Danielle Jacobellis
Coulson
English 10
14 March 2014

          Othello Impressions

          As a reader my first impressions of both Desdemona and Othello are very vague. I do not know very much about either character, probably because we are only a few pages into the play so far. But as much as I know about them I can make a few assumptions. Othello is an African-American male that loves Desdemona (later to be eloped) and Desdemona loves Othello as well. Othello is a very good soldier from previous knowledge, and many people are jealous of him for being ranked so high in the military.
          The biggest controversy that I am able to see in the play so far is the relationship between Desdemona and Othello. Their relationship seems to be forbidden and is only know of by a few people. This is made out to be a big deal mainly because Brabantio (Desdemona's father) does not know a single thing about her relationship with Othello. It may seem fine and dandy and you're probably wondering what this is still such a big controversy but it's probably because Othello is African-American, and probably looked down on by other white "higher class" individuals, including Brabantio.
          So far in the play (uuuuh like three pages into it) I am able to see the Reaction Guide statement that fits best is "Secondhand Information is Reliable", even though it's not at all. It's called SECONDhand for a reason, it's not at important as FIRSThand information. Don't always believe something that an outside source is telling you, like Iago telling Brabantio about Othello being a "theif"... Okay maybe thats true but how is Brabantio supposed to know whether it's true or not without him finding out himself. You can totally believe whatever you want, even without proof but thats just you doing you. I personally like to investigate and get to the bottom of things before I make my final decision to believe what I've been told is true or not.