Duke of Venice

The Duke of Venice is of the highest authority in the play. However, he seems to highly respect Othello, using epithets of “valiant” to describe him. He even defends Othello against Brabantio’s racist outpouring, using the antithesis that Othello is “more fair than black.” In our contemporary context, we may view it as him urging Brabantio to look beyond skin colour and to the character of a person. It is as if he is saying “Othello is of good nature, do not look at his skin colour.” He further substantiates this by emphasising Othello’s military accolades that would of captured Desdemona’s heart. Othello’s experience leads the Duke to send him to attack the invading Turkish fleets.