"A maiden never bold, / Of spirit so still and quiet that her motion / Blushed at herself And she, in spite of nature, / Of years, of country, credit, everything, / To fall in love with what she feared to look on? / It is a judgement maimed and most imperfect / That will confess perfection so could err. / Against all rules of nature, and must be driven / To find out practices of cunning hell / Why this should be. / I therefore vouch again / That with some mixtures powerful o'er the blood / Or with some dram, conjure to this effect, / He wrought upon her."
"To vouch this is no proof, / Without more wider and more over test / Than these thin habits and poor likelihoods / Of modern seeming do prefer against him."
Slide: 2
Chapter 1: Racism
Now, racism is a heavily discussed subject, and, although it has not been fully destroyed, it is certainly combatted more than in the 1570s (Othello's setting). The anti racism protest shown to the right is an example of the way in which anti-racism fight has grown from private opinions (the Dukes small rebuke against Brabantio) to a, thankfully, commonly supported cause. Of course there is still much to be done regarding this matter, but some growth certainly has been made, albeit bet very slowly.
The issue of racism is extremely prevalent in Othello. However, Othello's fellow characters do not try very hard to dispose of this problem. The scene depicted on the left is one of the few times the issue is actually combated. The duke attempts to show Brabantio that Othello is not evil, simply because the general is a Moor.