(Taken from the 1995 film version of Othello)
“Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her! / For I’ll refer me to all things of sense, / [If she in chains of magic were not bound,] / Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy, / So opposite to marriage that she shunned / The wealthy curlèd darlings of our nation, / Would ever have, t’ incur a general mock, / Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom / Of such a thing as thou—to fear, not to delight. / Judge me the world if ’tis not gross in sense / That thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, / Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals / That weakens motion. I’ll have ’t disputed on” (Othello, Act 1, Scene 2, lines 80-93).
This excerpt is taken from Brabantio’s first encounter with Othello after being tricked by Iago in the first scene. The reason why I found it so significant is because you can clearly see Othello being discriminated against for being a Moor. Prior to this scene, I thought that Brabantio perhaps didn’t want anyone to marry Desdemona. He clearly rejected Roderigo’s advances on his daughter, so maybe he just felt that he did not want anyone to take his daughter away. However, when I read this scene, my views on the situation completely changed. There were hints of racism when he referred to him as a Moor in the last scene, but here he made it completely clear it was because of his skin color. Brabantio refuses to believe that Desdemona would dare pick Othello out of all the men who have asked to marry her. He even goes on to say that she wouldn’t run off with him unless she was tricked or even drugged. However, why should this come across as such a surprise? We know that Othello is an experienced commander in the army he serves in and he even knew Brabantio prior to this encounter. After this scene, we know that Brabantio had invited Othello over a couple of times where Othello told him of his own life stories. It seems like there isn’t much of a reason for Brabantio to be so against their marriage, yet he is so quick to jump to the conclusion that this marriage is completely forced. It’s obvious that if Othello wasn’t a black Moor, Brabantio would not have any problem with their marriage. At the same time, considering the setting that this play took place in this shouldn’t come across as such a surprise.
