race

• black people were often associated with witchcraft
• black people were seen as lower on the chain of being, possessing animalistic qualities
• black people were seen as exotic and mysterious but evil and savage with an unnatural sexual appetite
• black people were seen as fit only to be slaves - however Othello is high born and respected (he was sold to slavery and escaped)
• because Iago looks honest as he is white, Othello sees him as incapable of villany
• Desdemona as a white Venetian would have got sympathy from a contemporary audience
• the devil was portrayed as having black skin