Race in Othello and Titus Andronicus Within both William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Othello, the reader is introduced to the concept of a black man within a society white. Stigmas and stereotypes are attached to the black characters of Aaron and Othello. Although each black character has a similar stigma, the characters are very different from each other. Aaron is portrayed as evil, conniving, and malevolent, while Othello has none of these traits. Othello's fault lies in the fact that he is very naive and allows himself to be led easily. Aaron in Titus Andronicus is a character who is both tied and unbound to his color. While his actions can be “attributed” to his color, there are two paths to take in this way of thinking. First of all Aaron's actions within the play can be attributed to the fact that he is black and because he is black, he is naturally a bad person as blacks are stereotypically people prone to causing trouble and have black souls that match their outward appearance. This response would have been acceptable in Shakespeare's time, however it seems to not fit Othello as the villain in that play is a white man, whose soul is nothing but pure evil. If you followed the terms in which color dictates your soul, that would have made Iago a good man, and he definitely wasn't a good man. The other way one might interpret Aaron's misbehavior, which seems to be the most logical, is that his actions, although a result of his skin tone, are not an innate condition. His actions, deeds and thoughts are not dictated by the color of his skin, but because of the ostracism and hatred he has felt throughout his life because of the color of his skin, he has now built a resistance to hatred. Throwing hate ba... middle of paper... similar thing. Although both characters have similar stigmas, they are very different from each other. The reaction to Aaron can be justified as he is actually an evil person and causes nothing but trouble. In Othello's case, the other characters' reactions are simply a projection of the stereotypes associated with the boogeyman. Works Cited McLauchlan, Juliet. Shakespeare-Othello. London: Camelot Press Ltd. 1971Wain, John. Shakespeare's Othello: A Book of Cases. London: MacMillan Press. 1994Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice" The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor. New York/London, WW Norton Company, 1997. 2100-2174Shakespeare, William. "Titus Andronicus" The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor. New York/London, WW Norton Company,1997. 371-434