This Month's Othello Feature >>

Shakespeare's primary source for Othello was a mid-sixteenth century novella by the Italian author Cinthio, and while Othello is depicted sympathetically in this work, Cinthio's Moor differs from Shakespeare's in that the Bard emphasizes Othello's Christianity while his prototype is a Muslim. Othello is at least functionally integrated into Venetian society. His importance to the state as its military champion and bulwark against the Turks, confers status on Othello that is equivalent to that of Brabantio, a senator with a double voice, and, as the Duke's decision makes clear, greater than that of Desdemona's distinguished father. Prior to Othello's affair with his daughter, Brabantio invited the Moor to his home, treating this black man as his peer.