"Venetian Acceptance and Love of Diversity vs. Hate and Racist Prejudice: "The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice""
Dr. Eric Nicholson

This play, based on an Italian short story, is so famous that it hardly needs any introduction, but what still can come as a surprise is its portrayal of a Venice that generally accepts and supports a North African of dark complexion and non-Christian background, with the one hideous exception of Iago. The mask of Pantalone returns as the Venetian senator Brabantio, father of the bold, charismatic, and much-courted Desdemona, who unlike her Prima Donna counterpart Portia does not disparage a suitor from Morocco but instead falls in love and elopes with him. Desdemona is enchanted by the formerly enslaved Othello’s tales of travel, battles, and adventures, to the point where her “heart’s subdued even to the very quality of my lord,” having “wished that heaven had made her such a man.” In other words, this native Venetian woman’s identification with the Moorish outsider is deep and all-encompassing, and together as a united couple they successfully rebuke the charges of witchcraft and immorality brought against them, making Act One of the play, entirely set in Venice, a comedy with a happy ending. Unfortunately for their story, the play has four more acts, set in the Venetian garrison on the island of Cyprus, where Iago’s deceptive plotting and racist as well as misogynist poison do their destructive work. Again, we will focus on the specifically Venetian aspects of the play, assisted by watching and discussing clips from several recent stage and screen productions.