The people of Venice are wealthy and powerful. Venice itself is a political powerhouse as well. But even though Othello has done many good, heroic deeds for the people of Venice, they don’t fully trust him due to their prejudice. The fact that Othello is marrying Brabanzio’s daughter Desdemona only serves to make tensions rise. The reason Othello is a tragedy is partly because people look down on him for things outside of his control. The people of Venice are biased against Othello, despite him being a war hero.

The story so far also seems to be somewhat similar to other Shakespearian tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet, except the protagonists of Othello are much older and wiser that the protagonists of Romeo and Juliet. Forbidden relationships are a table in many tragedies, since many people, both at the time it was written and today can relate to those stories.