorbing them too”
In Gender, Race, Renaissance Drama (1987), Ania Loomba suggests the central conflict in
Othello is ‘between the racism of a white patriarchy and the threat posed to it by both a black
man and a white woman’
Loomba argues that Othello has a split consciousness and is ‘a near schizophrenic hero’; his
final speech ‘graphically portrays the split – he becomes simultaneously the Christian and the
Infidel, the Venetian and the Turk, the keeper of the state and its opponent’
Loomba suggests Othello is an honorary white at the beginning of the play but becomes a ‘total
outsider’ because of his relationship with Desdemona, which ruptures his ‘precarious entry into
the white world’.
Loomba insists, however, that Othello ‘should not be read as a patriarchal, authoritative and
racist spectacle’. Instead the play should be used to ‘examine and dismantle’ ideas about racism
and sexism.
Karen Newman says the play exposes the ‘fear of racial and sexual difference’ of Renaissance
culture
Newman argues the white male characters in Othello , especially Iago, feel threatened by the
‘power and potency of a different and monstrous sexuality’ which Othello represents.
Newman suggests ‘by making the black Othello a hero, and by making Desdemona’s love for
Othello … sympathetic’, Shakespeare’s play challenges the racist, sexist and colonialist views of
his society
Vaughan - “In choosing a foreigner she has violated the Venetian norm of arranged endogamous
marriages… and rejected her father’s authority”
Vaughan - “She exonerates Othello by claiming that no one has murdered her except herself”
Ryan - “[Othello and Desdemona are] prisoners of a time when racial prejudice and sexual
infidelity are so ingrained that even their heroic hearts are tainted by them”
Ryan - Barbantio perceives that there’s much more at stake in this interracial union than the
violation of his honour”
Loomba - “Othello is both a fantasy of interracial love and social tolerance and a nightmare of
racial hatred and male violence”
Vaughan - Feminist critics underscored Desdemona’s initial independence and Emilia’s strength,
and outlined the ways both women - as well as the courtesan Bianca - were constrained by the
male characters patriarchal suppositions.”
Kiernan Ryan - So endemic to venetian culture are such attitudes that Othello and Desdemona
can’t help absorbing them too”
