How would you grade iago on racial insensitivity in act 1 of Othello?

Answer 1

Pretty darn low. Of course that was what he intended, since the idea was to be as coarse and racist as possible to play on Brabantio's latent racism and get him angry about Othello and Desdemona's elopement. At the same time he played up the idea of a father having ownership in his daughter. And the coarseness of referring directly to the sexual act is further accentuated by suggestions that it is bestial.

So "an old black ram is tupping your white ewe!" works for Iago on many levels. The use of the word "your" emphasizes that Desdemona is her father's property. The use of "black" and "white" raises the racial issue. "Tupping" is a coarse epithet for intercourse. The word "old" reminds Brabantio that Othello is much older than Desdemona. The use of the sheep imagery suggests the bestiality of sex. That's a lot to pack into nine words.

"You'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse" works the same way. "Barbary" is a reference to North Africa but also carries the connotation of "barbarians". "Your daughter"--again with the possessive. "Covered" is a graphic sexual image. The reference to horse again suggests bestiality.