Comparing Shakespeare's Othello with Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”

Othello weaves a tragic tale of love, jealousy and murder. Set in Venice and progressing to Cyprus, Shakespeare’s Othello follows the cursed path of its namesake, a black soldier whose love for his wife ultimately results in her death. Woven into the socially and emotionally delicate plot is a multitude of key themes, including race (Othello’s colour), love, and jealousy.

• Using grotesque animal imagery, Iago voices an explicitly stereotypical view of Othello, as a “Barbary horse,” depicting him as an animalistic outsider. Through the image of conflict in black and white, Iago emphasises on the racial demarcation between Othello and Desdemona, that “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe,” associating Othello with uncontrolled animalistic sexuality. Iago’s overt and vicious racism becomes representative of the reigning stereotype of the African on the

Heart of Darkness creates a prejudice way of presenting Africa, Joseph Conrad shows the African Congo through the perspective of the colonising Europeans, who describe all the natives as savages, which perpetuates the stereotype of the uncivilised African in the eyes of the European readers.

In "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist stereotypes towards the continent and people of Africa. He claims that Conrad propagated the "dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination" rather than portraying the continent in its true form (1793). Africans were portrayed in Conrad's novel as savages with no language other than grunts and with no "other occupations besides merging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow" (1792-3). To Conrad, the Africans were not characters in his story, but merely props. Chinua Achebe responded with a

Achebe argues that the racist observed in the Heart of Darkness is expressed due to the western psychology or as Achebe states “desire,” this being to show Africa as an antithesis to Europe. He first states Conrad as “one of the great stylists of modern fiction.” [pg.1] He praises Conrad’s talents in writing but believes Conrad’s obvious racism has not been addressed. He later describes in more detail that

Othello’s race does not prominently impact his demise, although Shakespeare touches upon the issue of race, the reason for Othello’s demise lies somewhere else. However, the allegations of race directly lead to its tragic ending. Feelings of inadequacy and distrust without question aid in the tragedy. The fact that Othello’s skin color is important alters the interpretation of the tragedy within the play. The racism represented in Othello is not just about an instance of prejudices and prejudgments made by a crowd of people against another, but in fact has much more subtle and devastating consequences, specifically, that it is proliferated not only by the discriminatory section of society, but also by the target of this discrimination.

When Shakespeare composed the tragedy Othello televisions were not. Along with no televisions, life in the late 1500s had many different qualities than it does today. This time period had no war on drugs and no high school shootings. Peer pressure was not an issue. The audiences of Othello in the 1500s did not face the circumstances that we, American high school students, face today. With these significant differences in daily life, come the attempts of movie creators to help prevent our modern day tragedies.

The themes relevant in the text that are still applicable to the modern interests of today are as follows; Betrayal is the key issue related with the text and consequently defines the term ‘tragedy’. Betrayal is portrayed in Shakespeare’s “Othello” all through the act and even from the very beginning; Act 1, Scene 1- Iago and Roderigo are discussing their hatred towards Othello. During this discussion, the racism and sort of indirect betrayal is brought out in the play as Iago explains to Roderigo his manipulating scheme leading to the betrayal and downfall of Othello; their captain and supposed ‘respected’ leader. Betrayal- in however many forms it may pursue- is sadly displayed regularly in life, and through many unwarranted situations varying even from day to day. Racism is a major issue associated in the reigns of the context of this script. The period of this Shakespearean text was also situated at the time of increase in hatred, discrimination and racism towards black ethnic races. In Act 1, Scene 1, we read of Iago’s racism towards Othello as a ‘fat lip(ped)’’savage’, as he tends to marry a smart, prized, beautiful yet white woman. All through the play Othello gets referred to as a savage or

Othello by William Shakespeare raises the issue of how rampant beliefs and attitudes in a society can cause a person to question their sense of self. In a society where racial equality is near non-existent, Othello, a black skinned foreigner in the Venetian society, is constantly reminded of his status as an outsider. Othello, however, is not depicted in a stereotypical manner and despite occupying a highly respected position he is often confronted with blatant racism throughout the play. The prevailing attitudes and beliefs of Venetian society towards Othello are exploited by Iago in order to manipulate Othello’s self confidence and emotional state.

Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart exemplify two different perspectives of African Literature. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad shows the African Culture through the eyes of the ‘white man’ or colonizing Europeans. In this story the native Africans are depicted as vicious savages.

Thesis: The sole character with dark skin, Othello, is isolated by casual discrimination that indicates underlying racism in not only Othello’s society, but also Shakespeare’s.

Along with critics making references to Othello’s race, many characters in the play do as well. The characters that are most racist refer to Othello by his real name less than the people who are least racist. “Othello’s blackness is not only a mark of his physical alienation but a symbol, to which every character in the play himself included must respond” (Berry, 1990). Othello does not refer to himself as African but rather as an exotic Venetian. Other characters do not see Othello as that. Many characters call Othello numerous names other than his real one. “For Iago Othello is an old black ram, the devil, and a barbary horse” (Berry, 1990). Many see Othello’s blackness as a symbol of ugliness, bestiality, treachery, and demonic. None of those words describe how Othello really is. Those words are the stereotypical definition of what a black man is. This stereotypical definition puts Othello is a predicament and makes his acceptance in the Venetian society difficult. “Once such critics conclude that Othello is not a stereotype, he tends to lose his individuality as a Moor and to become a representative of humanity” (Berry, 1990). The stereotypical image of a black man plays an important role in the play’s ending.

The book, The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is about the protagonist, Charlie Marlow, re-telling his grotesque journey up the Congo River on behalf of a Belgian ivory trading company. During his journey he encounters the harshness of colonialism has impacted the African natives and just how money and power can fully consume the heart of a good man. The play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare outlines the story of a Prince seeking revenge for his father’s murder by his power hungry brother. The two works Hamlet and Heart of Darkness are set and written in different time periods and different settings, but, are metaphorically on the same shelf when it comes to how the dark themes of murder and corruption are presented and how they affect those around them.

The play Othello by William Shakespeare was published during the 16th century, it is one of Shakespeare’s popular and controversial plays. Shakespeare depicts Othello’s race as placing him apart in some respects from the predominantly white European society in which he lives. Jealousy is another of the main themes in Othello. Iago is the first character to start the sparks of jealousy in Othello, and in the end, causes the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. In the end, racism and jealousy are the causes of the tragedy in Othello.