Othello’s tragic fall is fixed by bloodline rather than his own actions

Evidence

The identity of Shakespeare’s Othello is a bit more complicated. While he denies his Muslim identity, and speaks strongly against Muslims in the play, his Moorish ancestry is what eventually does Othello in. Othello makes clear his hatred for the Turks, including the final scene before his death, when he calls the Muslim a “circumcised dog.” Yet, his descent into madness is predicated on his racial and religious foundations. He is unable to escape either his blackness or his Muslim bloodlines. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 308

Categorization

• XREF: The reader’s question about what the monster lets makers avoid seeing applies sharply to Othello: the racist bloodline logic operates even in the work of the most sympathetic playwright. Connects to comparable tragic-figure analyses.