Othello on Othello. Although characters described as "moors" appear in two other Shakespeare plays ("Titus Andronicus" and "The Merchant of Venice"), such characters were a rarity in contemporary theatre, and it was unknown for them to take centre stage. There is no consensus over Othello's ethnic origin. E. A. J. Honigmann, the editor of the Arden Shakespeare edition, concluded that Othello's race is ambiguous. "Renaissance representations of the Moor were vague, varied, inconsistent, and contradictory. As critics have established, the term 'Moor' referred to dark-skinned people in general, used interchangeably with terms such as 'African', 'Somali', 'Ethiopian', 'Negro', 'Arab', 'Berber', and
The Gentleman of Venice plays at that time. In "The Gentleman of Venice," for example, Florelli is described as "Of a noble extraction and person, much honoured for his parts, by which he gained much reputation in the academies." Giovanni is the son of the gardener to the Duke of Venice; though a commoner of the humblest station, he is a serious young man of admirable character — which attracts the attention of Bellaura, the Duke's niece. Giovanni decides to serve as a soldier in Venice's war with Genoa; Bellaura equips him with armor and with a letter of introduction to the military commander,