Was Othello the first depiction of interracial relationships in English literature?

Question

Are there any more novels/books on the same theme - particularly classics?

Answer 1

Othello was the first in English Literature - but it wasn't the first in the world.

Here's a good book about the subject:

An Anthology of Interracial Literature: Black-White Contacts in the Old World and the New (Paperback)
by Werner Sollors (Author)


"A white knight meets his half-black half-brother in battle. A black hero marries a white woman. A slave mother kills her child by a rapist-master. A white-looking person of partly African ancestry passes for white. A master and a slave change places for a single night. An interracial marriage turns sour. The birth of a child brings a crisis. Such are some of the story lines to be found within the pages of An Anthology of Interracial Literature.
This is the first anthology to explore the literary theme of black-white encounters, of love and family stories that cross—or are crossed by—what came to be considered racial boundaries. The anthology extends from Cleobolus' ancient Greek riddle to tormented encounters in the modern United States, visiting along the way a German medieval chivalric romance, excerpts from Arabian Nights and Italian Renaissance novellas, scenes and plays from Spain, Denmark, England, and the United States, as well as essays, autobiographical sketches, and numerous poems. The authors of the selections include some of the great names of world literature interspersed with lesser-known writers. Themes of interracial love and family relations, passing, and the figure of the Mulatto are threaded through the volume.
An Anthology of Interracial Literature allows scholars, students, and general readers to grapple with the extraordinary diversity in world literature. As multi-racial identification becomes more widespread the ethnic and cultural roots of world literature takes on new meaning."

For the ancient Greek philosopher Cleobulus, for example, interracial procreation provided a handy and benign metaphor for a riddle about day and night. And in "Parzival," a 12th-century Arthurian romance, the German writer Wolfram von Eschenbach stages an emotional battlefield encounter between the knight Parzival and his half-black half brother Feirefis. (Although having been raised apart, the brothers recognize each other in battle and put aside "hatred and wrath" for "a brotherly embrace.")
The anthology also features half a dozen Renaissance poems celebrating interracial love, among them a translation of a lyric poem written by George Herbert in Latin. It begins: "What if my face be black? O Cestus, hear!/Such colour Night brings, which yet Love holds dear."

Try the third link for an excellent reading list on the subject, please.

Answer 2

I'm not entirely certain, but I believe that Othello was the first recognized work about interracial relationships. I'd have to do more research on the subject before I offer a more substantial answer. If I were you, I'd Google it and find out.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

One of the Chaucers Tales dealt with it to, I think it may have been the Wife Of Bath

Answer 5

I felt it was just as much about jealousy and how destructive that can be.

Answer 6

Not sure because it might have been Shylock.

Answer 7

i think it was