If virtue no delighted beauty lack,
Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In this rhyming couplet the Duke of Venice imparts these words of wisdom to Brabantio, using color imagery and a double pun. The word black has a double meaning here, it refers to Othello’s skin color and also means ugly. The Duke is telling Brabantio that if virtue can be beautiful, then Othello is "fair" or beautiful. This of course is a backhanded compliment loaded with racial prejudice. It implies that others of Othello’s race are not virtuous like him and he is the exception.