When the streets of France are filled with an angry, oppress population—reportedly ethnic Arabs who feel oppressed--and with the American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, what better time to consider the lessons of Shakespeare's "Othello"?
In a time when being Catholic was a dangerous political statement and the Spanish Inquisition was hunting down both Jews and Muslims, the thought of a Christian woman marrying a Moor must have been titillating. In America, Othello is most often interpreted as a matter of race, with a black man (as in the 1995 movie with Laurence Fishburne or the 2001 "O" with Mekhi Phifer) or, in the past, a white man in black face playing the Moorish general (Orson Welles' newly restored 1952 movie or Laurence Olivier's 1965 portrayal). For the Elizabethan audience, Moor could have referred to either the Arabs of North Africa as well as the sub-Sahara races. Even Othello's own line, "Haply for I am black" could mean that he is of swarthy complexion.
After spending the summer in sunny Southern California. I can verify that the people in South Yorkshire were so pale as to remind me of some science fiction tale of mole people. Visiting me one day in July, my then-boyfriend asked me the crowd in the park were doing. The English were out greeting the rare one or two hours of sunlight. After which many would be singed a bright pink. By that time, the dark days of winter had paled my complexion as well, yet I was still darker than these mole people, as were the ethnic Asians—Hong Kong Chinese, Indian and Pakistani.. Being black in England is not the same as being black in America as Americans commonly think.
Under the direction of Geoff Elliot and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, A Noise Within's production of Shakespeare's "Othello" doesn't seek to exploit the exoticism of the situation at did the 1995 movie but tells a straight forward story of a black man, Othello (Harold Surratt), who believes he has been betrayed by his faithful wife, Desdemona (Julia Watt).
And by black we mean those who would be classified as Negroid in a cultural anthropology class. Othello is a black man surrounded by Caucasians.
We meet Iago (Geoff Elliott) before we ever see Othello. Unsatisfied with his rank, suspicious of his wife and jealous of others, he is already plotting against Othello. He wakes Desdemona's father (Apollo Dukakis) with news of his daughter's romantic intrigue with Othello. Yet Othello proves himself an honorable man. He has eloped with Desdemona. Soon they leave Venice for Cyprus where Othello will command the Venetian army with his lieutenant Cassio (Daniel Kaemon). Once there, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair.
Article comments
1 - Mei Flower
The full title of the play is Othello, the Moor of Venice, so Shakespeare's audience would have considered that to be a North African. However, Moors were not that common in England at the time, so the Richard (?) Burbage, the leading actor of the Globe's acting company, played the part of Othello, though without any black makeup.
Where I live in the South, there are still plenty of people who are horrified by black/white relationships, so the play is still--unfortunately--relevant for students in my classes.
About five years ago, Patrick Stewart played Othello--I think in Washington D.C.--as the only white person in an all black cast.
I wonder, if Othello and Desdemona were of the same race, would Othello become just as jealous?
2 - Purple Tigress
Racism is a complex problem that is too often stripped down to black and white. In Shakespeare's time, there was much prejudice against Jews and Muslims. Othello was a Moor. The play takes place in Venice and Cyprus--both exotic locales for the Elizabethan audiences.
Othello was once colored by the prejudices of the Elizabethan era and is now colored by ours. Just as Americans changed the tale of Little Black Sambo to represent the Negroid race, the casting of Othello changes to the Negroid race.
We know that Jews and Muslims can pass at WASPs. Why not have someone play Othello as a person who could pass as white just as Kirk Douglas (of Jewish descent) or Ralph Nader can in American society? How can we truly understand the prejudice that exist when something has so little visual difference? From anti-semitism to the Japanese-Korean mutual prejudices?
The hate crimes against Arab Americans and others who were mistaken as Arab Americans and the domestic unrest in France tell us that Othello still has meaning today, but how can we see it if we continue to cast Othello as someone who is black in the narrowest of definitions?
As for Patrick Stewart, I think that bit of casting was the only politically correct way he could do Othello although what I am saying is: Wouldn't it be more valid, wouldn't it be more true to the actual geography if we cast someone who might pass as white amongst other white people?
After all, Al Pacino recently played the Shylock.
3 - us
How can an Arab be a Moor? Aren't Moors supposed to be black? Arabs don't really look any different from a white person.
4 - Purple Tigress
Aren't we lazy?
According to Merriam Webster:
Moor
Etymology: Middle English More, from Anglo-French, from Latin Maurus inhabitant of Mauretania
Date: 14th century
1 : one of the Arab and Berber conquerors of Spain 2 : berber
-- Moor·ish Listen to the pronunciation of Moorish -ish adjective
Now what is a Berber?
Ber·ber noun
Etymology: ultimately from Arabic barbar
Date: 1732
1: a member of any of various peoples living in northern Africa west of Tripoli 2 a: a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family comprising languages spoken by various peoples of northern Africa and the Sahara (as the Tuaregs and the Kabyles) b: any one of the Berber languages
Now, what is black? Can Asians be black? Can Europeans be black? What does MW have to say about this?
Black
2 a: having dark skin, hair, and eyes : swarthy (the black Irish) b (1)often capitalized : of or relating to any of various population groups having dark pigmentation of the skin (black Americans) (2): of or relating to the African-American people or their culture (black literature) (a black college) (black pride) (black studies) (3): typical or representative of the most readily perceived characteristics of black culture (trying to sound black) (tried to play blacker jazz)
So according to MW, Arabs can be considered black. That would mean that Africans and Asians can be considered black.
Hollywood apparently thinks Arabs look different from a "white" person, or at least a white American. And in the UK, apparently even the Irish, especially the black Irish, look different (to say nothing about the Spanish).