William Shakespeare has come to be known as arguably the finest sculptor of language through his plays and poems. Many of his plays are so remarkable, not necessarily because of the complex issues they raise, but rather the ideals they "challenge-. Shakespeare's tragedies are notorious for starting with one or more noble figures that go against the dominant social meaning systems only to have them eventually fall into submission to these ideals and beliefs. In terms of creating meaning, this means that the audience is put in a position from where they are forced to look deeper into each character to find the notable qualities that make them such eminent figures within the society represented in the play, making the effect of Shakespeare's works all the more entertaining. Othello is one such play in which the social status of the main character Othello, the confidence of his wife Desdemona, and the wisdom and fierce loyalty of her lady in waiting Emelia all contradict the stereotypes of the Jacobean era. Othello is a black man in a position of significant social status, Desdemona is a confident and assertive woman, and Emelia is remarkably wise and confident in her own abilities. However, despite the initial contradictions to their associated stereotypes, they all gradually regress into the social moulds and assumptions of the dominant social system of the time, making the play all the more tragic.
In Othello, the main character after whom the play is named is presented as an honest, kind and respected black man, in service to the Venetian state, who recently married Desdemona, the Venetian senator Brabantio's daughter. Interestingly, Othello does not make an appearance until Act I scene ii, where Shakespeare uses his first appearance to contradict the audience's expectations that were developed in scene one. Rather than a "black ram-, the "devil- or even the "Barbary horse-, the audience is greeted by a "valiant- and "brave moor- who not only contradicts the expectations of the audience, established in scene one, but also the dominant social system of the Jacobean era.
