Relationships In Othello

Othello, written by William Shakespeare, is a play about a multitude of topics. Stripped to the core it’s about subtle human prejudices and how we are motivated by them; how they turn the most superior war heroes to emotional wrecks that commit murder. In the play, relationships are one of the main factors and create a fuel for hatred. One of the first themes we come across is lying. At the beginning, we’re informed that Othello and Desdemona are wed. The protagonist, Iago and his companion Roderigo go tell Desdemona’s father this for their own self-interest. They cause a stir and Brabantio is livid, his daughter had been taken from him and so he yells, “Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds / By what you see them act!” (1.1.171-172)
/ No, my heart is turned / to stone. I strike it, and it hurts my hand. O, the world / hath not a sweeter creature! She might lie by / an emperor's side and command him tasks. (4.1.180-184) At this point Othello is creating vague threats, saying Desdemona won’t live for very long, and that she is such a wonderful woman despite his estrangement for her. And as previously mentioned, Othello has internalized insecurities regarding his status as a black Moor and general. Does he, like the other men in the play, see women as promiscuous, and not willing to listen once the women start to speak up? Lastly, Othello is a 16th century black noble, making the topic of race consequential. In the beginning of the play, Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is told that his daughter is wed to a black man, Othello. Once the duke is brought into this, Brabantio accuses Othello for using witchcraft to seduce his daughter, later saying “I therefore vouch again / That with some mixtures powerful o’er the blood, / Or with some dram conjured to this effect, / He wrought upon her.” (1.3.103-106) His prejudice is shown clearly hear, and his first instinct is to be against their