| Even now, now, very now, an old black ramIs tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise!Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you.Arise, I say! -Iago | Act 1, scene 1, lines 97-101 |
| Brabantio “lov’d me; oft invited me” (I.iii.128) | Brabantio was not racist and did not discriminate against Othello until Iago’s interference made him feel it was in his best political interests to do so. |
| “If virtue no delighted beauty lack/Your son-in-law is far more fair than black” (I.iii.288-89) | The Duke tells Brabantio that he should not put importance on Othello’s skin color, but on his virtuous deeds and nature instead. |
| “My parts, my title and my perfect soul/Shall manifest me rightly” (I.ii.31-32) | He does not believe that discrimination can determine his guilt. |
| “Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw/The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt/For she had eyes, and chose me” (III.iii.187-89). | The notion of universal equality works against Iago’s claims that Desdemona is cheating on Othello because of his skin color, but only at first. |
| “And yet, how nature erring from itself—” (III.iii.228) | Perhaps deep down, Othello believes that it is Desdemona’s inherent nature to favor men of her own race, and this leads to jealousy. |
| Haply, for I am blackAnd have not those soft parts of conversationThat chamberers have, or for I am declin’dInto the vale of years (yet that’s not much)She’s gone. I am abus’d: and my reliefMust be to loathe her (III.iii.264-69) | Othello justifies her (alledged) actions by assuming that his own race-related weaknesses motivated her to have an affair with another man. This quote shows a change in Othello—He believes he’s been cheated on because of his race. |
| “blacker devil!” (IV.ii.132) | Emilia calls him a “blacker devil!” (IV.ii.132) in the context of murder, drawing correlation between his race and actions. |
| “was too fond of her most filthy bargain” (IV.iii.157) | Emilia states that Desdemona was true and “was too fond of her most filthy bargain” (IV.iii.157), condemning Othello and Desdemona’s relationship after Desdemona’s death. |
| “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughterand the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.” – Iago | Act 1 Scene 1 119 |
Othello – Race
July 11, 2019