Othello: Way before its time

I actually had to read Othello last year, so returning to the book isn't as much as a challenge as it was the first time around. I am not a fan of Shakespeare. His prose are hard to understand and his language is ancient. I admire him for his genius, but I have hated suffering through his work. However, reading Othello for a second time is a little easier. Instead of just trying to grasp at what Shakespeare iss trying to say, I am able to really envision what was going on and focus on the underlying issues. Othello is essentially a love story between a black man and a white woman. This topic seems as if it should be an anachronism. Even today, in 2008, interracial relationships and marriages are uncommon. In Shakespeare's time I would think they were unheard of. When Othello is accused of using witchcraft to win Desdemona's love, he explains how the unlikely romance occured:

"...She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have used" (22).

Othello and Desdemona fell in love, regardless of their skin color. Martin Luther King day this year opened my eyes to racial issues and prejudices alive in America today. I attended Viktor Lewis's speech and film, The Color of Fear, for my Psychology class. I was shocked to hear the perils of minorities in America. I was also shocked to realize my own blindness, stereotypes, and prejudices that I never knew I exhibited. Shakespeare really was a master behind his time. He tackled complex issues that have yet to be resolved.