othello

Othello

Shakespeare uses the opposition of light and darkness to express the dramatic conflicts in Othello through the race and colour of Othello, the time at which events take place, and by portraying Desdemona and Iago as contrasting symbols, good and evil.

Othello is a professional soldier and a servant of the State of Venice. He is a Moor, a Moslem Negro from North Africa and has worked hard all his life to achieve the same honourable credibility as a white man.
The play takes place at a time when racism and hatred of gBlacksh is common and it is because of this that Othello is set apart and isolated from the Venetian World he lives in. People treat him differently because of his colour and it is no wonder that, when Othello secretly marries the daughter of the Venetian Senator, Brabantio, dramatic conflicts arise.
E.g. Brabantio looks to Othello with admiration and affection as a soldier, but once Iago has revealed to him that his daughter, Desdemona, has secretly m...