The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello
Taking as a starting point the fact that Othello’s colour is politically and ideologically relevant in the development of the play, this article offers a reading of Othello as a tragedy of race. The article reviews key texts where the stereotype of the black man as a “pagan conjurer” of beastly liv...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Zaragoza
1996-12-01
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| Series: | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| Online Access: | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/11044 |
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| _version_ | 1846119794126880768 |
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| author | Ana María Manzanas Calvo |
| author_facet | Ana María Manzanas Calvo |
| author_sort | Ana María Manzanas Calvo |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Taking as a starting point the fact that Othello’s colour is politically and ideologically relevant in the development of the play, this article offers a reading of Othello as a tragedy of race. The article reviews key texts where the stereotype of the black man as a “pagan conjurer” of beastly living and monstrous sexuality crystallized, and traces the presence of the stereotype throughout the play. Othello’s condition as a black man—whatever shade of blackness he was—is further complicated by his condition as a colonial subject who wishes to adopt western culture. The play dramatizes the apparently unlimited possibilities of self-fashioning available to man in the Renaissance, only to deconstruct this optimistic self-fashioning or self-creation when race issues come into play. It is Iago’s exploitation of the politics of colour and of Othello’s double nature (proper to a colonial subject) that brings about Othello’s downfall.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8e2f0869a094c20bb3adcb1d320b052 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1137-6368 2386-4834 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 1996-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Zaragoza |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8e2f0869a094c20bb3adcb1d320b0522024-12-16T18:03:35ZengUniversidad de ZaragozaMiscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies1137-63682386-48341996-12-011710.26754/ojs_misc/mj.199611044The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: OthelloAna María Manzanas Calvo0Universidad de Salamanca Taking as a starting point the fact that Othello’s colour is politically and ideologically relevant in the development of the play, this article offers a reading of Othello as a tragedy of race. The article reviews key texts where the stereotype of the black man as a “pagan conjurer” of beastly living and monstrous sexuality crystallized, and traces the presence of the stereotype throughout the play. Othello’s condition as a black man—whatever shade of blackness he was—is further complicated by his condition as a colonial subject who wishes to adopt western culture. The play dramatizes the apparently unlimited possibilities of self-fashioning available to man in the Renaissance, only to deconstruct this optimistic self-fashioning or self-creation when race issues come into play. It is Iago’s exploitation of the politics of colour and of Othello’s double nature (proper to a colonial subject) that brings about Othello’s downfall. https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/11044 |
| spellingShingle | Ana María Manzanas Calvo The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| title | The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello |
| title_full | The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello |
| title_fullStr | The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello |
| title_short | The Making and Unmaking of a Colonial Subject: Othello |
| title_sort | making and unmaking of a colonial subject othello |
| url | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/11044 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anamariamanzanascalvo themakingandunmakingofacolonialsubjectothello AT anamariamanzanascalvo makingandunmakingofacolonialsubjectothello |