- In full:
- The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
Othello
What is the story of Othello?
Who is Iago, and what role does he play in Othello?
What is the significance of the handkerchief in Othello?
What is the outcome for Othello and Desdemona?
Othello, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written in 1603–04 and published in 1622 in a quarto edition from a transcript of an authorial manuscript. The text published in the First Folio of 1623 seems to have been based on a version revised by Shakespeare himself that sticks close to the original almost line by line but introduces numerous substitutions of words and phrases, as though Shakespeare copied it over himself and rewrote as he copied. The play derives its plot from Giambattista Giraldi’s De gli Hecatommithi (or Ecatommiti, 1565; “One Hundred Tales”), which Shakespeare appears to have known in the Italian original; it was available to him in French but had not been translated into English.
The titular character in Othello is a Moorish general in the service of Venice (usually depicted as Black) who is married to Desdemona, a white noblewoman. Othello is manipulated by the devious Iago into believing that Desdemona is guilty of adultery with Cassio, whom Othello promoted over Iago. In the play’s tragic conclusion, the jealous Othello kills his wife and, after discovering her innocence, kills himself.
Plot summary
Cassio’s elevation and Iago’s envy (Acts I–II)
The play begins in Venice and is set in motion by Iago’s envy of Cassio, whom Othello has appointed as his chief lieutenant. Iago complains to Roderigo, a fellow malcontent who is disgruntled over Othello’s elopement with Desdemona, whom Roderigo loves. The pair inform Desdemona’s father, the senator Brabantio, of the secret marriage, prompting the enraged Brabantio to organize a search party for the recovery of his daughter. When he arrives to seize Othello, he is persuaded to present his case to the duke of Venice, who has summoned Othello to discuss a possible Turkish attack on the Venetian colony of Cyprus. The duke demands proof of Brabantio’s charge that Othello “stole” Desdemona. Desdemona appears and exonerates Othello by professing her love for him. Jealous of Othello’s success and envious of Cassio, Iago plots Othello’s downfall by falsely implicating Desdemona and Cassio in a love affair.
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In Act II the location shifts to Cyprus, where Cassio, Desdemona, Iago and his wife, Emilia, Roderigo, and, finally, Othello land after the Turkish armada is destroyed in a storm. Iago begins his machinations by convincing Roderigo that Cassio should be supplanted because of Desdemona’s supposed love for him. Cassio, who by his own admission has “very poor and unhappy brains for drinking,” becomes intoxicated after being prevailed upon by Iago to join in merrymaking during a celebration of the annihilation of the Turkish fleet. On provocation by Roderigo, the drunk Cassio begins brawling and is dismissed from his position by Othello. As the demoted Cassio bemoans his plight—“Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation!”—Iago advances his plot by advising that Cassio ask Desdemona to intercede on his behalf with Othello. Iago then reveals to the audience his intention of convincing Othello that Desdemona’s championing of Cassio’s cause is proof of her love for him. Iago also resolves to enlist the unwitting aid of Emilia, who serves Desdemona, in his intrigue.
The handkerchief plot (Act III)
Cassio makes a grand entry with musicians in honor of Othello and Desdemona and asks Emilia to arrange an audience with Desdemona. Emilia agrees and tells him that Desdemona is already using her good offices with Othello for Cassio’s benefit. Othello, preparing to survey Cyprus’s military installations, interrupts Desdemona’s interview with Cassio, who leaves abruptly. After Desdemona pleads Cassio’s case, Iago tells Othello that Cassio’s hasty exit is proof of his dishonorable nature. He also implies that he knows more than he is willing to reveal and cautions Othello against jealousy with these famous words:
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
Making use of a handkerchief belonging to Desdemona and found by Emilia when Othello unintentionally dropped it, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona had given the handkerchief to Cassio as a love token. Othello vows to kill Desdemona and asks Iago, whom he awards the vacant lieutenancy, to kill Cassio. His suspicion intensifies when Desdemona cannot produce the lost handkerchief. Iago also induces Othello to eavesdrop on a conversation between himself and Cassio that is in fact about Cassio’s mistress, Bianca, but which Othello is led to believe concerns Cassio’s infatuation with Desdemona. These slender “proofs” confirm what Othello has been all too inclined to believe: that, as an older Black man, he is no longer attractive to his young white Venetian wife.
The “green-ey’d monster” (Acts IV–V)
Overcome with jealousy, Othello strikes Desdemona while the nobleman Lodovico, a kinsman of her father, is present. He speaks about Desdemona in demeaning terms to Emilia and confronts her, accusing her of being “false as hell” and denouncing her as a “strumpet.” Iago incites Roderigo to murder Cassio, but when attacked, Cassio instead stabs Roderigo. Iago then injures Cassio and kills Roderigo. The tormented Othello enters the sleeping Desdemona’s room with murder on his mind:
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I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
He awakens her with a kiss, taxes her with her alleged infidelity, and smothers her to death with a pillow despite her protests of innocence. When he learns from Emilia, too late, that his wife is blameless, he stabs Iago, asks to be remembered as one who “loved not wisely, but too well,” and kills himself. A wounded Iago, who has killed Emilia, is arrested and sent to his death.
For a discussion of this play within the context of Shakespeare’s life and works, see William Shakespeare: The tragedies.