The “moor” signifies how different Othello is in his appearance and character. How could someone like him be with a beautiful girl like Desdemona? It’s a bunch of hoopla! Othello can be seen as a love story thus far. Two people withholding secrets from their “village outsiders” (family, townsmen, etc.). The reason being is not out of embarrassment or having feelings of being ashamed, but because they would like to express their love for each other in the most sincere way possible. But of course, when things sound too good to be true, it is because they are too good to be true. Roderigo and Iago have an ongoing feud (well only to their knowledge) with Othello. He can’t seem to comprehend how the “moor” has attained all that he has in his life (the beautiful Desdemona and his position as General). Some call it “hard work”, while others may call it “luck”. No matter the case, Roderigo and Iago have the outs for Othello, and from what we have seen so far they won’t be backing down anytime soon.
Since Iago and Roderigo work with the Brabantio (who happens to be Desdemona’s father), it is easy for them to convince him to go against Othello. With that being said, the Brabantio begins to question how someone such as beautiful and powerful as she (Desdemona), can run away with someone like Othello. Does it have anything to do with drugs? magic? Brabantio cannot seem to come up with the right answer. To Brabantio, Othello has stolen his most prize possession, his daughter. He (Brabantio) says “O heaven! How got she out?”(Shakespeare 190). Clearly, Brabantio is not viewing Desdemona as his daughter, he is looking at her like she is his prisoner. He believes that no one is or will be good enough for her. This is known when he tells Roderigo “My daughter is not for thee” (Shakespeare 109). No one can have Desdemona, not Othello and not even Roderigo. However, that will not stop Othello from professing his love for her, not at all. The irony in all of this is that, when Roderigo tells Brabantio that Desdemona escaped and married Othello, he suddenly changes his mind about Roderigo being entwined with his daughter. With this statement, “O! That you had had her. Some one way, some another!”(Shakespeare 198-199) Brabantio implies that he would rather have Desdemona be with Roderigo than Othello. Funny thing is didn’t Brabantio say that Roderigo was not worthy enough for his daughter’s hand earlier? So much has unraveled in Act 1 of Othello. With that being said Iago’s plan to get back at Othello (for who knows what…) at the end of Act 1 is definitely going spice the rest of this “tragedy” up a notch. Much can be learned from Act 1, but with so much left to be read we just have to wait until everything comes full circle.