OTHELLO

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Along with Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, Othello is one of Shakespeare's
four great tragedies and thus a pillar of what most critics take to be the apex of
Shakespeare's dramatic art. Othello is unique among Shakespeare's great tragedies.
Unlike Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, which are set against a backdrop of affairs
of state and which reverberate with suggestions of universal human
concerns, Othello is set in a private world and focuses on the passions and personal
lives of its major figures. Indeed, it has often been described as a "tragedy of
character"; Othello's swift descent into jealousy and rage and Iago's dazzling display
of villainy have long fascinated students and critics of the play. The relationship
between these characters is another unusual feature of Othello. With two such
prominent characters so closely associated, determining which is the central figure in
the play and which bears the greater responsibility for the tragedy is difficult.

More than anything else, what distinguishes Othello from its great tragedies' peers is
the role of its villain, Iago. While the usurper King Claudius of Hamlet, the faithless
daughters of Lear, and the unnatural villains of Macbeth (Macbeth, his Lady and the
Weird Sister witches) are all impressively evil in their own way, none of them enjoys
the same diabolical role as Iago.

Iago is a character who essentially writes the play's main plot, takes a key part in it,
and gives first-hand direction to the others, most notably to the noble Moor, Othello.
The play presents us with two remarkable characters, Iago and his victim, with Iago as
the dominant force that causes Othello to see the infidelity of his young and beautiful
wife, Desdemona, with his favorite lieutenant, Michael Cassio. Indeed, not only is
"seeing" and the gap between appearance and reality a central theme of the play, it
overlaps with other major thematic strands (trust, honor, and reputation) and sheds
light on still others, including the theme of patriarchy and the political state.
Written in 1604, Othello is one of Shakespeare's most highly concentrated, tightly
constructed tragedies, with no subplots and little humor to relieve the tension.
Although he adapted the plot of his play from the sixteenth-century Italian dramatist
and novelist Giraldi Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi, Shakespeare related almost every
incident directly to the development of Iago's schemes and Othello's escalating fears.
This structure heightens the tragedy's ominous mood and makes the threat to both
Desdemona's innocence and the love she and Othello share more terrifying.

Although narrow in scope, Othello, with its intimate domestic setting, is widely
regarded as the most moving and the most painful of Shakespeare's great tragedies.
The fall of a proud, dignified man, the murder of a graceful, loving woman, and the
unreasoning hatred of a "motiveless" villain—all have evoked fear and pity in
audiences throughout the centuries. If it lacks the cosmic grandeur of Hamlet or King
Lear, Othello nevertheless possesses a power that is perhaps more immediate and
strongly felt for operating on the personal, human plane.

Summary of the Play

On a quiet night in Venice, Iago, ensign to the Moorish general, Othello, enlists the
aid of Roderigo in his plot against Othello. Iago secretly hates Othello and tells
Roderigo, a rejected suitor to Desdemona, that she has eloped with the Moor. After
this revelation, Roderigo and Iago awaken Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, with news
that she has been transported into Othello’s hands. Iago informs Othello of
Brabantio’s anger. Brabantio arrives with officers to confront Othello, but they are
interrupted by Michael Cassio, who summons Othello to the Duke of Venice’s palace.

The duke and senators welcome Othello and inform him of his deployment to Cyprus
in a defensive against the Ottomites. Brabantio accuses Othello of winning
Desdemona’s affection by magic, after which Othello explains that he won
Desdemona’s love by sincere means. Desdemona professes her duty to her husband.
Subsequently, Othello is sent to Cyprus, leaving Iago in charge of Desdemona’s safe
passage to Cyprus along with Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant. Iago
suggests that Roderigo follow Desdemona to Cyprus. Once alone, Iago reveals his
plan to implicate Michael Cassio in a clandestine affair with Desdemona.

During a raging storm which destroys the Turkish fleet, Othello and his men land at
the Cyprian seaport. By telling Roderigo a lie that Desdemona loves Cassio, Iago now
urges Roderigo to incite Cassio to violence. Later that evening at Othello’s wedding
feast, Iago gets Cassio drunk; as a result, Othello dismisses Cassio from service
because of behavior unbecoming a lieutenant. Iago then encourages Cassio to appeal
to Desdemona to influence Othello to reinstate Cassio.

Desdemona tells Cassio that she will help him. Cassio leaves quickly, and when
Othello arrives, Desdemona pleads for Cassio. Iago uses Cassio’s quick exit and
Desdemona’s pleas to cast doubt on her fidelity and Cassio’s integrity.

Desdemona and Emilia enter, and Othello admits to a headache. When Desdemona
tries to assuage his illness with her handkerchief, he knocks it down. Emilia picks it
up and gives it to Iago. When Othello demands visible proof of Desdemona’s
infidelity, Iago asserts that he has seen Cassio with the handkerchief. Having become
sufficiently suspicious, Othello vows revenge. Later, Cassio gives the handkerchief
that Iago hid in Cassio’s room to Bianca, his jealous mistress, in order for her to copy.

Riled by Iago’s lies and innuendos, Othello succumbs to a trance. After he revives,
Iago incites him anew by talking to Cassio about Bianca while Othello eavesdrops on
the conversation. Mistakenly, Othello thinks Cassio is boasting about having seduced
Desdemona. Bianca enters and throws the handkerchief at Cassio; consequently,
Othello, convinced of Desdemona’s guilt, swears to kill her.
Lodovico, Brabantio’s kinsman, arrives with orders from the duke for Othello to
return to Venice, leaving Cassio in charge in Cyprus for which Desdemona expresses
pleasure. Othello strikes her, and his actions give Iago cause to suggest that Othello is
going mad. Iago then convinces Roderigo that killing Cassio will ensure his chances
with Desdemona. Later in the evening, Othello orders Desdemona to wait for him
alone in their bed chamber. As she prepares to retire, she sings a song about forsaken
love.

At Iago’s instigation, Roderigo attacks Cassio, who in turn wounds Roderigo. Iago
then stabs Cassio so that Othello thinks Iago has kept a promise to kill Cassio. When
Roderigo cries out, Iago kills him.

In the bed chamber, while Othello ponders Desdemona’s beauty and innocence, she
awakens, and Othello commands her to pray before she dies. In spite of her
supplications, he suffocates her with a pillow. Emilia enters, and Othello justifies his
revenge by claiming the handkerchief as proof of her infidelity. Appalled at this act,
Emilia reveals Iago’s guilt. Iago enters, kills Emilia, and is arrested. Othello tries to
kill Iago, and despite demands for an explanation, Iago remains silent and is led off.
Before Othello is led off, he draws a concealed weapon, stabs himself, and kisses
Desdemona as he dies.

Iago, an ensign serving under Othello, Moorish commander of the armed forces of
Venice, is passed over in promotion when Othello chooses Cassio to be his chief of
staff. In revenge, Iago and his follower, Roderigo, arouse from his sleep Brabantio,
senator of Venice, to tell him that his daughter, Desdemona, has stolen away and
married Othello. Brabantio, incensed that his daughter would marry a Moor, leads his
servants to Othello’s quarters.
Meanwhile, the duke of Venice has learned that armed Turkish galleys are preparing
to attack the island of Cyprus, and in this emergency he has summoned Othello to the
senate chambers. Brabantio and Othello meet in the streets but postpone any violence
in the national interest. Othello, upon arriving at the senate, is commanded by the
duke to lead the Venetian forces to Cyprus. Then, Brabantio tells the duke that Othello
has beguiled his daughter into marriage without her father’s consent. When Brabantio
asks the duke for redress, Othello vigorously defends his honor and reputation; he is
seconded by Desdemona, who appears during the proceedings. Othello, cleared of all
suspicion, prepares to sail for Cyprus immediately. For the time being, he places
Desdemona in the care of Iago; Iago’s wife, Emilia, is to be her attendant during the
voyage to Cyprus.

A great storm destroys the Turkish fleet and scatters the Venetians. One by one, the
ships under Othello’s command head for Cyprus until all are safely ashore and
Othello and Desdemona are once again united. Still intent on revenge, Iago tells
Roderigo that Desdemona is in love with Cassio. Roderigo, himself in love with
Desdemona, is promised all of his desires by Iago if he will engage Cassio, who does
not know him, in a personal brawl while Cassio is officer of the guard.

Othello declares the night dedicated to celebrating the destruction of the enemy, but
he cautions Cassio to keep a careful watch on Venetian troops in the city. Iago talks
Cassio into drinking too much, so that when provoked by Roderigo, Cassio loses
control of himself and fights with Roderigo. Cries of riot and mutiny spread through
the streets. Othello, aroused by the commotion, demotes Cassio for permitting a fight
to start. Cassio, his reputation all but ruined, welcomes Iago’s promise to secure
Desdemona’s goodwill and through her have Othello restore Cassio’s rank.

Cassio importunes Iago to arrange a meeting between him and Desdemona. While
Cassio and Desdemona are talking, Iago entices Othello into view of the pair, and
speaks vague innuendoes. Afterward, Iago from time to time asks Othello questions in
such a manner as to lead Othello to think there might have been something between
Cassio and Desdemona before Desdemona married him. Once Iago has sown these
seeds of jealousy, Othello begins to doubt his wife.

When Othello complains to Desdemona of a headache, she offers to bind his head
with the handkerchief that had been Othello’s first gift to her. She drops the
handkerchief inadvertently, and Emilia picks it up. Iago, seeing an opportunity to
further his scheme, takes the handkerchief from his wife and hides it in Cassio’s room.
When Othello asks Iago for proof that Desdemona is untrue to him, threatening his
life if he cannot produce any evidence, Iago says that he had slept in Cassio’s room
and had heard Cassio speak sweet words in his sleep to Desdemona. He reminds
Othello of the handkerchief and says that he had seen Cassio wipe his beard that day
with that very handkerchief. Othello, completely overcome by passion, vows revenge.
He orders Iago to kill Cassio, and he appoints the ensign his new lieutenant.

Othello asks Desdemona to account for the loss of the handkerchief, but she is unable
to explain its disappearance. She is mystified by Othello’s shortness of speech, and his
dark moods. Goaded by Iago’s continuing innuendoes, the Moor succumbs to mad
rages of jealousy in which he falls into fits resembling epilepsy. In the presence of an
envoy from Venice, Othello strikes Desdemona, to the consternation of all. Emilia
swears that her mistress is honest and true, but Othello, who in his madness can no
longer believe anything good of Desdemona, reviles and insults her with harsh words.

One night, Othello orders Desdemona to dismiss her attendant and to go to bed
immediately. That same night Iago persuades Roderigo to waylay Cassio. When
Roderigo is wounded by Cassio, Iago, who had been standing nearby, stabs Cassio. In
the scuffle Iago stabs Roderigo to death as well, so as to be rid of his dupe, who might
talk. Then a strumpet friend of Cassio comes upon the scene of the killing and reveals
to the assembled crowd her relationship with Cassio. Although Cassio is not dead,
Iago hopes to use this woman to defame Cassio beyond all hope of regaining his
former reputation. Pretending friendship, he assists the wounded Cassio back to
Othello’s house. They are accompanied by Venetian noblemen who had gathered after
the fight.

Othello enters his wife’s bedchamber and smothers her, after telling her, mistakenly,
that Cassio has confessed his love for her and has been killed. Then Emilia enters the
bedchamber and reports that Roderigo has been killed, but not Cassio. This
information makes doubly bitter for Othello his murder of his wife. Othello tells
Emilia that he learned of Desdemona’s guilt from Iago. Emilia cannot believe that
Iago had made such charges.

When Iago and other Venetians arrive at Othello’s house, Emilia asks Iago to refute
Othello’s statement. Then the great wickedness of Iago comes to light, and Othello
learns how the handkerchief had come into Cassio’s possession. When Emilia gives
further proof of her husband’s villainy, Iago stabs her. Othello lunges at Iago and
manages to wound him before the Venetian gentlemen could seize the Moor. Emilia
dies, still protesting the innocence of Desdemona. Mad with grief, Othello plunges a
dagger into his own heart. The Venetian envoy promises that Iago will be tortured to
death at the hands of the governor general of Cyprus.