Roderigo refers Othello as ‘thick-lips’ where we understand that Roderigo does not directly refer to Othello’s body features, rather has generalised the features normally attributed to individuals of dark complexion, thus deterring Othello’s individuality to surface in the play. The notion of skin and bodily features are exemplified by both Roderigo and Iago, where even before Othello is allowed an entrance into the play, we see how largely dominating his skin colour is and the grotesqueness in which he is presented through this. Shakespeare begins with a tumultuous opening, where, like many of his openings in other plays, we find a conversation between two characters that serve as an expository factor, where we learn that the daughter of a Venetian lord has eloped with a black nobleman – something that instantly strikes against the Catholicism rules of the Renaissance period. Othello’s blackness is a recurring aspect within the play, where the mention of his complexion is presented in both the beginning and the ending of the play, highlighting how intermixed it is within the play’s meaning and subtext. This promulgates the distinction between Othello and the other characters in the play, where he is completely separated and almost alienated, giving reason for his insecurity in his own self that underlines the series of episodes leading to the hero’s tragic downfall. The play of Othello revolves predominantly on the idea of race and culture, where the character of Othello, a Mauritanian descendant, is highlighted as the protagonist in a stage dominated by European descendants.
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