"Have you pray'd tonight, Dedesmona?": plate 12 from Othello (Act 5, Scene 2) 1844 - 1900

Théodore Chassériau made this print around the mid-19th century, as one of a series illustrating Shakespeare’s Othello. It captures the tragic climax of the play. Notice the staging of the drama, with Desdemona in her bedclothes, Othello looming over her, about to commit his terrible deed. Chassériau was working in a period of intense interest in the Orient, and that is reflected in his costuming of Othello. But here, the "Orient" is not the location of romance, but of exotic danger. How should we understand such cultural appropriation today? What did it mean to the artist and his audience? We need to look at the conditions that allowed this print to be made: the artist’s place in the French Academy, the social currency of Shakespeare, and the racial politics of the time. The answers are there in the archives, and they can help us understand the image's complicated legacy.