Hating, One of My Favorite Writers

In all honesty I’m quite a fan of most of Shakespeare’s plays and especially of tragic plays in general. However, the play Othello is not one that I could be easily duped into reading again. While there’s certainly something to be said for a play that in its offensive nature “grabs up” the reader the racism in this play is so commonplace as to be nothing better than boring. I admit that it definitely shows how people thought at that time, but I could read a history book (or even a more interesting play, for that matter) and get that information.
Now I’m sure that there are more than a few people wishing I wouldn’t write off a play by SUCH a playwright simply because of the racism, but again, even the racism is boring. The main character is nothing more than a collection of the more simplistic and base parts of human nature; one minute madly in lust, the next ready to fight and obey, all the while showing none of his own intelligence but only doing as he’s told. Had this character been portrayed this way independent of his race, I may have liked the play better, but then again I wouldn’t have been reading Othello.
I guess all I can say is that the next time I hear someone refer to Othello as a “great Shakespearian tragedy” I’ll have to agree, though almost assuredly for different reasons.


Revisit - I had a lot of trouble deciding whether or not I should post a short revisit I wrote after writing the initial post. I still don't know if I'd like to change or alter my opinion that much so with that in mind here's a bit of what I thought might make my opinion seem slightly more fair:
The characters of Desdemona and Emilia are fascinating especially in the fact that they both seem to pretty much control their husbands. These are incredibly strong women for this period, but not only that, with a few slight updates they might even manage to continue to be strong even in today's society. Looking back at the complexity of these two, maybe all hope is not lost for me liking Othello.