Othello -- a Man Who

Othello -- a man who loved not wisely, but well, and a man loved neither wisely nor well by racist Venetian society

Discuss the theme of racism, evident in society in Venice concerning the marriage of Othello to Desdemona. Compare the racist experience of Othello and the experience of contemporary black athletes, entertainers or generals."

An old black ram/Is topping your white ewe." (I.1) By using this phrase to incite Desdemona's father, the jealous Iago nakedly states the racism Iago both feels within his own breast and uses for his own purposes, when he detects it lurking within the hearts of other Venetians like Brabatino. Although Othello has done admirable service in protecting Venice from intruders, in the eyes of white Venetians, Othello remains an alien. When Othello assumes that the welcome Brabatino extends to his home means that the man will accept him as a son-in-law, Othello is cruelly robbed of his illusions. Venice has used Othello, much as the way that modern, consumer culture uses the bodies of Black athletes to generate revenue for colleges and sports franchises. However, once Othello strives to become a social equal, transgressing the comfortable place that society has assigned him in its hierarchy, that same society rejects him.

Othello's rejection in Act I, Scene 3 explains his irrational jealousy of Desdemona's affections for the white, handsome Michael Cassio later in the play, more than Iago's machinations. At first, Othello is confident that: "My services which I have done the signiory/Shall out-tongue his complaints." (I.2) Over the course of the council-chamber scene, Othello explains how he has spent his entire life fighting, how he has suffered being sold into slavery, and that he won Desdemona's heart with tales of his exploits. Desdemona, he says, was moved to pity him. But even though he eventually wins over the Duke of Venice, his father-in-law's stinging rebuke means that Othello is willing to trust Iago when Iago says that Desdemona is a subtle Venetian, whose ways are incomprehensible to an outsider. This suspicion makes little sense, much like the concocted plot with the handkerchief machinated by Iago, but Othello, despite the fact he has dwelled for so long in Venice, is now convinced he is unable to 'read' Venetians for what they truly are, because of the ways people he assumed were friendly have reacted to his marriage. Othello is, indeed, unable to 'read' Iago fully, and is initially overly confident that his merit will transcend cultural barriers. By the end of the play, Othello has become so suspicious and twisted by racism that he is unrecognizable, even to himself: "Is this the / noble Moor whom our full senate/Call all in all sufficient?" asks one observer. (4.1) parallel situation for a Black athlete is not hard to imagine. Consider a young man, from the streets, who is thrust into a world of unimaginable fortune and fame, because of his physical gifts. However, the manners and subtleties of the white world are impenetrable to him. He may date a White woman, but has hardly been able to adjust to a world where feelings, rather than physical prowess matter more, just as Othello the general from a hard life has never been married or lived in a world of women. Moreover, Desdemona admits that she is moved by pity, or Othello's difference from her, rather than her kinship with her future husband, hardly a good foundation for a relationship. Similarly, those who show young, Black athletes kindness might also, even in the athlete's own estimation, be suspected of pitying rather than respecting the genuine gifts of the individual, or trusting him only so far as his body holds out and can do service.