, 1829 , ambassador of
Ahmad al-Mansur of
Morocco to
Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, sometimes claimed as an inspiration for Othello. , another possible inspiration for Othello There is no final consensus over Othello's ethnicity; whether of
Maghrebi origin as in the generally accepted definition of "Moor", or of
Sub-Saharan African. E. A. J. Honigmann, the editor of the
Arden Shakespeare edition, concluded that Othello's ethnic background is ambiguous. "Renaissance representations of the Moor were vague, varied, inconsistent, and contradictory. As critics have established, the term 'Moor' referred to dark-skinned people in general, used interchangeably with similarly ambiguous terms as 'African', 'Ethiopian' and even 'Indian' to designate a figure from Africa (or beyond)." Various uses of the word "black" (for example, "Haply for I am black") are insufficient evidence for any accurate racial classification, Honigmann argues, since "black" could simply mean "swarthy" to Elizabethans. In 1911, James Welton argued more evidence points to him being Sub-Saharan, though Shakespeare's intention is unknown. He cites
Brabantio's description of Othello's "sooty bosom", a racial stereotype during this time, and Othello's contrast between his "begrimed" features and the purity of the goddess
Diana. He argues that interpretations attempting to change Othello from "black to brown" were due to racial prejudice during
Reconstruction in the US and notes that Othello is described using similar language to Aaron in
Titus Andronicus. Virginia Mason Vaughan suggests that the racial identity of the character of Othello fits more clearly as a man from
Sub-Saharan Africa than from North Africa (Barbary), as north Africans were more easily accepted into society. She states that by 1604, accounts of Othello as deriving from farther south were not uncommon. She notes Roderigo's description of Othello having "thick lips" was a racial stereotype used by 16th century explorers for Sub-Saharan Africans. Modern-day readers and theatre directors lean away from a North African Moorish interpretation but Shakespeare's textual references are unclear. Iago twice uses the word "Barbary" or "Barbarian" to refer to Othello, seemingly referring to the
Barbary coast inhabited by the "tawny" Moors. Roderigo calls Othello "the thicklips", which seems to refer to European conceptions of Sub-Saharan African physiognomy, but Honigmann counters that, as these comments are all intended as insults by the characters, they need not be taken literally. Michael Neill, editor of the
Oxford Shakespeare edition, notes that the earliest known critical references to Othello's colour, (
Thomas Rymer's 1693 critique of the play, and the 1709 engraving in
Nicholas Rowe's edition of Shakespeare), assume him to be a black man, while the earliest known North African interpretation was not until
Edmund Kean's production of 1814. It has been suggested that
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, ambassador of the King of Morocco to
Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, may have been an inspiration for Othello. He stayed with his retinue in London for several months and occasioned much discussion, and thus might have inspired Shakespeare's play, written only a few years afterwards. The exact date that
Othello was written is unknown, though sources indicate that it was written between 1601 and 1610, sometime after the Moorish delegation. However, Honigmann questions the view that ben Messaoud inspired Othello. Othello is referred to as a "Barbary horse" (1.1.113), a "lascivious Moor" (1.1.127), and "the devil" (1.1.91). In III.III, he denounces Desdemona's supposed sin as being "black as mine own face". Desdemona's physical whiteness is otherwise presented in opposition to Othello's dark skin; V.II "that whiter skin of hers than snow". Iago tells Brabantio that "an old black ram / is tupping your white ewe" (1.1.88). In Elizabethan discourse, the word "black" could suggest various concepts that extended beyond the physical colour of skin, including a wide range of negative connotations.
Ira Aldridge pioneered the prominence of black actors in the role, beginning in 1825 in London.
Patrick Stewart took the role in the
Shakespeare Theatre Company's 1997 staging of the play ==20th-century Othellos==