Many characters feel that, due to his skin color, Othello is not suitable for Desdemona. This interaction highlights the racism that follows from the assumption that black is evil. Othello is “fair” despite his “black” skin color and, as such, Othello’s demeanor does not match his physical appearance. He uses Othello’s skin color as a way to contrast good and evil. Othello proves this to Brabantio, and the Duke talks to Brabantio about accepting the union of Othello and Desdemona when he states, “And, noble signor, / If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black” (I.iii.288-290). Later in Othello, Brabantio forces Othello to prove that he loves Desdemona for love’s sake and not because of some trickery or magic. Iago effectively associates Desdemona with white innocence, pureness and cleanness, and Othello with black and evil.
Bell claims, “ socialized to believe the fantasy, that whiteness represents goodness and all that is benign and non-threatening,” (Hook 341). This parallels Bell Hook’s article “Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination” which exploes the fantasy of white goodness and black badness. Iago’s slur is effective in painting Othello as a savage, evil, dark man who utilizes his size and takes advantage of the innocent Desdemona. This color imagery describes Othello as an anthropomorphic, dark, old “ram” that has stolen Barbantio’s small, innocent, and pure daughter. Iago paints an unpleasant picture for Barbantio utilizing black and white imagery: “Sir, you’re robbed! … Even now, very now, an old black ram/ Is topping your white ewe” (I.i.87-88). Iago, seemingly irate about the situation, begins to yell in the streets, waking up Desdemona’s father, Barbantio. They have just learned of the secret marriage between Desdemona and Othello. In the opening scene of the play, Roderigo and Iago are introduced in the streets of Venice outside of Desdemona’s father’s house. The play follows the relationship between Othello, a Christian Moor, general of the Venice army, and husband of Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator.
(While it could be speculated that he is Arab or Spanish in origin, for this analysis, I will refer to Othello as an African black.) Othello, the Moor of Venice, is traditionally read as a man of African decent. Through the syntax and imagery Shakespeare utilizes, the motifs of light and dark are painted to emphasize the goodness of white, and the badness of black. These race and theory principles are prevalent throughout William Shakespeare’s Othello.