Black As Hell: The Impact of Linguistic and Dialogic Antiblackness in Shakespearean Plays

Often throughout Shakespeare’s canon, the word “black” is connoted as villainy or deviancy; conversely, the word “white” invokes purity and beauty. With the creation and rise of colonialism during the 16th century, the literal pigments of black and white gained myriad meanings as a way to justify Britain’s exploitation of non-white cultures across the global community. Consequently, as blackness and whiteness became racialized, their definitions became ways of socially categorizing people. While not confined to these titles, some examples of Shakespeare’s plays that negatively contextualize the term “black” include Twelfth Night, or What You Will, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Play of Pericles: Prince of Tyre, and The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. As one of the most prominent authors of Western literature, Shakespeare’s works have been foundational to English studies and language as a whole, and the timeless nature of his plays has shaped how we use, articulate, perceive, and engage with literature today. In turn, however, as his works persist throughout the course of time, so too has his negative contextualization of the term “black.” Written under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer L. Wood as part of the English Honors thesis and OSCAR program, I explore how, by consistently demonizing the term “black” in his major plays’ dialogue, Shakespeare reinforces colonial tropes of racialized Blackness as inherently negative. In analyzing the dialogue of these selected plays, I discover that the term “black” is mainly used in four contexts, therefore equating racialized Blackness with Renaissance ideas of ethical and personal malfeasance; demonic activity (e.g. black magic); social, sexual, or moral deviance; and religious and moral desolation.

Hello, my name is Alaina Ruffin. This is my senior thesis to fulfill the requirements for Honors in the English Major. I completed this project under the direction of my faculty mentor, Dr. Jennifer L. Wood. Often throughout Shakespeare’s canon, the word “black” is connoted negatively; contrarily, the word “white” is used idealistically. With this in mind, my thesis asks, “How did Shakespeare’s negative dialogic usage of the word “black’ in his major plays impact 16th and 17th-century audience perceptions of racialized Blackness?”

I argue that by continually demonizing the term “black” in his major plays, Shakespeare reinforces colonial tropes of racialized Blackness being inherently negative. This creates a rippling effect for contemporary literature to perpetuate antiblack rhetoric, due to the foundational nature of Shakespeare’s work to the English discipline.

In this project, I define blackness in three main ways. The term “black,”ppearing in quotations, refers to its use in Shakespeare’s texts. When referring to Blackness as a race, Black is capitalized, in order to respect the rich identity and community of Black diasporic individuals. As a pigment and overall concept, particularly when referencing its historical or religious associations, blackness will appear in lowercase without quotations. These variations of blackness will often be used interchangeably.

One of the ways the term “black” is connoted in Shakespeare’s plays is an association with villainy. Throughout his works, Shakespeare often uses the words “black” or “dark” to indicate ethical or personal malfeasance, especially when referencing actions, behaviors, and traits considered villainous that could be intentionally undertaken by a character. For example, this connotation of the word “black” is seen in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The passage displayed in the slide is spoken by the play’s antagonist, Malvolio. When emphasizing that the entire house is “dark,” Malvolio references a negative connotation of blackness to indicate the group’s ill intentions and mistreatment of him. As a result, racialized Blackness is implicated with the same villainous associations he holds for “this house”nd its inhabitants.

The term “black” is also associated with ideas of diabolism. For the Renaissance mind, there existed “good” magic and “bad” magic, of which “black” magic was associated with inherent sinfulness. Such an association is seen in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with one of its famous monologues using the term “black” negatively. This passage situates the term “black”s synonymous with Macbeth’s murderous intentions. Because of Macbeth’s recurrent themes with the supernatural, “black” could refer back to the intervention from the witches who gave Macbeth this vision. Either way, the term “black” used in this manner causes racialized Blackness to be associated with the inhumane, otherworldly, and dastardly.

In addition to villainy and demonism, Shakespeare uses the term “black” to signal sexual, social, or moral deviance from traits or mannerisms considered acceptable during the English Renaissance. This suggestion of racialized Blackness being deviant from Renaissance expectations is seen in Shakespeare’s Pericles. Here, the phrase “as black as incest” is employed to stress a character’s sexual perversion. When using the term “black” for this emphasis, the notion of blackness as symbolizing reprehensibility is presented. Thus, the term “black” used in this manner insinuates that racialized Blackness also deviates from Renaissance ideas of morality.

Shakespeare’s final connotation of the word “black” equates it to desolation, or a complete lack of the social, religious, moral, and ethical principles that comprise the essence of one’s humanity. Shakespeare’s King Richard III connotes the term “black” in this manner. As seen here, the repeated use of the term “black” to represent Richard’s wickedness, both in terms of his actions and his physical disability, frames racialized Blackness as hellish due to the reinforcement of Renaissance ideas of blackness signifying Hell.

Despite the various connotations the term “black” may undertake in the language and dialogue of Shakespeare’s plays, the overall message of racialized Blackness being demonized remains the same. It is therefore essential to remember that antiblackness does not exist in a single way, but rather mutates into various forms with time. Because of racialized Blackness emerging from the Renaissance, and with Shakespeare’s foundational contributions to English language and literature, the various negative connotations attached to the term “black” reinforces colonial tropes of racialized Blackness as inherently negative. This ultimately affects how, or whether at all, audiences today find themselves able to engage with Shakespeare.