Critical interpretations: Race

Question 1

Ania Loomba

Answer 1

Othello should not be read as a patriarchal, authoritative and racist spectacle, nor as a show of female or black superiority. The play should be used to examine and dismantle the racism and sexism of the
leadership of the state.

Question 2

Alexandra Melville

Answer 2

Iago’s success lies in his ability to distort and pervert what should be other characters’ most positive traits.

Question 3

Kiernan Ryan

Answer 3

Othello and Desdemona find unleashed upon them, in the shape of Iago, the venomous rage of society whose foundations are rocked by the mere fact of their marriage.

Shakespeare makes it plain from the start that it’s not just Iago the newly-weds are up against, but the status quo and a view of the world which Iago merely embodies in its most lethal form.