The character of Othello represents the ‘other’, the foundation of racial prejudices.

Othello

Can a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues?  Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white inhabitants by the minority white population. In 1988 actress and director Janet Suzman took the decision to defy the racist apartheid regime by staging Othello in Johannesburg with a mixed cast of both white and black actors. In these three films we explore the way in which one of Shakespeare’s plays was used to make provocative statements on the political situation in South Africa the late eighties.

This material forms part of The Open University course A230 Reading and studying literature.

Education

Can a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues? Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white inhabitants by the minority white population. In 1988 actress and director Janet Suzman took the decision to defy the racist apartheid regime by staging Othello in Johannesburg with a mixed cast of both white and black actors. In these three films we explore the way in which one of Shakespeare’s plays was used to make provocative statements on the political situation in South Africa the late eighties. This material forms part of The Open University course A230 Reading and studying literature.

Share Othello

Sign up to save your podcasts

Othello

Othello

More shows like Othello and apartheid - for iPad/Mac/PC

Bon départ: beginners' French - Audio

Understanding operations management - for iBooks

French Revolution - for iBooks

Writing Poetry - Audio

Reading Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Mill - Audio

Understanding shell shock - for iPod/iPhone

Beginners’ Chinese - Audio

Andante: beginners' Italian - Audio

Bon départ: beginners’ French second edition - for iPod/iPhone

The History of English in Ten Minutes - for iPad/Mac/PC