OTHELLO - QUOTES & THEMES - RACISM & PREJUDICE

"black ram", "thick lips", "Barbary horse"

o Discrimination - particularly Othello

o Othello internalises racist views

o saying he himself is an outsider and less than human

"It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect, that will confess perfection so could err, Against all rules of nature"

- Brabantio, Act 1, Scene 3

o Desdemona's father suggests Othello must have used black magic because it is unnatural for a Venetian woman to love a black man

"And, noble / signior, / If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black."

- the Duke, Act 1, Scene 3

o Blackness is a negative thing, even in the army where Othello has proven himself

o The Duke says that Othello is more white than black, therefore, there is nothing to worry about

"Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,"

- Othello, act 5, scene 2

o Indian caste system

o Some are lower than others

o Othello degrades himself

"Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe... Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:"

- Iago, Act 1, Scene 1

o Iago announces to Brabantio that Othello is sleeping with his daughter, Desdemona.

o Throughout the play, "animal" and "devil" are used to refer to Othello.

o This represents how Black people were seen as barbaric, savages, animal-like, and devil-like.