Dadabhoy, Ambereen. "Othello and the epithet of 'Moor.'" Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/othello-and-the-epithet-of-moor. [Date accessed].
Othello and the epithet of "Moor"
Reading between the lines of Shakespeare’s othering language
The coded language of the War on Terror, the 2017 Muslim ban, and the conflict in Gaza is not new. Muslims have been stereotypically portrayed as violent and tyrannical since the premodern periods. It’s important for students to be able to identify these strategic maneuvers in premodern literature and culture so that they can see these reflected in our present moment and identify them as false and misleading constructions. Ambereen Dadabhoy uses Shakespeare’s Othello as a text through which students can think about contemporary Islamophobia and the tropes about Muslim people that we still encounter today.
Further learning
Recommended
Othello and Othello and Othello
Beginning with the play’s earliest performance, we study Othello from various critical perspectives through close analysis of the play-text and adaptations on film and stage. For several weeks students read the text of the play slowly and closely, paying particular attention to Shakespeare’s use of language, metaphor, genre, and dramatic form.
