"And she, in spite of nature,
Of years, of country, credit, everything,
To fall in love with what she feared to look on!
It is a judgement maimed and most imperfect
That will confess perfection so could err
Against all rules of nature, and must be driven
To find out practices of cunning hell
Why this should be." (1.3.114-121)
This is when Brabantio is accusing Othello of using witchcraft to make Desdemona fall in love with him. What caught my attention was that the only issue that Brabantio had was with Othello's race. He argues that there is no way Desdemona could ever fall in love with a black man, so the only reasonable explanation is that Othello used magic to make her his. This is interesting to me because this play was written hundreds of years ago and it accurately reflects issues that are present today. Othello is a respected, well liked general who has proven himself to be a good man. Brabantio had even hosted him several times and admired his stories. But as soon as his daughter is involved, Brabantio abandons all reason and accuses Othello of witchcraft. It makes me wonder what other forms of racism we will see in this play.
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