Brabantio the Protective Father in Shakespeare's Othello

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Brabantio the Protective Father in Shakespeare's Othello

While little girls are eagerly anticipating the day they will meet the man of their dreams, they are also imagining up their dream wedding. Fathers, on the other hand, are secretly dreading the day to come. They do their best to see that the "right" man will marry their daughter. But at the same time, they want to try to keep them from meeting him so soon. In William Shakespeare's Othello, Brabantio is protective, racially prejudiced, and a heartbroken man. He represents the typical father who is disappointed when he realizes that "daddy's little girl" is all grown up and ready to leave the nest.

Brabantio is a very protective father. He makes sure that his daughter Desdemona lives a sheltered life under his care. She is his only child so he treats her like a prized possession. He also made certain to keep her under a tight leash, especially with male callers. When Roderigo tries to court her, he disapproves, "The worser welcome!/ I have charged thee not to haunt my doors./ In honest plainness thou hast heard me say/ My daughter is not for thee" (1.1.93-95). Brabantio is in disbelief when Roderigo instead tells him of Desdemona's elopement with Othello and says:

O heaven! How got she out? O treason of

the blood!

Fathers from hence trust not your daughters' minds

by what you see them act. Is there not charms

By which the property of youth and maidhood

May be abused? Have you not read, Roderigo,

Of some such thing? (1.1.165 - 170)

Here, Brabantio is shocked by this information. He directs his statement toward Roderigo, but almost seems as if he were scolding himself for trusting his daughter too much. Brabantio was convinced that his daughter was obedient and followed his rules. He was almost certain that his careful upbringing would not lead to the very thing he tried so hard to prevent.

Brabantio is also racially prejudiced. He is upset when he discovers that Othello, the Moor, is the man that Desdemona has chosen. He feels that Othello is not worthy of his daughter's love because he possesses darker skin and is of Arabian descent.

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