AP Practice 1995

                In Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello is a black man living in a white society. The contrasting reactions of Brabantio and the officials show that the society generally looks down upon the black race, but Othello manages to be in good standing with the officials due to his military status.

                Brabantio reacts negatively to Othello because Othello wants to marry Desdemona. Brabantio repeatedly refers to Othello as a ‘Moor’, which is a derogatory racial slur. Brabantio is angry that his daughter is going to marry a black man; Brabantio believes that he only way Desdemona would have ever agreed to marry Othello is by being manipulated by some type of black magic. Brabantio’s assumptions that Othello manipulated Desdemona show that Brabantio sees Othello as lesser because he is black; Othello could never be good enough for his pure, virtuous daughter. Brabantio’s horror to the idea of Desdemona marrying a moor shows that interracial marriages generally did not occur in that time period. The white race was portrayed as the superior race. Brabantio also believes that the officials will be opposed to Othello and Desdemona’s wedding. Brabantio’s strong belief that the officials will support him shows the audience that the officials usually did not support the intermarriage between a black and a white. All in all, Brabantio’s vehemently negative reaction toward the marriage shows that, during that time period, society assumed the black race was a lesser race.

                Even though Brabantio believes he has the support of the officials, when Brabantio goes to talk to the officials about the wedding, he finds that the officials support the wedding rather than oppose it. The officials even give Othello their blessing and believe that the two would make a great pair. Brabantio is shocked, but the officials’ blessings show that the black race, on very rare occasions, could be considered an equal or even superior, to the white race. Othello is a man of high military status, and he has a powerful and commanding presence. All in all, Othello is highly respected by the officials. However, the fact that Othello is the only highly respected black man within the play shows that Othello’s status is a very special case; the black race can attain courtesy from the officials, but the courtesy is very uncommon. Othello’s special treatment by the officials further supports the assertion that, during that time period, the black race assumed to be inferior; the white race could not see the black race as equal.

                All in all, Brabantio’s reaction toward Othello and the officials’ acceptance of solely Othello shows that society assumed the black race to be inferior. Society did not see the unequal view as immoral, for the officials and other characters within the play just accepted the race division as the way life was supposed to be.  Hence, Othello’s good standing with the officials is rare and unusual.