New
New
Year 9
Exploration of the theme of race in 'Othello'
I can evaluate the significance of race in the play ‘Othello’.
New
New
Year 9
Exploration of the theme of race in 'Othello'
I can evaluate the significance of race in the play ‘Othello’.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Race cannot be considered a theme in the same way that jealousy and love are themes but it must be considered.
- Othello's racial identity is undefined but being an outsider makes him vulnerable to Iago's machinations.
- Before Othello, Black characters in Elizabethan drama were often villains; the presentation of a noble Moor was new.
- Imagery of black and white, light and dark is regular, suggesting colour is important in the play.
Keywords
Dislocate - move something from its place or position
Prejudice - an unfair opinion about a person or a group not based on actual evidence
Xenophobia - extreme dislike or fear of foreigners
Insular - ignorant of cultures, ideas or people outside of one’s own experience
Common misconception
Othello acts in the way he does simply due to his hamartia: jealousy.
We must interrogate why Othello is targeted by Iago, how his outsider status makes him more susceptible to manipulation and insecurity.
Ask students what they think is most to blame for Othello's downfall.
Teacher tip
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
Download starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
In Shakespeare's 'Othello', which character dehumanises Othello at the beginning of the play?
Desdemona
Cassio
Q2.
In 'Othello', what epithet do characters use to describe Othello that marks him out as an outsider?
The General
The Foreigner
Q3.
In 'Othello', what does Brabantio say that shows his stereotyping of Othello?
''My daughter! O, my daughter!''
''My particular grief Is of so floodgate and o’erbearing nature''
Q4.
Which belief was held in Jacobean England about race?
everyone was equal regardless of race
lighter skin was associated with moral impurity
Q5.
What happens to Othello in Act 3 Scene 3 of 'Othello' that suggests the play is at its peripeteia?
He hits Desdemona
He makes a plan to murder Iago
He sails back to Venice
Consumed with jealousy, he enters a trance
Q6.
How does Shakespeare subvert racial stereotypes in Jacobean England through 'Othello'?
By showing Othello to be animalistic
Exit quiz
Download exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
What does it mean if Jacobean society was insular?
They were well travelled.
They welcomed all cultures to their society.
Q2.
Which idea was embedded in the cultural consciousness of Jacobean England?
Everyone was equal
Women were superior to men
Lightness and light skin was associated with evil
Q3.
What reveals that Othello has fully internalised the racial stereotype that black equates to sin by the end of the play 'Othello'?
''Haply for I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation''
''Threw a pearl away''
Q4.
In 'Othello', how does Othello's outsider status make him more vulnerable to Iago's machinations?
He doesn't speak the same language as Iago
He is too busy proving himself as a good warrior to listen to scrutinise Iago
Q5.
What happens to Othello as the play 'Othello' progresses?
he becomes empowered by his race
the significance he places on race diminishes
Q6.
What does the image of Othello killing the 'malignant Turk' as he kills himself in his final soliloquy in 'Othello' suggest?
He is proud of who he is
He wants Iago to suffer a painful death