"Unnatural" Marriage

When Barbantio learned oh his daughters marriage to Othello he claimed this act was "unnatural". Is this acceptable? Was it true? According to the definition in the OED unnatual could be defined as "5. At variance with what is natural, usual, or to be expected; unusual, strange". before we make judgement we have to understand that this sort of union in times of shakespeare were very rare, especially among high society. it was expected of high society to marry high society, not that othello was not considered high society, but he was frowned upon because he was black. though he was a general in the army and had a good reputation it was this factor which made their union unnatural. blacks were considered not so much as inferiors, i believe, as "others". it was a way of classifying those which did not fit the "tradional" appearance or stature of what high society expected. Barbantio being of this high society and having brought his daughter up well he was, like any parent of his time, expecting her to marry "well", and unfortunetly for him Othello did not fit that criteria. so yes we can understand why he would say that she was bewitched into falling in love with othello and why he was so angry.

now a days society, for the most part, is quite tolerant of interracial marriages/unions. in this country alone the number has gone up tremendously since the law which made interracial marriages illegal was abolished in 1967. i come from an interracial family. if i were to find myself in this situation as Desdemona and Othello, i know that my parents would not disagree with my choice of partner. even if we were not in interracial family i know that they would not disagree because my parents are very bohemian and believe that when in love all is fair and good and that a good marriage is based on the acceptance of others as they are. they feel that problems will come regardless and its on how you are able to over come them together that makes you stronger.

im lucky to have been born as i am.though i know that my parents union was not an easy one to come by, becuase even in my family there are still those who view my parents marriage as somewhat strange and unusual. they believe that my brothers and i must have a hard time because we are "confused by whom we really are", but i can assure you such is not the case. that is why i sort of understand why in many countries mixed unions are not acceptable. such as for instance in some indian and islamic countries. parents expect their children to marry someone who has most in common with them. to many this aspect includes same ethnicity, religion and background.some countries i do believe take this matter to an extreme souch as for instance in Arabic nations. there are laws which give family members the right to kill any woman who chooses to marry outside of her tribe.

i dont feel many people oppose these unions so much because of racial factors, more so that they believe that by having such things in common the union has a more probable chance of lasting. though i do not agree with this mentality i do understand their perspective and respect their beliefs.