Table of Contents
Who were the Moors and Venetians in Othello?
How were the Moors/ Venetians regarded in Shakespeare’s day? Most Christians in Europe regarded Venetians as dishonest people who would happily trade with Muslims and heretics if it were profitable. Moors were Muslims and were therefore generally not liked by most Christians.
Who were the Moors?
The term Moor is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. The Moors initially were the indigenous Maghrebine Berbers. The name was later also applied to Arabs and Arabized Iberians.
Why is Othello called the Moor?
Othello is initially referred to (by Roderigo and Iago) not by his name but as ‘him’ and then ‘his Moorship’ and then ‘the Moor’. In early modern English, however, the primary usage of the term ‘Moor’ was as a religious, not a racial, identification: Moor meant ‘Mohamedan’, that is to say Muslim.
Where did the Moors come from in Othello?
Although Othello is a Moor, and although we often assume he is from Africa, he never names his birthplace in the play. In Shakespeare’s time, Moors could be from Africa, but they could also be from the Middle East, or even Spain.
How were the Moors regarded in Othello?
3. How were the Moors/Venetians regarded in Shakespeare’s day? The Moors were known as monstrous and savage in Elizabethan England. Being a differenct skin color other than white meant you were non english and non christian.
What race is a Moor?
Today, the term Moor is used to designate the predominant Arab-Amazigh ethnic group in Mauritania (which makes up more than two-thirds of the country’s population) and the small Arab-Amazigh minority in Mali.
Who were the Moors and what did they do?
Of mixed Arab, Spanish, and Amazigh (Berber) origins, the Moors created the Islamic Andalusian civilization and subsequently settled as refugees in the Maghreb (in the region of North Africa) between the 11th and 17th centuries.
What Shakespeare thinks of Moors?
To summarize, Moors were treated with fear and mistrust by the English during this period due to a lack of knowledge, cultural and religious tensions. Shakespeare made a point to challenge this view of foreigners and Moors in particular by making the hero of Othello a respected military hero of African descent.
Who were the original Moors?
The original Berbers , who were called Moors, were the North African ancestors of the present day dark brown/black people of the Sahara and Sahel, mainly those called Fulani, Tuareg, Sanhaja, Kunta, as well as the Trarza of Mauritania and Senegal , and various tribes presently living in Chad, Morocco and Algeria.
Who were the Venetians in Othello?
The Venetians are the people of Venice, in Italy, were the play is set. They were the wealthy, catholic people of Venice, who looked down on the “dirty” Moors . They thought themselves superior, and often attacked and belittled the Moors.
Who are Moors from Africa?
Moors, nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa, originally the inhabitants of Mauretania . They were chiefly of Berber and Arab stock.
Where did the Moors live?
With a total population of nearly 3.5 million, the Moors are scattered throughout much of West Africa. Although most of them live in Morocco, Moors can also be found in Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, and Gambia. They are almost entirely Muslim, as they have been for many centuries.