Slavery and Unequal Marriage in the “othello”
Shakespeares “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice” or just “Othello” in short was written more than four hundred years ago but still has success as book, play, ballet or movie. The name Othello became a common noun. It is a nickname for jealous husbands who have reasons to blame their wives and especially if they do not have any reasons. The theme of “Othello” inspires other authors to write sequels and imitations. For example, Russian poet Michael Lermontov has written the poem “Masquerade” about the Russian “Othello”—nobleman Arbenin, who killed his wife under similar conditions. Why is this creation of William Shakespeare such popular? This is because Shakespeares tragedy not only about love and jealousy. The author has risen in his tragedy such as questions as race, interracial marriages, and relations between spouses, which belong to different cultures. I think that “Othello” signifies the approval of slavery and warns against marriages between white women and men of other cultures.
William Shakespeare borrowed his topics from everywhere. He could find them in the old chronicles, novels, and sailors tales. Sometimes he could interpret the story he heard because of misunderstanding or because of some other reasons. For example, his Othello has at least two predecessors. One of them is the character of “The Tale of the Three Apples,” it is a fairy tale from famous “One Thousand and One Nights.” The other is a character from the Italian short story “Un Capitano Moro” by Giovanni Chintio—novelist and poet (“Othello”). Moreover, in Russian sources, I read that the actual Othello was not a Moor. It is hard to believe that white Europeans invited colored people or even single person to command their armed forces. Moors and Negroes were unpopular in the Medieval Europe. In reality, there was an Italian Maurizio Otello, who commanded a detachment of Venetian mercenaries on Cyprus during the war in the Balkans in the sixteenth century and lost his wife under very suspicious conditions. The diminutive Italian Mauro name also means “Moor,” this has led to the failure of Shakespeare assign his hero such nationality, and Maurizio turned into the Moor (“Why did Shakespeare make Othello the Moor?”). However, this transformation was for the benefits of the tragedy because nobody pities the Moor in the Shakespeares time. Othello is described as “thick-lips,” naĂŻve, and “credulous” general. He was a soldier, passed through numerous “battles, sieges, fortunes” (Shakespeare, 1.3.132). He accepted Christianity along this way and thinks that Christians are honest men. In his childhood, Othello learned that man must be honest and straight in ones thoughts and words. Othello himself is brave and honest, and he believes that everybody is honest with him. He does not think