To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor
If this be known to you and your allowance
We then have done you bold and saucy wrongs”
Through the use of the word “lascivious”, Othello as a black man is portrayed as having an insatiable lust for sex and likely perversion, a framing designed to fuel the father’s worst possible fantasies. In this presentation, Brabantio has had his daughter abducted by a black man, taken against her will or perhaps as a result of some dark magic employed by Othello. As he confronts Othello, he reveals what he thinks of black people. Othello is thus denigrated and undervalued. Despite his achievements, the father’s anger boils down to the color of his skin. Brabantio tells Othello that since his daughter had refused to marry some of the finest men of Venice, it is impossible that she would choose to be with a black man (p. 77).
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 dearling of …show more content…
To become black, to be tarred as the other, is a massive psychological blow to Othello. Already weakened, once Iago plants into Othello’s head the suggestion that Desdemona is having an affair with a white man of lower rank (whom he had promoted to lieutenant instead of Iago), Othello becomes overwhelmed by his racial neurosis. He ceases to be an actional person, his actions now under the sway of the cunning Iago, and his psyche and sense of self-worth are utterly destroyed. This leads to Othello questioning the wisdom of his marriage, and brings him to question even his ability to express himself, as he finally exclaims, “Haply, for I am black, and have not those soft parts of conversation that chamberers have, or for I am declined into the vale of years.” (p.
If this be known to you and your allowance
We then have done you bold and saucy wrongs”
Through the use of the word “lascivious”, Othello as a black man is portrayed as having an insatiable lust for sex and likely perversion, a framing designed to fuel the father’s worst possible fantasies. In this presentation, Brabantio has had his daughter abducted by a black man, taken against her will or perhaps as a result of some dark magic employed by Othello. As he confronts Othello, he reveals what he thinks of black people. Othello is thus denigrated and undervalued. Despite his achievements, the father’s anger boils down to the color of his skin. Brabantio tells Othello that since his daughter had refused to marry some of the finest men of Venice, it is impossible that she would choose to be with a black man (p. 77).
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 dearling of …show more content…
To become black, to be tarred as the other, is a massive psychological blow to Othello. Already weakened, once Iago plants into Othello’s head the suggestion that Desdemona is having an affair with a white man of lower rank (whom he had promoted to lieutenant instead of Iago), Othello becomes overwhelmed by his racial neurosis. He ceases to be an actional person, his actions now under the sway of the cunning Iago, and his psyche and sense of self-worth are utterly destroyed. This leads to Othello questioning the wisdom of his marriage, and brings him to question even his ability to express himself, as he finally exclaims, “Haply, for I am black, and have not those soft parts of conversation that chamberers have, or for I am declined into the vale of years.” (p.