Race

What was the Elizabethan attitude towards foreigners in general and non-Christians in particular?

• In Elizabethan England the ideas and images of racism were only partially developed. This is reflected in Shakespeare's rather ambivalent attitude toward race. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock, the Jewish usurer, is treated as a villain. Othello, a black Moor, is portrayed sympathetically as an articulate, intelligent and introspective human being.

• A man of African heritage is typically portrayed in Elizabethan literature in a negative light, yet is allowed to shine in Othello. From the onset of this story, Othello is depicted as a true hero. He is a great general and a great man. Like any Elizabethan hero, he is flawed; his nobility and honesty permits Iago to use his deceitful ways. Whereas a black person would normally be used in Elizabethan literature to represent the darkness, Iago’s absolute evil takes on that role.

Were there any laws to support these "attributes"? Give examples.

• Foreign people had a time curfew of 8pm.
• Initially, under Elizabeth I, the Strangers were allowed to hold their services at Blackfriars' Hall and St Mary the Less in relative freedom, but in the 1630s they suffered under Archbishop Laud, who ordered them to attend only English services.
• In the 16th Century, Moors and foreigners were perceived to have practiced witchcraft, voodoo and other perverted practices by the British. The British were sceptical of the differences between the two cultures.

Witchcraft Practices

Sources Cited:

• http://www.essortment.com/all/racisminothell_rmeq.htm
• http://www.bolshevik.org/1917/no12/no12capitalismandracism.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/immig_emig/england/norfolk/article_3.shtml