The Shakespearean tragedy Othello addresses jealousy and racism during the Shakespearean Era. We as a modern day American society continue to struggle with these same issues. .
Othello was supposedly written during the early seventeenth century. Speculations have been drawn which actually question if Shakespeare really composed his own works. A group called the Oxfordians have researched and presented interesting facts, which indeed put this accusation on a debatable level. The Oxfordians claim that Edward de Vere is actually the author of Shakespeare's plays. They support their claim with an interesting fact that states, "de Vere is reported to have received a grant of £ l,000 a year from Queen Elizabeth. One of the earliest biographies of Shakespeare states that he had an allowance so large that he spent at the rate of £ 1,000 a year according to the Literary Cavalcade- (36). .
Arabs also claim to have close ties with Shakespeare and that Shakespeare was possibly of Arabian relation. Many critics stated that Othello was not a representation of cultural kinship, but instead it was an image on intrusion. Ghazoul states, "This represents a dominant orientation in a historical era in which the intellectuals of the subjugated Arab nation wanted to demonstrate their cultural standing by asserting that their heritage was no less than the legacy of the colonizers--and what better way to claim cultural equality than to show that the great canonical writer of the English is kin to Arabs, literally or figuratively- (1). .
The tragedy of Othello begins with Iago plotting against Othello's secret wedding. The manipulative and evil Iago throughout the Shakespearean tragedy Othello perpetuates shrewd and devious behavior, especially for his own benefit. Iago tampers with the truth and falsifies events in an attempt to secure power and seek revenge. In his quest for power no one is safe from his devious deeds.