Othello?s identity is considerably designed from the outside by all those characters that the Moor comes in contact with. That is why critics have often regarded Othello?s social and textual construction as a collective activity, or ?a community project?, in Imtiaz Habib?s words4. Indeed, Othello?s image is differently built by various characters in the play. Thus, for the Duke, for instance, the Moor general is ?the strength of rulership, the image of power with which authority savages its subjects that the Duke needs? while for Brabantio, Othello stands for ?the heathen with potions and charms that exercise mind control, the secret power that the senator seeks.
?5 In the context of post-colonial criticism, Othello becomes ?the completely re-written subaltern subject. … the blank that Venice?s nationhood needs to complete itself. ?6
