Titus Andronicus and Othello

A detailed Summary of Titus Andronicus and Othello

Humans have always felt the need to differentiate themselves from one another. We see examples of this in history, geography, language, and even mathematics. Even less complex is the notion of race. Race is an ideology that has always existed, but only recently, that is within the last 100-200 years, been defined. It is simple to differentiate between peoples based on the color of one's skin. Race (and hence, racism) has been expressed in literature since the time of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's plays and sonnets have been studied and loved since they were written. He wrote about politics, treatment of women, and also the notion of race. Two of Shakespeare's characters particularly stand out in regards to race; they are Aaron, the Moor from Titus Andronicus and Othello, also a Moor from Othello. I wish to show in this essay, a comparison of attitudes toward race in Titus and Othello with particular attention paid to Aaron and Othello. I will also give examples from John Leo Africanus' A Geographical Historie of Africa, translated to English in 1600, to give further insight into Shakespeare's depictions of the Renaissance Moor.

Titus Andronicus was first performed around the year 1593. Aaron plays what Emily Bartel writ

Emily Bartels links Titus and Othello by stating that they are both a "dramatization of cultural resistance to normalizing 'Moor'." I found this statement to be interesting, particularly because Aaron and Othello portray the Moor in two extremely different manners. Aaron is considered evil with no cause, and Othello is first valiant, and later evil with a just cause. She explains that Aaron represents the "demonizing" of the Moor, while Othello represents the "demonizing of resistance," particularly manifested in the character Iago. When the two plays are discussed, Aaron is often seen as evil and savage, while Othello is seen as valiant, but brute, and ignorant, and it is Iago who is seen as evil.

" 'Mulattos,' 'Blacks,' and 'Indian Moors'" by Michael Niell gives particular insight into Desdemona's murder from a moral viewpoint. He writes of Othello as a "civil monster," which comes to light at the end of the play. Once Othello realizes that Iago has manipulated him into murdering his own wife, he takes his own life but is proud to do so, "No way but this, / Killing myself, to die upon a kiss" (4.2. 359, 360). Little agrees with Niell in "An Essence..." and writes that Othello sees Desdemona's alleged adultery based on her "act of racial adulteration," or her marriage to Othello. Again, another example of Othello's insecurities as an "Other."

Shortly after Titus' first performance, in 1600, a revolutionary book was translated into English for the first time: John Leo Africanus's A Geographical Historie of Africa. This book contains many parallels with Shakespeare's Othello, because they are both considered to have shaped public opinion regarding "Christianized" Moors during the Renaissance. Africanus was from the Spanish colony, Grenada, which was of particularly Moslem faith. The character Othello, however, has no clear past beyond the wars and travels we read about in the play. Both Africanus and Othello have traveled extensively in Africa as well as Europe. However, the greatest significance of this book regarding history and literature, is Africanus was the first to use the term "Other" in regards to Moorish peoples. In Titus Andronicus, the character Aaron is physically described: "his body's hue/ Spotted, detested, abominable," but the audience must still assume he is the "Other," while in Othello, Othello is defined as an "other" before he is even viewed by the audience.

He is viewed by both the audience as well as other characters in the play as an "other," a person noticeably different that the picturesque Romans. In fact, Aaron is the only character in the play to be constantly recognized and commented on as different. For example, Lavinia speaks of Tamora's "raven-colored love" (2.3.83), and Bassianus also describes Aaron as a "barbarous Moor" (2.3.78). Tamora, though lovingly, also differentiates Aaron from the rest of the characters, "Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!" (2.3.51, 52). This line obviously shows Tamora categorizing Aaron; it creates a definitive establishment of "otherness" for him, even in the relationship with his lover. According to Emily Bartel, however, Aaron's motivations lie in the hopes for a change in status. She cites his opening soliloquy when he speaks of Tam

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Approximate Word count = 2196
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English