he dramas audience how fragile man truly is. Emotional attitudes such as marital love, admiration, jealousies, prejudices, greed, and self insecurities enable an Othello viewer to identify with a certain or all of the characters. As Carol Neely points out " The play develops out of the oppositions of attitudes, viewpoints, and sexes,"("Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays 70). Understanding this point is essential to understanding the play because each of the attitudes and emotions presented in the play are balanced to an equally contrary emotion or attitude such as love, hate or pride and self insecurity.Prejudices, rather racial or sexist, are clearly portrayed in the play to point out the injustice caused by such attacks on a persons humanity. Racism is an inescapable component of Othellos life just as sexism is a major component of the womens lives in Othello. From the very start of the tragedy, the viewer is bombarded with the overtly racist and sexual language of Iago to Brabantio,Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul. Even now, now, very now an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe. Arise. Arise!. . . Or else the devil will make you a grandsire of you. Act 1.1 (lines 84-89)This negative imagery of Othello and his new wife is demonstrated before a viewer sees or hears Othello or his bride. Yet, this kind of injustice and racism, whether hidden or public, is what Othello must deal with constantly. Later, Brabantio proclaims to Othello and the senate, " A maiden never bold/. / To fall in love with what she feared to look on!" (act 1.3 lines 94 and 99). Such harsh words from Brabantio, Othellos father-in-law, no doubt damages Othellos pride and feelings. Yet, he must encounter them with the utmost respect and honor. It is in this atmosphere that Othello the noble Moorish general of royal lineage must thrive. Eldred Jones has stated this well saying, "Brabantio, ignoring the facts angrily classes Othello with bond s...
