Further on in Act 1 of the play we soon find out that Othello is not at all like the description of Iago. Othello is noble, heroic and in control. By seeing Othello's heroic attributes to his personality in the play the audience soon sees how Iago has inflamed racial images through the use of animal imagery. This quote illustrates the major differences between Desdemona and Othello. He refers to her as a white ewe, meaning pure and young. And Iago refers to Othello as an old black ram. The act of them running off together seems a lot worse when Iago compares them as he did. Their differences are much more obvious when they are compared this way. Iago says to Brabantio, "You'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse." By using bestial imagery in representation of Othello, Iago raises the racial idea of the play, that inter-racial marriage is immoral. .
"To fall in love with what she fear'd to look on", Brabantio claims that Othello is the type of man that she would fear due to the colour of his skin. Brabantio's racial prejudice is inflamed from the beginning of the play as he finds out that Desdemona has eloped. But he is more upset that she eloped with a black man. ""O, would you have had her!" Brabantio says this to Roderigo as he would prefer Desdemona to marry Roderigo of white coloured skin over Othello of dark coloured skin. Prior to this Brabantio rejects Roderigo from marrying Desdemona, ""my daughter is not for thee". But as soon as he finds out the Desdemona has married the "black" Othello he has a sudden change of mind. This illustrates the large racial prejudice in the Venetian society, demonstrating that racial marriage is looked down upon and is not approved.
As the play progresses, Othello becomes more isolated through racial ideas of the play. Othello is constantly contrasting the opposing characters and is always different.