race

Question 1

‘To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor’

Answer 1

‘Clasps’ - Desdemona’s marriage to Othello is unconventional, so they believe it must be based on something unconsensual, which she is trapped in - paint Othello to be the villain

Question 2

‘Is there not charms/ by which the property of youth and maidhood/ may be abused’

Answer 2

It is unbelievable for traditional Venetians that Desdemona may go on her own accord - youth and maidhood require docility, which her actions show she has not

Question 3

‘an old black ram/ is tupping your white ewe’

Answer 3

the further metaphor shows Othello and Desdemona’s courtship plays into racial stereotypes, as well as showing how the blackness of hell in Othello is corrupting Desdemona’s purity

Question 4

‘Thou hast practised on her with foul charms/ abused her delicate youth’

Answer 4

Barbantio continues with descriptions of Othello as violent and evil, which was seen in Scene 1; however, the audience takes a different view on this now, noticing his hypocrisy as the introduction of Othello proves it incorrect