1861

The Genu-ine Othello. Punch, Volume 41, November 9, 1861, p. 187

This is the first of several Tenniel cartoons quoting plays by William Shakespeare in reference to the American Civil War. The artist clearly expected the readership of Punch to be well-educated according to the standard English university liberal arts curriculum, and hence familiar with allusions to classical mythology, Renaissance literature, British history, and the Bible.

Coming between Presidents Lincoln and Davis, a black field hand assumes the character of Othello. Interrupting his toil, he pleads with the two contending forces to sheath their weapons, speaking lines drawn from two separate passages in Act I, Scene 2 [lines 60 and 82] of Shakespeare's tragedy. In the original scene from Othello, the Moor is threatened by an armed mob led by Brabantio, Desdemona's father, and defended by his supporters, led by Cassio. Othello interposes himself to urge peace between both those "of his inclining" and their opponents. Here, the slave speaks in pseudo-black dialect of a sort made familiar by minstrel shows. Yet his bearing and dress display more dignity than Tenniel has given blacks in any of his previous cartoons.