The issue of xenophobic anxiety is another major aspect of Othello that needs to be analyzed in terms of the way that Africans are misrepresented in the Globe Theater of the early 17th century. In this manner, English audiences would have also been shocked at the idea of Othello being married to Desdemona, a white woman. In the early Globe productions, the actress playing Desdemona would certainly have been a British woman, but the idea of a white actor playing Othello might not have eased their anxiety about such a marital union. In the play, Iago is explicit about his disapproval of Desdemona’s marriage as a reflection of his own xenophobic and racist anxiety about inter-racial marriage:
IAGO
Ay, there's the point. As, to be bold with you, …show more content…
Iago’s preference for Desdemona to marry a white man “of her own clime, complexion, and degree” is a major part of the anxiety that many audience members would have agreed with in England. More so, the word “rank” not only expresses a class-based bigotry against Othello was a non-white man in English society, but it also infers a type of rancid smell or rot. Iago is then quick to use the word “foul” to assert that an interracial marriage infers an unclean union, delves deeper into the anxiety that Iago feels by not only being outranked by a Moor, but by Othello being married to Desdemona as a member of the aristocracy. This is a major part of the racial conflict that inspires Iago to utilize subterfuge and manipulation to sabotage the marriage and destroy Othello as a threat to his social standing as a Venetian. In terms of stage performance, the audience would most certainly see a “British” officer, which would have only fueled the xenophobic and racial anxiety of audience members that watched this play in the early production phase of this play. This textual analysis defines the important aspects of Iago as a primary source of the xenophobia that brings about the great tragedy of Othello as a heroic figure due to racial anxieties of 17th century British
IAGO
Ay, there's the point. As, to be bold with you, …show more content…
Iago’s preference for Desdemona to marry a white man “of her own clime, complexion, and degree” is a major part of the anxiety that many audience members would have agreed with in England. More so, the word “rank” not only expresses a class-based bigotry against Othello was a non-white man in English society, but it also infers a type of rancid smell or rot. Iago is then quick to use the word “foul” to assert that an interracial marriage infers an unclean union, delves deeper into the anxiety that Iago feels by not only being outranked by a Moor, but by Othello being married to Desdemona as a member of the aristocracy. This is a major part of the racial conflict that inspires Iago to utilize subterfuge and manipulation to sabotage the marriage and destroy Othello as a threat to his social standing as a Venetian. In terms of stage performance, the audience would most certainly see a “British” officer, which would have only fueled the xenophobic and racial anxiety of audience members that watched this play in the early production phase of this play. This textual analysis defines the important aspects of Iago as a primary source of the xenophobia that brings about the great tragedy of Othello as a heroic figure due to racial anxieties of 17th century British