- Brabantio is made aware by Iago of his daughter's elopement with Desdemona.
- Brabantio is visibly angered and aggravated by his daughter's "treason of the blood" and elopement which breaks all social conventions - e.g. marrying the partner chosen by the daughter's father.
- In presenting Brabantio as being aggravated and resulting to violence as a result of the secret being revealed, Shakespeare implies that although Venice was an accepting place towards outsiders in terms of military and economy, Othello is likely to not have been accepted into the Venetian society for marrying his daughter as it is unnatural and breaks social law.
- Patriarchal readers may feel empathetic towards Brabantio and may feel his anger too. As Brabantio results to violence, it is evident that his daughter's marriage with a black man is unnatural and not supposed to work. As a result, we begin to despise Othello (without even meeting him) for causing this amount of suffering to his wife's father.
- The toxic masculinity of the characters in this tragedy is also presented. Brabantio wants to act with violence and wants to hurt Othello for breaking social convention, yet, as contemporary audience we would question if the violence towards Othello is justified when the mistake is minimal?
- Brabantio's anger could also be justified by his patriarchal stance on marriage and relationship with his daughter. It is evidence that he feels insecure and is upset that he lacks the control over his daughter's life; Desdemona rebels - active character.
