Othello from William Shakespeares character
Since he is black and African, is he Ethiopian?
THE ETHNICITY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S character, Othello is still debated amongst some Shakespeareans. The answer may seem obvious, but is it? The differences of opinion centre around exactly what the Bard intended by his use of the term “Moor” in describing his character’s ethnicity and racial identity. The word is believed to have originated from the Greek term mauros, which means black. It was first used to describe the natives of Mauretania — the region of North Africa which today corresponds to Morocco and Algeria. It was later applied to people of Berber and Arab origin, who conquered and ruled the Iberian Peninsula — the area now known as Spain and Portugal — for nearly eight centuries. From the Middle Ages onwards the Moors were commonly regarded as black Africans, and the word was used alongside the terms “negro”, “Ethiopian” and “Blackamoor” as a racial identifier.
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