Othello is a black man in a white society, and a soldier among civilians; he is also one of the greatest lovers in the world's literature.  The tale takes place in Venice, which in the sixteenth century was a powerful city-state, important to Europe as a commercial center and to the whole of Christiandom as a protector of the Christian faith against the Turkish infidels.  Othello is a prince who has done service to the state as the general in command of the military power.  He is confident of his merit, and of his love for the "gentle Desdemona," which he must defend to a doubting court.