Why does the fact that Othello is black cause conflict with other characters?
In my opinion, it causes tensions with the other characters because in Shakespeare’s day (much more openly than in our day) racism was an accepted fact of life. In Shakespeare’s time, there were very few black people in England. They were looked at in familiar stereotypical ways — they were seen as animalistic, inferior in many ways, and overly interested in sex. Because of this, having a black person in such a position of power (not to mention having a black person win the love of a young white woman) would have automatically made people angry. It is as if a black person had become governor of Alabama in 1962 or something like that. Everyone would have been out to get him, especially if he was married to a white woman known for her beauty. So it’s really just an issue of race and the racial attitudes that would have been assumed in Shakespeare’s day. I hope that’s what you’re asking…
