Othello
The play revolves heavily around color imagery. Red, which signifies both love and bloodshed, figures heavily into the development of the plot, while green appears frequently as a marker for jealousy. Similarly, Othello himself enhances the play's reliance on color and color difference, as his moorish background would make him darker skinned than all the other characters in the play, specifically Desdemona who is often described as having alabaster (white) skin. The imagery of a dark-skinned body on stage surrounded by white bodies underscores the isolation and prejudice Othello experiences while foreshadowing his demise at the hands of whiteness.
Animals
Iago frequently uses animal imagery to describe Othello and Othello's behavior. He uses these images to stoke other people's mistrust of Othello and to single Othello out further for his existence as a moor. In Act One, Iago calls Othello both a "barbary horse" and an "old black ram," emphasizing Othello's darkness in order to make Brabantio disapprove of Othello's marriage to Desdemona (1.1). Iago's use of animal imagery also underscores his perception of Othello as "wild" and dangerous, a perspective that reveals Iago's own racial bias and inherent envy of Othello's reputation.
Red and White
As mentioned, color plays a central role in the development of the play. One of the color combinations frequently alluded to is red and white. In early modern English poetry, red and white were often paired together in praise of women's complexions – the red signifying their blushing against white skin. In Othello, however, red and white become foreboding elements of the plot: the red and white handkerchief that Othello gives Desdemona is symbolically transformed into the red blood on Desdemona's white sheets after losing her virginity, and later into the red blood against Desdemona's white skin after Othello murders her. The juxtaposition of red and white throughout the play underscores the fine line that exists between Othello's love for Desdemona and his uncontrollable jealousy.
Monsters
Throughout the play, multiple characters make references to monsters or monstrous creatures, usually in a figurative sense. Othello perceives his vision of Desdemona's infidelity as "monstrous! Monstrous!" and Iago cautions Othello about the "green-eyed monster" that is jealousy (3.3). The recurring images of monsters adds a bleak and paranoid tone to the play, mirroring Othello's own descent into madness as he believes his loved ones are turning on him. This imagery also once again underscores the racial biases at work in the play, as Othello himself is perceived as beastly or monstrous because of his moorish ethnicity.
