Course work theme: Visibility and essence in the tragedy Othello

Othello is an adaptation of the Italian writer Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" ("A Moorish Captain") from his Gli Hecatommithi (1565), a collection of one hundred tales in the style of Boccaccio's Decameron. No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, and verbal echoes in Othello are closer to the Italian original than to Gabriel Chappuys' [fr] 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508.^[1] Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale, with his few other characters identified only as the "Moor", the "Squadron Leader", the "Ensign", and the "Ensign's Wife" (corresponding to the play's Othello, Cassio, Iago, and Emilia). Cinthio drew a moral (which he placed in the mouth of Desdemona) that it is unwise for European women to marry the temperamental men of other nations.^[7] Cinthio's tale has been described as a "partly racist warning" about the dangers of miscegenation.
While supplying the source of the plot, the book offered nothing of the sense of place of Venice or Cyprus. For knowledge of this, Shakespeare may have used Gasparo Contarini's The Commonwealth and Government of Venice, in Lewes Lewkenor's 1599 translation.
Another possible source was the Description of Africa by Leo Africanus. The book was an enormous success in Europe, and was translated into many other languages,^[11] remaining a definitive reference work for decades (and to some degree, centuries) afterwards.^[12] An English translation by John Pory appeared in 1600 under the title A Geographical Historie of Africa, Written in Arabicke and Italian by Iohn Leo a More... in which form Shakespeare may have seen it and reworked hints^{[further explanation needed]} in creating the character of Othello.^[13]
Cinthio's "Moor" is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but some researchers believe the poet also took inspiration from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England circa 1600.
Othello is a Moor, a dark-skinned general who occupies a high post in the Venetian army. Shakespeare never mentions where Othello was born, but presumably, he has African or Middle Eastern roots. The time of his character predates large-scale slave trades and racism that would become more common later, so calling Othello black in parts of the play shouldn’t confuse the reader. Othello is a skilled warrior and a good man. His virtues convinced Venetian senators to approve of his marriage with Desdemona, even though she was much younger than him and her father wasn’t too thrilled about it. Deceived by one of his lieutenants, Othello kills his beloved wife in a jealous outrage.