‘I cannot speak enough of this content, It stops me here; it is too much of joy.’
Iago finds it hard to believe that someone as masculine and respected as Othello, could give in to such feminine emotions such as love and he cannot bear the thought that a woman now has more power than him as she is described as the generals ‘general’.
The fact that Othello is black also plays a big part in the relationship of Othello and Desdemona, although it doesn’t affect them it affects the people around them.
Brabantio does not like the fact that his daughter has married a black man. Even though he was always welcoming and always respected Othello, as soon as he finds out he has married his daughter he hates him and is prejudiced against him.
Brabantio thinks that his daughter would not love Othello because how could she,
‘fall in love with what she fear’d to look on?’
The emotions that Iago portrays are some of the main themes of the play, he shows us jealousy, because Othello gave Cassio the job of lieutenant that he wanted and also that Othello has married Desdemona and I think that he loves her. Hate, he hates The Moor for not giving him the job even though he has seen what he can do. Racism, he says things about the moor, which are racist,
‘An old black ram is tupping your white ewe,’
He is saying that Othello is having sex with Brabantio’s daughter and that he is black and dirty and older the Desdemona, whereas she is young, beautiful and chaste.
Iago doesn’t like that Desdemona has more power than him, he is sexist and believes that men should have all of the power, not the women.
Racism was a large part of Shakespearean England in the 16th Century, as was the power struggle between men and their power over women. This could have been the reason the Shakespeare wrote this play, to show that just because you are of a different race, colour or sex, does not mean that you are any different than anyone else.
I think that Shakespeare believed this and therefore portrayed it this play, Othello.
