Blog Post #10 - Othello

"I'd whistle her off and let her down the wind to prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation that chamberers have...O curse of marriage, that we can call these delicate creatures ours and not their appetites!" (Shakespeare 135).

After Iago's supposed helpful insights about Desmendona's affair with Cassio, Othello increasingly becomes jealous. His fury increases as Iago adds more details to the scheme, tugging at his heartstrings bit by bit. Iago gets what he wants, ultimately being Othello's rage. Othello reasons his anger and the situation as a whole by claiming that because he is Black, there is a chance he does not possess charming qualities of dealing with other people. I found it surprising that Othello would degrade his character in such a way, especially on the basis of his skin color. In previous scenes, I've noticed other characters commentary about race, specifically Iago's rhymes to Emilia. To have one of the main actors, Othello, demean himself on the basis of his skin color speaks a lot about the conceptions of race during the Shakespearean Era. Not only is race an underlying theme thus far, but conceptions of gender also start emerging, especially during Act Three. Othello's comments on the "delicate creatures" essentially states they belong to their husbands, yet men cannot control women's desire for love and lust. This comment is interesting since Othello is noting that women, in his eyes, are uncontrollable when it comes to lust, which is something that is more commonly associated with men. His comment challenges gender stereotypes, or at least the gender stereotypes we are familiar with.