Bl St lec 092707 - 1690 English drama critic[Rhymer says Othello can not be a tragedy b/c it is based upon a black man[general in army marrying a white

Bl St lec 092707 History… • Queen Elizabeth issued decrees to banish all the black ppl from England in 16 th - 17 th c • Our issue is why Shakespeare had imbedded all the stereotypes of blacks • “had you had your mother’s complexion you could be a prince”-quote from Shakespeare • Before queen anne shows up [above] Shakespeare after Queen Anne • had play in which women showed up on stage dressed in black, controversial • Shakespeare is political with writings Final Points • Shakespeare is one of the developers of modern English • King James in 1611 had the first popular vulgar translation of the bible, was killed for it • English historiography contributed to Shakespeare and vice versa Othello: How does Shakespeare write with racism in his plays before racism emerges? • presence of blackness anticipates the emergence of whiteness • bans between black man and white woman • 1670’s-80’s: whiteness begins to appear •

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Unformatted text preview: 1690: English drama critic [Rhymer] says Othello can not be a tragedy b/c it is based upon a black man [general in army] marrying a white woman aristrocrat [unrealistic] • 1660’s: Englishman fined b/c his daughter was pregnant by African slave • Racist in the play is a white man, Iago • Iago is sneaky and so complex that scholars tend to do more analysis of Iago than Othello • Iago the racist does not believe anything he is telling other people to believe, using race to manipulate in order to try to get Othello back • Nation goes to war and wants the best general, who is Othello, awkward for duke b/c he is dating his daughter [black man white woman] Conflict invested in Othello • blackamoor: centuries old by the time Othello is written o involves a historical sensibility which the negro has o History which goes back to the 8-9 century up to 17 th century negro: black...
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