In the first act Shakespeare presents different characters. In particular he presents Iago, who refers to Othello by two levels: personal and public.

As far as the personal level Iago never refers to Othello with his name, but with adjectives like “the Moor” and with the personal pronoun “him”. The fact that he bears on Othello as the Moor implies that he openly creates a connection between the colour of Othello’s skin and his identity. To Iago, Othello is first of all The Moor, so he  represents the stranger (because Moors came from foreign counties) and he is regarded by marking the colour of his skin (because Moor means brown, black in complexion). In so doing Iago expresses his xenophobia directed towards his superior. He doesn’t show any kind of respect but, on the other hand, he despises him.

Secondly  Iago, in speaking about Othello,  quotes the animal world. For example in lines 94 Othello is described with a metaphor “an old black ram” while he is having sex with Desdemona (who is called ewe). These sexual and animal  allusions have the function to collocate Othello in an inferior level. Othello, who is Iago’s superior, is thus declassed to the animal rank. Thanks to this  role inversion, Iago is able to express all his hatred against the Moor.

 If we take into consideration the public level, we can notice that  Iago refers mainly  to Othello’s inability to rule (“A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife; that never set a squadron in the field, nor the division of a battle knows more than a spinster”  lines 21-24). His remarks have the function to portray Othello as an inept both on the personal (he is not a good husband)  and on the public level (he has no skills to rule).