Othello is a play that can have many readings. Many people think it to be a racist play. It can be seen that in Elizabethan times there would be no-one who would look favourably on a “black” man yet Shakespeare has placed him in one of the highest positions as the general of the Venetian army in Cyprus.
Othello is a story of black and white. Perhaps black versus white would be more accurate. This battle takes place on two different levels. There is the battle of good versus evil. That always is seen as black versus white. Yet, this is also a personal battle, of a white man and a black man. Shakespeare’s twist of fate is that he has made the good represented by black, and evil represented by white.
Iago hates Othello as he denies Iago the position of Lieutenant and he plots his demise. This seems to be the only reason for Iago to detest Othello, but his anger stretches beyond this into personal attacks. Iago refers to Othello’s "thick-lips" (I.i.66) and to him as "an old......
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