Iago : 'Even now, very now, and old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe.' (1.1.89)
This initial crude comment from Iago, reveals the underlying sexual theme throughout the play. Iago breaks down the relationship of Othello and Desdemona into a grotesque, animalistic form, stripping it of any love or sensitivity. He even goes on to suggest that Brabantio's grandchildren will be animals because of his daughter's marriage with Othello.
Iago : '......You'll have your daughter covered with a barbary horse; you'll have your nephews neigh to you, you'll have coursers for cousins, and jennets for germans.' (1.1.112)
Here, Shakespeare may be suggesting that Iago is unable to understand love, or loving relationships, and this idea is developed as the play goes on. In this opening scene, Othello's 'otherness' is quickly established by him always being refered to as 'the Moor' and 'thicklips', but never by his actual name. Another of Iago's motives is jealousy, and he uses racism to undermine Othello, and also to provoke Brabantio by playing on his prejudices. Othello tells of how Brabantio once loved him, and often invited him to the house, but all it takes for him to turn against Othello is a few crude comments from Iago. Brabantio admires Othello as a soldier, but not as a son-in-law. He was welcome in the house, until he wanted to marry desdemona.
Legally, Brabantio was not allowed to nullify the marriage of his daughter, because she was over the age of consent. Culturally however, he had all the support needed to challenge her marriage, due to common racist assumptions of the time. Shakespeare's audience of the early seventeenth century held the stereotypical assumption of black people as savages, and also involed in withcraft and sorcery. Due to this, Brabantio was able to openly accuse Othello of using witchcraft and black magic to make Desdemona marry him.
Brabantio : 'Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her:' (1.2.63)
This means that Brabantio is unable to imagine that his daughter would willfully decieve him, which is understandable given her past and the patriarchal society in which she lived. Also, he cannot imagine that she could 'fall in love with what she feared to look on' (1.3.98) without the aid of magic spells, and he imlies that it is Othello's race that makes him capable of black magic, and dark arts. It is obvious that if Desdemona had married Roderigo, he would not have been accused of magic or witchcraft. These events so early on in the play establish the idea of white purity and goodness, implying that other races represent darkness and evil. The clear cut contrast between the blackness of Othello and the fair whiteness of Desdemona is established, and united in matrimony. Shakespeare uses this unity to suggest the chaos this would cause in a cultural context.Brabantio's reaction to his daughter's marriage is very significant. Before this point, Othello has been treated with great reverence in Venetian society, but Shakespeare creates this moment of crisis to determine the extent to which Othello's reputation will protect him.
Although Othello is not a clever or cunning character, he is one of Shakespeare's bravest characters, and shows a certain wit that was uncommon to the European notion of a Moor.He is an eloquent, romantic man who has won the heart of a senator's daughter. He is a hero who has led a life full of good deeds, which was necessary for him (a Moor) to have a tolerated existence in a predominantly white culture. He has fought as a Venetian soldier and thinks he has won the trust of the people. However we see how quickly Brabantio forgets about his honorable nature when he wants to marry Desdemona. Othello has won the love of Desdemona, through stories of battle and he has also promised to be a loyal son-in-law. He should be able to transcend preconceived notions of race through his heroism and courageousness, but the play shows very clearly how thin the value of his reputation became, in the eyes of others, and his own.
Prejudice is based on illogical and irrational feelings, so as long as logic exists, there will be little space for prejudice. However, Iago removes logic, and uses crudity and basic animal imagery to bring out the primal side of others. Iago shows how it is easey to manipulate people with a moment of crisis, and a good choice of words. Act 1 intoduces us to how manipulative Iago is, and he develops this through the play and eventually manages to make Othello turn social prejudice onto himself. Othello's racial characteristics such as quick a quick temper and jealousy (assumed by the Elizabethan audience) do not bring down his downfall, but Iago does. He is only able to achieve this by using Othello's weaknesses, mostly, his insecurities about his race.
In Act 3 scene 3, we see Iago's methods of making Othello doubt Desdemona, which is by making him doubt himself. Iago firstly reminds Othello that he is an outsider, and so, of a lesser authority to know the ways of Venetian women, and of women in general. Here he plays on Othello's insecurities about his lack of experience with women, and so he is forced to trust Iago to explain the world to him. This is also the scene where we see Othello breakdown, finally after all of Iago's work.
Othello: 'And yet, how nature erring from itself-' (3.3.227)
Othello has now linked Desdemona's rejection of Venetian men ('curled darlings' 1.2.68) or 'natural' choice of husband, with something innately unnatural in her character. At line 260, Othello makes a rare reference to his colour in a nagative way.
Othello: '.....Haply, for I am black' (3.3.260)
He starts to compare himself with Michael Cassio, who is fair, eloquent, and courtly, and he also reveals his insecurity about his age. However, Othello refuses to believe Iago when he sees Desdemona, but it is obvious to the audience that the damage has been done, and he returns to Iago demanding 'ocular proof'. Othello is then very easily decieved by an insubstantial illusion, after which, he vows to kill her without confronting her. Iago decieves Othello extremely easily by tricking him and also playing on his insecurity about his race, and his disbelief of Desdemona's love. Desdemona's behaviour allows us to witness the cultural taboo in action. She is a strong, divine figure, but also naive, which she reveals in conversations with her husband, and also the fact that she is not aware that Othello is the object of Iago's manipulation. Everyone seems to believe that Desdemona does not have much knowledge about the action she is taking, and all the characters see the marriage as an inevitable failure from the beginning.
One of the most controversial scenes of Shakespeare takes place in Othello, in the bedchamber where Othello's wife sleeps soundly. The action has been slowed down to a sombre pace, and Othello has descended to a savage-like state, that both characters and the audience would have expected. Desdemona's death was probably expected by everyone who first saw the marriage as forbidden, however Othello's death is more significant. It represents the 'other' failing after trying to achieve the status of a fair man. Othello ultimately acknowledges that he is an outsider, or 'other' when he realises his irreconcilable fault and chooses to kill himself. Othello's suicide is a public declaration of his shame and honour, brought on by Iago playing on his deep down insecurities. The opposition represented by the marriage of the dark Othello, and fair Desdemona, illustrates cultural tension. The failure of the two to be together successfully, demonstrates a cultural failure. Racism is the tool used to destroy the lives of two people who are visually different.
Although Shakespeare's use of racism can be critised, it was inherent in the culturein which he was writing, and Iago simply recognises an effective way to bring Othello down. Othello is an example of a noble black man in a time when negroes where not known except as slaves. Yet racism in the society in which he lived, was capable of reducing him to the savage state that everyone expected of him. Shakespeare presents us with a morality play at the historical heights of the colonial slave trade, with racism as part of its core. We first see this through Brabantio, and then through the tragic consequences when Othello, with Iago's help, turns social prejudice onto himself.
