How Does Shakespeare Present Roderigo In Othello

Shakespeare’s fictional character Othello, General of the Venetian Army, has an eminently respectable reputation as a result of his plentiful exploits in battle and because of his notoriety to command “Like a full soldier”. Nevertheless, the rough-and-ready commandant is not as emotionally callous as, not only his war-time resume would suggest, but also how Iago and Roderigo portray his as a character in Act 1, Scene 1. Despite his triumphs, numerous characters throughout Othello do not shy away from the casual racist jab towards their black-skinned General. Exposure to repetitive, often overt, verbal-degradation leads Othello to believe that he is racially inferior as the play progresses – this infectious discrimination of Elizabethan racists

is derived from the fear of the unnatural.
There is little doubt that Othello’s capabilities on the battlefield have earned him his credibility and respect throughout Venice, yet it becomes evident from the beginning stages of the play that his accomplishments and efforts have done little to suppress the deep-rooted prejudices instilled within many of the other white, indigenous characters.

Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian desperate to have Desdemona’s hand in marriage, notes in a private conversation with the treacherous Iago “What full fortune does the thicklips owe” if Othello were escape consequences for marrying the beautiful, pure and fair-skinned Desdemona. Roderigo’s derogatory comment reveals his racist attitude not only through the slur by through implying that Othello’s profound merit would be inadequate to woo such as woman; luck, or necromancy as Brabantio later accuses, would be key for Othello to “board” someone of Desdemona’s

class.
Iago, Othello’s manipulative ensign, secretively aids Roderigo with reporting the “old black ram[‘s]” courtship to Brabantio, Desdemona’s father and Venetian senator. He successfully fuels Brabantio’s prejudicial rage by disclosing information that Othello is “tupping [Brabantio’s] white ewe”. Brabantio previously held Roderigo with low regard, having told him prior “not to haunt about” their home; despite believing Roderigo to be a simple, lowly pest, Brabantio is quick to overlook this at the first mention of his daughter eloping with an older, black man, regardless of how grand his reputation. Iago only invokes further indignation from the shadows, providing Brabantio with descriptions of Desdemona “covered with a Barbary horse” and “making the beast with two backs”, allowing his imagination to run wild with images of a beastly, sex-crazed stereotype that the Venetians help towards the “extravagant and wheeling stranger”, implying only beasts, instead of children, could be the production of such an animalistic foreigner.
Brabantio expresses a great deal to dehumanise the General, rhetorically asking Roderigo “Who would be a father?” promptly regarding Othello an ineligible for the job due to his dark skin.

Despite the commander’s achievements and prestigious ranking, Brabantio would prefer to give the fool Roderigo Desdemona’s hand in marriage than have her near a man with black skin, describing her decision as “treason of the blood” that must be the result of “charms”. Once considered an idiotic halfwit by Brabantio, Roderigo is now in a position of trust for no reason other than being a white Venetian, a lone fact that instantly puts him in a higher in the social hierarchy than the accomplished

Othello.
It is crucial to note that at no point during the first scene of Othello, not one of the characters refers to Othello by his real name, and instead allude to him exclusively through racially-demeaning terms. This racist predisposition shown throughout the first scene fuels conflict externally and internally, seen as the play progresses, for Othello. He is not ignorant off the preconceived attitudes and is clearly aware that regardless of any amount of his accomplishments in the name of the Venetians, he is looked upon differently by the fair-skinned natives. Evidently, however, Othello’s skin colour did not prevent him from climbing to the head of the army, a position not obtained without due merit. When the backstabbing Iago warns Othello of Brabantio’s outrage, he calmly proclaims: “My parts, my title and my perfect soul/Shall manifest [him] rightly”, and awaits the arrivals of enraged Brabantio. His reputation at risk, Othello responds to Brabantio’s accusations of the use of “chains of magic” and “drugs or minerals” by bringing him before the Duke with confidence, in the belief that he has no reason to fear consequence and that his merit will allow him to prevail.