At the beginning of the play, the impression we get off Othello is that of a worthy character. When Casio is complementing Desdemona Casio describes her as an ‘exquisite lady’, and then he goes on and describes her as a ‘most fresh and delicate creature’. It is clear that Casio respects Othello and he believes that Othello deserves such an ‘exquisite lady’. He also appears to contradict the black stereotypes as he was not lustful. Shakespeare's choice of using a black man in a play was very unique. In Elizabethan England (when the play was written/set) plays generally was consisted of white people as at that time the world was a ‘white’ society. Othello is called a ‘moor' which can suggest Arab descent, however the language used in the play suggest that he is a black African. When the duke says the word ‘black’ in the sentence ‘you son-in-law- is far more fair than black’ to Brabantio there are more than one meanings to it. Shakespeare uses ambiguity with this word. The word ‘black’ could just have the obvious meaning, which is the colour of Othello’s skin. However, we know that Othello is not ‘fair’ therefore this gives us the impression that the Duke is implying that Othello’s personality is that of a white person. When this play was written (Elizabethan England), the colour black was associated with evil, decay and death, all of which are negative features. For this reason, black people in plays were commonly stereotyped as criminals, Othello is a black man in a white society. Consequently the quote could have been seen as a compliment or an insult as the Duke is saying that black people are evil, but Othello is an exception.
As Othello is of a ‘free and open nature’, it allows Iago to influence him later in the play. We discover that even early in the play, people such as Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio are stereotyping black people and are directing their stereotypes towards Othello. They make remarks such as ‘thick-lips’. This is a
common stereotype made of black people, however we know that not all black people have thick-lips. Historically moors were enemies of Christians and they were represented as devils or rogues. Brabantio regarded Othello as a professional soldier; he was full of admiration and affection for him. However, when Brabantio was forced into considering Othello as part of his family he accused Othello of a ‘practiser of arts inhibited’. Brabantio is claiming that Othello is abusing Desdemona with help of ‘drugs or minerals’, he claims that Othello has taken away his daughter and is having sex with her. Brabantio puts a strong emphasis towards the strangeness of Desdemona's behaviour, suggesting that she must be under the influence of drugs or witchcraft; he jumps to conclusions and thinks that there is something wrong when he does not know the whole story. He is judging Othello, by the colour of his skin. This is also a stereotype of black people, as not all black people are rouges and they do not always resort to the use of black magic.
It is clear that being a respected, successful military general provides Othello a method to obtain recognition with the Venetian society. Venetians were commonly apprehensive of Othello’s attempt in joining their society. When he marries Desdemona, the Venetians begin to respect him as a soldier. It is exciting that Othello is a soldier. The job of a soldier is the only job which recognises people for murder. Shakespeare needed someone for Iago to be jealous of; however Othello had to be hated and brutal. Therefore Shakespeare made Othello black so he would be hated by the audience and Othello was made into a soldier so that he would spear brutal.
At the beginning of the play Iago informs Brabantio that his daughter Desdemona is missing. Iago makes it out as if Othello has kidnapped her and he succeeded in striking panic into Brabantio when he says ‘even now, now, very now, an old black ram/ Is tupping your white ewe’. Iago refers Othello as a ‘black ram’ and he refers Desdemona as a ‘white ewe’, this use of animals and their colours clearly shows us the difference in their skin colours and their social status. Othello is depicted as a ram. Rams have horns, this symbolizes demons and the colour black symbolizes death and evil. On the other hand, the colour white is seen as sure and innocent. By scaring Brabantio with comments such as ‘your daughter/ and the moor are now making the beast with two backs. We can see that this quote is saying that Othello is having sex with Desdemona as they have ‘two backs’. This immediately places an image into Branbantio’s mind, which consequently forces him to react negatively towards Othello.
