Karen Newman Othello Criticism

Karen Newman Othello Criticism In her 1987 article And wash the Ethiop white: femininity and the monstrous in Othello,1 Karen Newman sets out re-examine prior critical analysis of Shakespeares Othello with the goal to re-read Shakespeare in ways which [] contest the hegemonic forces, [his] plays at the same time affirm (158). Her argument scrutinizes the the male-dominated Venetian world (152) of the play and the criticism that it has generated against correlating historical perspectives. Her main thesis about the play asserts that the union of Desdemona and Othello represents a sympathetic identification between femininity and the monstrous which offers a potentially subversive recognition of sexual and racial difference. Employing a feminist approach Newman reveals the racial and gender prejudices inherent both in the play and the critique levelled at it from 1600 through to 1980. In seeking new ways of reading Othello Newman draws on Derridas poststructuralist ideas to establish parallels between the relationsh ip of gender and race. She contends that Desdemona and Othello are equally marginalized by Venetian society; Othellos race and Desdemonas progressive sexuality presenting equivalent risk to the dominant white male society. In verifying how these attitudes pervade the play itself, Newman points out that fear of miscegenation functions on two levels. Firstly Shakespeare uses the white mans fear of the union of black man and white women (144) to generate the plot, and secondly through the binary opposition of black and white characteristic of the plays discourse. To substantiate she quotes from the play: Black ram tups white ewe and O, the more angel she, And you the blacker devil. The last line illustrates what Newman terms rhetorical miscegenation. Outlining the frequency with which black and white were used to denote polarization during the Renaissance, (145) she comments on how the emphasis in Othello of Desdemona as the idealisation of fair female beauty is usually read to emphasise the contrast between these two characters, and declares that contrary to early critics she views Desdemona not as a representative of opposition to blackness and monstrosity, as black is to white, but as identifying with it. Newmans assertion that the play is structured around a cultural aporia, miscegenation is the first cornerstone of her argument. Newmans next device is to establish a link between femininity and the racial attitudes inherent in the play. Again she refers to Ridleys criticism, claiming that his choice of example portrays a generalization of women as petty, thereby confirming his gender prejudice. Ridley has displaced the struggle of white against black man onto a cultural femininity. Newman is sympathetic to Stephen Greenblatts (1980) view that Othellos identity is reliant on his loss of his own origins, an embrace and perpetual reiteration of the norms of another culture, but criticises this focus as failing to recognise the other as black and female: Othello internalises alien cultural values, but his otherness remains apparent, dividing him from that culture and thereby linking him to the plays other marginality, femininity. Newman claims critical considerations with regard to the symbolic significance of the handkerchief reflect gender prejudices. Reigning critical preoccupations result in the significance of the handkerchief being limited to a sign of adultery. Contrasting this she terms the handkerchief a snowballing signifier, acquiring figurative and literal meaning as it passes from hand to hand. Newman contests psychoanalytical readings as problematic since they privilege a male scopic drama casting the women as a failed man once again negating her otherness and limiting female sexuality to fetish. (156) Identifying racial attitudes as inclusive of attitudes towards black sexuality, Newman references popular travel accounts of the time, outlining African as presented descriptively [] but also mythically (148) concluding: always we find a link between blackness and the monstrous, and particularly a monstrous sexuality. These attitudes Newman asserts assimilated into the drama of early modern England. (149) Newman observes the portrayal of Desdemona as voracious and devouring with a greedy ear; threatening to masculine perceptions of femininity. Her desire is presented in terms of an aural/oral libidinal causing Othello anxiety. Newman sees this anxiety as having a duel source the monstrous difference it invokes against his adopted culture, and that it allies her imagined sexual appetite with his own. Othello and Iago are linked in representing white male sexuality in the play. Simultaneously and paradoxically Othello also represents the threat to it. Newmans investigation of historic al criticisms surrounding femininity as represented by Desdemona, uncovers several ironies. Rymer and Cinthio in a cautionary moral link Desdemonas social disobedience to her sexual duplicity. Othellos punishment of Desdemona however simultaneously confirms the cultural prejudice which labels him a monster. In addition Iagos dramatic construction which leads Othello to see Desdemona as a whore, demonstrates how theatrical representation can provide false influence. Newmans undoubtedly subscribes to a feminist school of criticism, seeking to expose the nature of gender inequality and opposing the inherent male hegemony represented within the play. In addition, by her own account, her reading is also political in that it exposes the ideological discourses which organise the text. She comments that poststructuralist approaches highlight that even highly formalist readings are political, inscribed in the discourses both of the period in which the work was produced and of those in which it is consumed. Newman references Derridas work on racism and in addition to employing deconstructionist discourse his influence can be seen in Newmans design. Recognizing the binary opposition denoted by the polarization of Othellos blackness and Desdemonas whiteness, Newman develops this to assimilate the implied opposition of monstrosity or miscegenation represented by Othello and femininity represented by Desdemona. Deconstructive discourse incorporates the notio n that difference exists both between signified and signifier, and at the same time that the signified defers meaning to the signifier. The role of the literary critic is seen as seeking a slippage in the text, thereby denoting duplicity and revealing how the internal linguistic and thematic rules are inexact. Newman finds this critical slippage in both Rymers Short view of Tragedy (1693) and again in Ridleys criticism 250yrs later, to be the lapse from blackness to femininity. (155) Newmans approach offers new and valuable insights through its address of past criticisms, detailing not only how they relate to the ideology of the time they represent, but also illustrating how criticism in itself can be read to demonstrate new ideas and ways of reading the play. Her analysis however, places its emphasis on the Desdemonas interracial relationship with Othello and how her disobedience to her father and her choice of black man threaten the prevalent white male hegemony. Newman does not address other characters marginalised through class distinctions and gender. One such relationship is that between aristocratic Cassio and the courtesan Bianca. The secret nature of their liaison is both essential to the plot but also preserves Cassios social standing. Cassio treats Bianca with little respect scorning her foolishness in loving him. Cassio, Iago and Brabantio all share a mutual sexist prejudice in a similar way to the racist disdain which shapes their worldview. Othello can be seen to be outside this racial bigotry but Newman does not address the question of whether he accepts the central stereotyped perception of women. Newmans outline of historical womens roles focuses solely on a westernized version of society and does not address the way in which women were historically regarded within non-westernized cultures. Hinging on the underpinning social apprehension with regard to miscegenation, Newmans argument takes it lead from Bennetts notion that the position a text holds within relation to the ideology at its origin is not necessary an indication of the position which it may subsequently come to hold in different historical and political contexts. Some critics however claim Newman is anachronistic, applying modern concepts of racism historically. Shakespearian audiences would have understood race in a totally different way to contemporary audiences. It would then follow that Newmans application of contemporary ideas with regard to other cultural constructs such as gender would be equally out of place. Acknowledging that Shakespeare was certainly subject to the racist, sexist, and colonialist discourses of his time, Newman declares that by making Othello a black man and through Desdemonas love for him, Shakespeare stands in a contestory relation to the hegemonic ideologies of race and gender i n early modern England. Newmans argument is detailed and engages the play against historical points of view, addressing feminist issues and at the same time employing poststructuralist thinking to achieve her goal of establishing a link between femininity and race. Newman sees such strategies of reading as a social responsible in that they illuminate artificial enactment of works which may falsely represent those marginalised groups standing outside culture and simultaneously within it. This representation she sees as being obscured by the immediacy of dramatic performance. Her analysis of Othello is a demonstration of how seamlessly racial attitudes in early English drama where transmitted to viewpoints surrounding gender and sexuality, illustrating how mutually constitutive race, gender, and sexuality can be.

Normality in Subcultures :: Sociology Sociological Papers

Normality in Subcultures My family's subculture in a larger subculture Once you are born, you become a part of a larger group. You will grow up starting at a point in your parent's life and then over time they or even you will change the direction of your families subculture in whatever country you all live in. In America, People strive for the best. Not all get it, but somehow or someone will push that family into a situation where they can move up in the world. Over the years America has came to a point where most jobs pay well and mostly anyone can be considered a middle class resident. In America this is considered normal to the general public. Being normal and striving to be normal is the focus most people try to reach within their lifetimes. Normality is a subculture in itself. My family wasn't always an upper middle class family. Starting with my grandparents, my mom's mother named Bonnie Langdon. She lived in what is a now West Bloomfield in Oakland county Michigan. She was a sister to 9 siblings and she attended a One-room schoolhouse. Bonnie's mother Betty Worked in the post office for 30 year and her father Harry drove an oil truck for about the same amount of years. They were mostly lower class but they did manage to get themselves more towards the middle class. Over the years bonnie my grandmother graduated from high school and started to work for Pontiac motor, which moved Bonnie up tom middle class. She met my grandfather Names Fred shortly after and married. My grandfather grew up in Redford Michigan with 3 other siblings. His mom was named Pearl and his father was named Fred. His mom was from Canada who liked to hold old traditions such as eating soft-boiled eggs and drinking tea for breakfast. My mother remembers That Pearl would make her eat them each time she came over and she hated them. Pearl was a housewife and his dad worked as a carpenter. His dad Fed worked with Henry ford the man. His father was the personal Carpenter for Henry ford. Over the years my grandfather graduated from High school in Redford and started to work for the Oakland county Road commission. Over the years Bonnie and Fred had a higher class than there parents and they became the norm in the family. After Bonnie Langdon and Fred wood met they married and had one daughter names Janet, my mother.

Expository Essay

Expository Essay Some memories are joyful, while others are quite sad, and then the bittersweet moments are a combination of both. These bittersweet memories are often memorable and one that stays fresh in my mind is the coming and going of my Golden Retriever puppy, Chance. I was overjoyed when we first got him and couldn’t have been happier but his death was unpleasant and left me with a bad taste in my mouth for weeks to come. This whole experience taught how to appreciate what I have because you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.One of the most memorable and impactful memories of my life happened when I was just six years old. It was a chilly day in mid January as I cheerfully scampered off the school bus to dash inside and be greeted by a mug of hot chocolate and warm cookies. I was clumsily toying around with Legos while waiting in anticipation for my dad to get home. The moment I saw my dad walk through the door I darted down the stairs and was shocke d to see him holding a large, mysterious cardboard box.He informed me that contained inside were loads of cupcakes he had gotten from work, but to my surprise when I looked inside I saw a tiny little puppy bundled up in blanket sleeping on the base of the box. I was thrilled at first but soon after my hopes were crushed when I realized this little dog had fatal cancer and only had a short month to live. Due to his horrible condition we named him Chance for his perseverance to survive such a sickly Herring 2 disease. My roller coaster experience with him helped to mold me into the person that I am today.This memory is so important to me because Chance was the first pet I had ever had the opportunity to call my own and I had also desired to own a puppy ever since I was a baby. Over a short time Chance and I had developed a strong bond from racing around the house and bounding around in the fresh snow. This connection we shared showed me how important companions were and how much I enj oyed having them around me. After a few weeks of living with him he began to show signs of weakness. He would sometimes stumble while walking and even vomit after eating a meal.I was feeling miserable to see him experiencing this pain so our family had to make a decision. We came to a general consensus that it was time to put him down. After a lot of shed tears and heartache I began to understand the situation in a different light. I had begun to realize life ends and living things don’t last forever. I really appreciated chance for what he was and dearly missed him. The great memories with Chance still remained and helped me to cherish his existence even more. Overall this memory taught me how to enjoy what I have and be grateful because I may blink and not see it ever again. Expository Essay

Similarities Between Christianity And Islam - 993 Words

Christianity and Islam are the two biggest religions that are present in the world today, with close to four billion followers combined. While Christianity and Islam actually have a lot more in common than most people think, there are still many differences to them. First, let’s start with the similarities between the two. Both religions believe that in one way or another, Jesus will return to Earth in the final days of the world to have a judgement day, in which essentially will determine if you go to heaven/paradise or hell, as both accept the fact that there is life after death, just different views of what exactly they think that life is. In addition, both Christianity and Islam believe in prophets, they both say that God sent prophets such as Moses, Noah, Abraham, and others. Another point is that both religions believe in the sovereignty of God. In both Christianity and Islam, God itself is the highest power there is, he is the sole creator of everything and that the wor ld that we live in is exclusively dependent on him and him only. One of the last similarities I’d like to note, and perhaps maybe the most important to some, is that both religions believe that there is just one supreme God over everything. Christianity, the followers of this religion, called Christians, use the Holy Bible and generally worship in churches or cathedrals. Christians believe in a soft monotheism and the Holy Trinity, which is where Christianity differs from Islam in that department, asShow MoreRelatedSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam1316 Words   |  6 PagesIn today’s world, the largest religion is Christianity with a 33 percent and Islam coming in second place at around 21 percent. According to the article A Common Word between Us and You Both religions make up around half of the population around the world. Islam and Christianity are collectively known as Abrahamic religions because they trace their history to the covenant God made with Abraham in the Hebrew Bible. Christianity and Islam are two of the fastest growing religions, and they bothRead MoreSimilarities Between Islam And Christianity997 Words   |  4 PagesIslam and Christianity are two largely wide spread religions in t he world that have a great impact on their followers, especially in a spiritual manner. Because of originality, values, and unique believes in each religion, their believers respect and try to comprehend each other’s faith. With Christianity’s record 2.2 billion population and Islam’s impressive 1.6 billion population, they both form the bases of their countries laws and are recognized by governments all around the world. Even thoughRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam1427 Words   |  6 PagesChristianity and Islam share much common ground. They trace their origins to Abraham; believe in prophecy, apostles, revelation, scripture, resurrection, and life after death. Christianity and Islam have related theological traditions; believe in one omnipotent God who is concerned with human salvation. Both religions are somewhat similar in how they embrace their beliefs; what the church is to Christianity, the umma is to Islam. Notwithstanding these impo rtant similarities, however, these two worldviewsRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam1088 Words   |  5 Pagessignificant historic province where it served as the birthplace for many beliefs and religions such as Christianity and Islam. Within 600 CE to 1250 CE and 1st century to 1000 CE, Christianity and Islam began to spread. The two leading religions were very apparent in their belief in God and worship. As we seek to understand the Christian and Islam beliefs, it is important to be familiar with both the similarities and differences in the early years. The thought of death may terrify most of us, but to thoseRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam1409 Words   |  6 Pages Christianity and Islam were both spread in socially and economically similar and politically different. They both had an important people that role and spread of the religions. Christianity included the individuals of who believe in Jesus Christ. Christians are the flowers of the Christ who often believed is the son of the God (â€Å"the father†); Christians strongly believe that Christ will return after the next life; the end of the world. Islam consists of individuals who believe in Allah, the godRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam1005 Words   |  5 Pages Compare and contrast ancient Christianity and Islam. Christianity and Islam are both closely related religions, because they are branched of Abraham and other patriarchs mentioned in Hebrew Scriptures. Examples of these books are the Old/ New testament and the Quran. These books serve as their spiritual ancestors and are also know as Abrahamic religions. Although these books have a massive amount in common the clash of these two religions has caused for a mass crimes and violence across humanityRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam891 Words   |  4 PagesChristianity came about 2000 years ago and was founded by Jesus Christ. It is mostly practiced in the Western world with a population of about 2 billion people. The name Christianity came from a Greek word ‘Christos’ meaning Jesus Christ and was founded between 4 B.C. and 30 A.D, and consist of the 3 major groups which are the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. Islam on the other hand was founded about 1400 years ago by Muhammad in 600’s A.D. The word Islam is derived from an Arabic word forRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam1332 Words   |  6 Pagesreligion has its own goal, and their own path and belief to reach their goals. However, there are many similarities in beliefs. Although the followers of Judaism, Christianit y, and Islam may see things differently, they all fundamentally hold the same values and codes. To Islam, the Prophet Mohammad’s teaching is a complete and final revelation. On the other hand, according to the bible, Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the true lord and savior that will grant you the access to heaven in theRead MoreSimilarities Between Islam And Christianity1928 Words   |  8 Pagesget punished for practicing religion. The two religions bear some superficial similarities, the differences between the two religions is clear though. How the two religions practice their beliefs, the population, beliefs, and how they view â€Å"Jesus† are different and similar. Although the two religions are very different from each other, they also show some similarities. The main similarity is that Islam and Christianity both are monotheistic; meaning they believe in one god. Which are 2 out of theRead MoreSimilarities Between Islam And Christianity1619 Words   |  7 Pagessimilar beginnings, Islam is a religion of violence and Christianity is a religion of peace and therefore is more beneficial to society. It is important to understand the similarities between Islam and Christianity, specifically their origins, to better understand their differences. Islam is believed to have been started through the descendants of Abraham, a man who was considered a prophet of God in both Islam and Christianity. Many historians and theologians agree that Islam began through the lineage