Othello

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This article is about Shakespeare's play. For the board game, see Reversi. For other uses, see Othello
(disambiguation).

Shakspeare [Shakespeare]; Othello; Act V, Scene II; Desdemona in bed asleep.[1]

Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to
have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio,
a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565.[2] The story revolves around its two central characters:
Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army and his treacherous ensign, Iago. Given its varied and
enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance, Othello is still often
performed in professional and community theatre alike, and has been the source for numerous
operatic, film, and literary adaptations.

Contents

1 Characters

2 Synopsis

2.1 Act I

2.2 Act II

2.3 Act III

2.4 Act IV

2.5 Act V

3 Sources

4 Date and context

5 Themes

5.1 Jealousy
5.2 Iago versus Othello

5.3 Race

5.4 Religious and philosophical

5.5 The hero

6 Performance history

6.1 Pre-20th century

6.2 20th century

6.3 21st century

7 Adaptations and cultural references

8 References

9 External links

Characters

Othello – General in the Venetian military

Desdemona – Othello's wife; daughter of Brabantio

Iago – Othello's trusted, but jealous and traitorous ensign

Cassio – Othello's loyal and most beloved captain

Bianca – Cassio's lover

Emilia – Iago's wife and Desdemona's maidservant

Brabantio – Venetian senator and Desdemona's father (can also be called Brabanzio)

Roderigo – dissolute Venetian, in love with Desdemona

Doge of Venice

Gratiano – Brabantio's brother

Lodovico – Brabantio's kinsman and Desdemona's cousin's brother

Montano – Othello's Venetian predecessor in the government of Cyprus

Clown – servant
Senators

Sailor

Officers, Gentlemen, Messenger, Herald, Attendants, Musicians, etc.

Synopsis

Desdemona and Othello, by Antonio Muñoz Degrain

Othello costume – illustration by Percy Anderson for Costume Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, 1906

Act I

Roderigo, a wealthy and dissolute gentleman, complains to his friend Iago, an ensign, that Iago has not
told him about the secret marriage between Desdemona, the daughter of a senator named Brabantio,
and Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army. Roderigo is upset because he loves Desdemona
and had asked her father, Brabantio, for her hand in marriage.

Iago hates Othello for promoting a younger man named Cassio above him, whom Iago considers a less
capable soldier than himself, and tells Roderigo that he plans to exploit Othello for his own advantage.
Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him about his daughter's elopement. Meanwhile,
Iago sneaks away to find Othello and warns him that Brabantio is coming for him.

Brabantio, provoked by Roderigo, is enraged and will not rest until he has confronted Othello, but he
finds Othello's residence full of the Duke of Venice's guards, who prevent violence. News has arrived in
Venice that the Turks are going to attack Cyprus, and Othello is therefore summoned to advise the
senators. Brabantio has no option but to accompany Othello to the Duke's residence, where he accuses
Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft.

Othello defends himself before the Duke of Venice, Brabantio's kinsmen Lodovico and Gratiano, and
various senators. Othello explains that Desdemona became enamoured of him for the sad and
compelling stories he told of his life before Venice, not because of any witchcraft. The senate is satisfied,
once Desdemona confirms that she loves Othello, but Brabantio leaves saying that Desdemona will
betray Othello: "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/She has deceived her father, and may
thee," (Act I, Sc 3). Iago, still in the room, takes note of Brabantio's remark. By order of the Duke, Othello
leaves Venice to command the Venetian armies against invading Turks on the island of Cyprus,
accompanied by his new wife, his new lieutenant Cassio, his ensign Iago, and Iago's wife, Emilia, as
Desdemona's attendant.

Act II

The party arrives in Cyprus to find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Othello orders a general
celebration and leaves to consummate his marriage with Desdemona. In his absence, Iago gets Cassio
drunk, and then persuades Roderigo to draw Cassio into a fight. Montano tries to calm down an angry
and drunk Cassio and this leads to them fighting one another. Montano is injured in the fight. Othello
reenters and questions the men as to what happened. Othello blames Cassio for the disturbance and
strips him of his rank. Cassio is distraught. Iago persuades Cassio to ask Desdemona to convince her
husband to reinstate Cassio.

Act III

Iago now persuades Othello to be suspicious of Cassio and Desdemona. When Desdemona drops a
handkerchief (the first gift given to her by Othello), Emilia finds it, and gives it to her husband Iago, at his
request, unaware of what he plans to do with it. Othello reenters and vows with Iago for the death of
Desdemona and Cassio, after which he makes Iago his lieutenant. Act III, scene iii is considered to be the
turning point of the play as it is the scene in which Iago successfully sows the seeds of doubt in Othello's
mind, inevitably sealing Othello's fate.

Act IV

Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio's lodgings, then tells Othello to watch Cassio's reactions while
Iago questions him. Iago goads Cassio on to talk about his affair with Bianca, a local courtesan, but
whispers her name so quietly that Othello believes the two men are talking about Desdemona. Later,
Bianca accuses Cassio of giving her a second-hand gift which he had received from another lover.
Othello sees this, and Iago convinces him that Cassio received the handkerchief from Desdemona.

Enraged and hurt, Othello resolves to kill his wife and tells Iago to kill Cassio. Othello proceeds to make
Desdemona's life miserable and strikes her in front of visiting Venetian nobles. Meanwhile, Roderigo
complains that he has received no results from Iago in return for his money and efforts to win
Desdemona, but Iago convinces him to kill Cassio.

Act V
Painting by William Salter of Othello weeping over Desdemona's body. Oil on canvas, ca. 1857.

Roderigo, having been manipulated by Iago, attacks Cassio in the street after Cassio leaves Bianca's
lodgings. Cassio wounds Roderigo. During the scuffle, Iago comes from behind Cassio and badly cuts his
leg. In the darkness, Iago manages to hide his identity, and when Lodovico and Gratiano hear Cassio's
cries for help, Iago joins them. When Cassio identifies Roderigo as one of his attackers, Iago secretly
stabs Roderigo to stop him revealing the plot. Iago then accuses Bianca of the failed conspiracy to kill
Cassio.

Othello confronts Desdemona, and then strangles her in their bed. When Emilia arrives, Desdemona
defends her husband before dying, and Othello accuses Desdemona of adultery. Emilia calls for help.
The former governor Montano arrives, with Gratiano and Iago. When Othello mentions the
handkerchief as proof, Emilia realizes what her husband Iago has done, and she exposes him,
whereupon he kills her. Othello, belatedly realising Desdemona's innocence, stabs Iago but not fatally,
saying that Iago is a devil, and he would rather have him live the rest of his life in pain.

Iago refuses to explain his motives, vowing to remain silent from that moment on. Lodovico apprehends
both Iago and Othello for the murders of Roderigo, Emilia, and Desdemona, but Othello commits
suicide. Lodovico appoints Cassio as Othello's successor and exhorts him to punish Iago justly. He then
denounces Iago for his actions and leaves to tell the others what has happened.

Sources

Othello is an adaptation of the Italian writer Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" ("A Moorish Captain")
from his Gli Hecatommithi (1565), a collection of one hundred tales in the style of Giovanni Boccaccio's
Decameron. No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, and verbal echoes
in Othello are closer to the Italian original than to Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's
tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508.[3] It also resembles an
incident described in the earlier tale of "The Three Apples", one of the stories narrated in the One
Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).[4] Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale,
with his few other characters identified only as the "Moor", the "Squadron Leader", the "Ensign", and
the "Ensign's Wife" (corresponding to the play's Othello, Cassio, Iago and Emilia). Cinthio drew a moral
(which he placed in the mouth of Desdemona) that it is unwise for European women to marry the
temperamental men of other nations.[5] Cinthio's tale has been described as a "partly racist warning"
about the dangers of miscegenation.[6]
While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's tale in composing Othello, he departed from it in some
details. Brabantio, Roderigo, and several minor characters are not found in Cinthio, for example, and
Shakespeare's Emilia takes part in the handkerchief mischief while her counterpart in Cinthio does not.
Unlike in Othello, in Cinthio, the "Ensign" (the play's Iago) lusts after Desdemona and is spurred to
revenge when she rejects him. Shakespeare's opening scenes are unique to his tragedy, as is the tender
scene between Emilia and Desdemona as the lady prepares for bed. Shakespeare's most striking
departure from Cinthio is the manner of his heroine's death. In Shakespeare, Othello suffocates
Desdemona, but in Cinthio, the "Moor" commissions the "Ensign" to bludgeon his wife to death with a
sand-filled stocking. Cinthio describes each gruesome blow, and, when the lady is dead, the "Ensign" and
the "Moor" place her lifeless body upon her bed, smash her skull, and cause the cracked ceiling above
the bed to collapse upon her, giving the impression its falling rafters caused her death. In Cinthio, the
two murderers escape detection. The "Moor" then misses Desdemona greatly, and comes to loathe the
sight of the "Ensign". He demotes him, and refuses to have him in his company. The "Ensign" then seeks
revenge by disclosing to the "Squadron Leader" the "Moor's" involvement in Desdemona's death. The
two depart Cyprus for Venice, and denounce the "Moor" to the Venetian Seigniory; he is arrested, taken
to Venice, and tortured. He refuses to admit his guilt and is condemned to exile. Desdemona's relatives
eventually find and kill him. The "Ensign", however, continues to escape detection in Desdemona's
death, but engages in other crimes while in Venice. He is arrested and dies after being tortured.
Cinthio's "Ensign's Wife" (the play's Emilia), survives her husband's death to tell her story.[7]

Cinthio's "Moor" is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but some researchers believe the poet also
took inspiration from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England circa
1600.[8]

Another possible source was the Description of Africa by Leo Africanus. The book was an enormous
success in Europe, and was translated into many other languages,[9] remaining a definitive reference
work for decades (and to some degree, centuries) afterwards.[10] An English translation by John Pory
appeared in 1600 under the title A Geographical Historie of Africa, Written in Arabicke and Italian by
Iohn Leo a More... in which form Shakespeare may have seen it and reworked hints in creating the
character of Othello.[11]

While supplying the source of the plot, the book offered nothing of the sense of place of Venice or
Cyprus. For knowledge of this, Shakespeare may have used Gasparo Contarini's The Commonwealth and
Government of Venice, in Lewes Lewkenor's 1599 translation.[12][13]

Date and context

Title page of the first quarto (1622)

The earliest mention of the play is found in a 1604 Revels Office account, which records that on
"Hallamas Day, being the first of Nouembar ... the Kings Maiesties plaiers" performed "A Play in the
Banketinghouse at Whit Hall Called The Moor of Venis." The work is attributed to "Shaxberd." The
Revels account was first printed by Peter Cunningham in 1842, and, while its authenticity was once
challenged, is now regarded as genuine (as authenticated by A.E. Stamp in 1930).[14] Based on its style,
the play is usually dated 1603 or 1604, but arguments have been made for dates as early as 1601 or
1602.[3][15]

The play was entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on 6 October 1621, by Thomas
Walkley, and was first published in quarto format by him in 1622:

"Tragœdy of Othello, The Moore of Venice. As it hath beene diuerse times acted at the Globe, and at the
Black-Friers, by his Maiesties Seruants. Written by William Shakespeare. London. Printed by N. O.
[Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Walkley, and are to be sold at his shop, at the Eagle and Child, in Brittans
Bursse, 1622."

The first page of Othello from the First Folio, printed in 1623

One year later, the play was included among the plays in the First Folio of Shakespeare's collected plays.
However, the version in the Folio is rather different in length, and in wording: as the editors of the
Folger edition explain: "The Folio play has about 160 lines that do not appear in the Quarto. Some of
these cluster together in quite extensive passages. The Folio also lacks a scattering of about a dozen
lines or part-lines that are to be found in the Quarto. These two versions also differ from each other in
their readings of numerous words.[16] Scholars differ in their explanation of these differences, and no
consensus has emerged.[16] Kerrigan suggests that the 1623 Folio version of Othello and a number of
other plays may have been cleaned-up relative to the Quarto to conform with the 1606 Act to Restrain
Abuses, which made it an offence 'in any Stage-play, Interlude, Shew, Maygame, or Pageant, iestingly,
and prophanely [to] speake, or vse the holy Name of God, or of Christ Iesus, or of the holy Ghost, or of
the Trinitie'.[17] This is not incompatible with the suggestion that the Quarto is based on an early
version of the play, whilst the Folio represents Shakespeare's revised version.[16] It may also be that the
Quarto was cut in the printing house to meet a fixed number of pages.[3] Most modern editions are
based on the longer Folio version, but often incorporate Quarto readings of words when the Folio text
appears to be in error.[18] Quartos were also published in 1630, 1655, 1681, 1695, 1699 and 1705.
Themes

Jealousy

Othello is renowned amongst literary scholars for the way in which it portrays the human emotion of
jealousy. Throughout various points in the play, good-natured characters make rash decisions based off
of the jealousy that they feel, most notably Othello.

Throughout the early acts of the play, Othello is depicted as being a typical heroic figure and upholds
admirable qualities, written with the intention of winning over the fervour of the audience, however, as
the play goes on, jealousy will manipulate his decisions and lead him into sin. While the majority of the
evil that Othello carries out in the play can be cited as coming from Iago, it is jealousy that motivates
him to perform wicked deeds. When Iago highlights the almost excessive amount of time that Cassio
and his wife, Desdemona, are spending together, Othello becomes filled with rage and, following a
series of events, will murder the one that he loves.

Shakespeare explores man's ugliest trait in this opus and perfectly represents the idea of the 'tragic
hero' in Othello, who wins over the responders early on but proceeds to make bad, almost wicked,
decisions that will make it harder for the audience to like him until his eventual undoing. This idea of the
tragic hero is made clear through the utilisation of jealousy, one of the various notable themes present
in Othello.

Iago versus Othello

Although its title suggests that the tragedy belongs primarily to Othello, Iago plays an important role in
the plot. He reflects the archetypal villain and has the biggest share of the dialogue. In Othello, it is Iago
who manipulates all other characters at will, controlling their movements and trapping them in an
intricate net of lies. He achieves this by getting close to all characters and playing on their weaknesses
while they refer to him as "honest" Iago, thus furthering his control over the characters. A. C. Bradley,
and more recently Harold Bloom, have been major advocates of this interpretation.[19] Other critics,
most notably in the later twentieth century (after F. R. Leavis), have focused on Othello.

Race

Portrait of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, Moorish ambassador to Queen
Elizabeth I in 1600, sometimes suggested as the inspiration for Othello.[20]
Although characters described as "Moors" appear in two other Shakespeare plays (Titus Andronicus and
The Merchant of Venice), such characters were a rarity in contemporary theatre, and it was unknown
for them to take centre stage.[21]

There is no consensus over Othello's ethnic origin. E. A. J. Honigmann, the editor of the Arden
Shakespeare edition, concluded that Othello's race is ambiguous. "Renaissance representations of the
Moor were vague, varied, inconsistent, and contradictory. As critics have established, the term 'Moor'
referred to dark-skinned people in general, used interchangeably with terms such as 'African', 'Somali',
'Ethiopian', 'Negro', 'Arab', 'Berber', and even 'Indian' to designate a figure from Africa (or
beyond)."[22][23] Various uses of the word black (for example, "Haply for I am black") are insufficient
evidence for any accurate racial classification, Honigmann argues, since black could simply mean
swarthy to Elizabethans. Iago twice uses the word Barbary or Barbarian to refer to Othello, seemingly
referring to the Barbary coast inhabited by Berbers. Roderigo calls Othello "the thicklips", which seems
to refer to Sub-Saharan African physiognomy, but Honigmann counters that, as these comments are all
intended as insults by the characters, they need not be taken literally.[24]

However, Jyotsna Singh wrote that the opposition of Brabantio to Desdemona marrying Othello—a
respected and honoured general—cannot make sense except in racial terms, citing the scene where
Brabantio accuses Othello of using witchcraft to make his daughter fall in love with him, saying it is
"unnatural" for Desdemona to desire Othello's "sooty bosom".[25] Singh argued that, since people with
dark complexions are common in the Mediterranean area, a Venetian senator like Brabantio being
opposed to Desdemona marrying Othello for merely being swarthy makes no sense, and that the
character of Othello was intended to be black.[25]

Michael Neill, editor of The Oxford Shakespeare, notes that the earliest critical references to Othello's
colour (Thomas Rymer's 1693 critique of the play, and the 1709 engraving in Nicholas Rowe's edition of
Shakespeare) assume him to be Sub-Saharan, while the earliest known North African interpretation was
not until Edmund Kean's production of 1814.[26] Honigmann discusses the view that Abd el-Ouahed ben
Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, Moorish ambassador of the Arab King of Barbary (Morocco) to
Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, was one inspiration for Othello. He stayed with his retinue in London for
several months and occasioned much discussion. While Shakespeare's play was written only a few years
afterwards, Honigmann questions the view that ben Messaoud himself was a significant influence on
it.[27]

Artist William Mulready portrays American actor Ira Aldridge as Othello.[28] The Walters Art Museum.
Othello is referred to as a "Barbary horse" (1.1.113) and a "lascivious Moor" (1.1.127). In 3.3 he
denounces Desdemona's supposed sin as being "black as mine own face". Desdemona's physical
whiteness is otherwise presented in opposition to Othello's dark skin: 5.2 "that whiter skin of hers than
snow". Iago tells Brabantio that "an old black ram / is tupping your white ewe" (1.1.88). In Elizabethan
discourse, the word "black" could suggest various concepts that extended beyond the physical colour of
skin, including a wide range of negative connotations.[29][30]

Othello was frequently performed as an Arab Moor during the 19th century. He was first played by a
black man on the London stage in 1833 by the most important of the nineteenth-century Othellos, the
African American Ira Aldridge who had been forced to leave his home country to make his career.[31]
Regardless of what Shakespeare intended by calling Othello a "Moor" – whether he meant that Othello
was a Muslim or a black man or both – in the 19th century and much of the 20th century, many critics
tended to see the tragedy in racial terms, seeing interracial marriages as "aberrations" that could end
badly.[32] Given this view of Othello, the play become especially controversial in apartheid-era South
Africa where interracial marriages were banned and performances of Othello were discouraged.[33]

The first major screen production casting a black actor as Othello did not come until 1995, with Laurence
Fishburne opposite Kenneth Branagh's Iago.[34] In the past, Othello would often have been portrayed
by a white actor in blackface or in a black mask: more recent actors who chose to 'black up' include
Ralph Richardson (1937); Orson Welles (1952); John Gielgud (1961); Laurence Olivier (1964); and
Anthony Hopkins (1981).[34] Ground-breaking black American actor Paul Robeson played the role in
three different productions between 1930 and 1959. The casting of the role comes with a political
subtext. Patrick Stewart played the role alongside an otherwise all-black cast in the Shakespeare Theatre
Company's 1997 staging of the play[35][36] and Thomas Thieme, also white, played Othello in a 2007
Munich Kammerspiele staging at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford. Michael Gambon also took
the role in 1980 and 1991; their performances were critically acclaimed.[37][38] Carlo Rota, of
Mediterranean (British Italian) heritage, played the character on Canadian television in 2008.[39]

The American Revels 1979 production shows Clayton Corbin and Caryn West as Othello and Desdemona;
in the second plate, West is seen with Marie Goodman Hunter, an African American actress, as Emilia.

The race of the title role is often seen as Shakespeare's way of isolating the character, culturally as well
as visually, from the Venetian nobles and officers, and the isolation may seem more genuine when a
black actor takes the role. But questions of race may not boil down to a simple decision of casting a
single role. In 1979, Keith Fowler’s production of Othello mixed the races throughout the company.
Produced by the American Revels Company at the Empire Theater (renamed the November Theater in
2011) in Richmond, Virginia, this production starred African American actor Clayton Corbin in the title
role, with Henry K. Bal, a Hawaiian actor of mixed ethnicity, playing Iago. Othello’s army was composed
of both black and white mercenaries. Iago’s wife, Emilia was played by the popular black actress Marie
Goodman Hunter.[40] The 2016 production at the New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Sam Gold,
also effectively used a mixed-race cast, starring English actors David Oyelowo as Othello and Daniel Craig
as Iago. Desdemona was played by American actress Rachel Brosnahan, Cassio was played by Finn
Wittrock, and Emilia was played by Marsha Stephanie Blake.

As the Protestant Reformation of England proclaimed the importance of pious, controlled behaviour in
society, it was the tendency of the contemporary Englishman to displace society's "undesirable"
qualities of barbarism, treachery, jealousy and libidinousness onto those who are considered
"other".[41] The assumed characteristics of black men, or "the other", were both instigated and
popularised by Renaissance dramas of the time; for example, the treachery of black men inherent to
George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar (1588).[42] It has been argued that it is Othello's "otherness" which
makes him so vulnerable to manipulation. Audiences of the time would expect Othello to be insecure
about his race and the implied age gap between himself and Desdemona.

Religious and philosophical

The title "Moor" implies a religious "other" of North African or Middle Eastern descent. Though the
actual racial definition of the term is murky, the implications are religious as well as racial.[43] Many
critics have noted references to demonic possession throughout the play, especially in relation to
Othello's seizure, a phenomenon often associated with possession in the popular consciousness of the
day.[44] Thomas M. Vozar, in a 2012 article in Philosophy and Literature , suggests that the epileptic fit
relates to the mind–body problem and the existence of the soul.[45]

The hero

There have been many differing views on the character of Othello over the years. A.C. Bradley calls
Othello the "most romantic of all of Shakespeare's heroes" (by "hero" Bradley means protagonist) and
"the greatest poet of them all". On the other hand, F.R. Leavis describes Othello as "egotistical". There
are those who also take a less critical approach to the character of Othello such as William Hazlitt, who
said: "the nature of the Moor is noble ... but his blood is of the most inflammable kind".

Performance history
Poster for an 1884 American production starring Thomas W. Keene

Pre-20th century

Othello possesses an unusually detailed performance record. The first certainly known performance
occurred on 1 November 1604, at Whitehall Palace in London, being mentioned in a Revels account on
"Hallamas Day, being the first of Nouembar", 1604, when "the Kings Maiesties plaiers" performed "A
Play in the Banketinge house at Whit Hall Called The Moor of Venis". The play is there attributed to
"Shaxberd".[46] Subsequent performances took place on Monday, 30 April 1610 at the Globe Theatre,
and at Oxford in September 1610.[47] On 22 November 1629, and on 6 May 1635, it played at the
Blackfriars Theatre. Othello was also one of the twenty plays performed by the King's Men during the
winter of 1612, in celebration of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V, Elector Palatine.[48]

At the start of the Restoration era, on 11 October 1660, Samuel Pepys saw the play at the Cockpit
Theatre. Nicholas Burt played the lead, with Charles Hart as Cassio; Walter Clun won fame for his Iago.
Soon after, on 8 December 1660, Thomas Killigrew's new King's Company acted the play at their Vere
Street theatre, with Margaret Hughes as Desdemona – probably the first time a professional actress
appeared on a public stage in England.

It may be one index of the play's power that Othello was one of the very few Shakespearean plays that
was never adapted and changed during the Restoration and the eighteenth century.[49]

As Shakespeare regained popularity among nineteenth-century French Romantics, poet, playwright, and
novelist Alfred de Vigny created a French translation of Othello, titled Le More de Venise, which
premiered at the Comédie-Française on 24 October 1829.

Famous nineteenth-century Othellos included Ira Aldridge, Edmund Kean, Edwin Forrest, and Tommaso
Salvini, and outstanding Iagos were Edwin Booth and Henry Irving.

20th century

Paul Robeson as Othello, photographed by Carl Van Vechten (1944)

Advertisement for the Columbia Masterworks Records release of Othello (1945)

The 1943 production of Othello, starring Paul Robeson and Uta Hagen, holds the record for the most
performances of any Shakespeare play ever produced on Broadway.

The most notable American production may be Margaret Webster's 1943 staging starring Paul Robeson
as Othello and José Ferrer as Iago. This production was the first ever in America to feature a black actor
playing Othello with an otherwise all-white cast (there had been all-black productions of the play
before). It ran for 296 performances, almost twice as long as any other Shakespearean play ever
produced on Broadway. Although it was never filmed, it was the first lengthy performance of a
Shakespeare play released on records, first on a multi-record 78 RPM set and then on a 3-LP one.
Robeson had first played the role in London in 1930 in a cast that included Peggy Ashcroft as
Desdemona and Ralph Richardson as Roderigo,[50] and would return to it in 1959 at Stratford on Avon
with co-stars Mary Ure, Sam Wanamaker and Vanessa Redgrave. The critics had mixed reactions to the
"flashy" 1959 production which included mid-western accents and rock-and roll drumbeats but gave
Robeson primarily good reviews.[51] W. A. Darlington of The Daily Telegraph ranked Robeson's Othello
as the best he had ever seen[52] while the Daily Express, which had for years before published
consistently scathing articles about Robeson for his leftist views, praised his "strong and stately"
performance (though in turn suggested it was a "triumph of presence not acting").[53]

Actors have alternated the roles of Iago and Othello in productions to stir audience interest since the
nineteenth century. Two of the most notable examples of this role swap were William Charles Macready
and Samuel Phelps at Drury Lane (1837) and Richard Burton and John Neville at The Old Vic (1955).
When Edwin Booth's tour of England in 1880 was not well attended, Henry Irving invited Booth to
alternate the roles of Othello and Iago with him in London. The stunt renewed interest in Booth's tour.
James O'Neill also alternated the roles of Othello and Iago with Booth.

The American actor William Marshall performed the title role in at least six productions. His Othello was
called by Harold Hobson of the London Sunday Times "the best Othello of our time,"[54] continuing:

...nobler than Tearle, more martial than Gielgud, more poetic than Valk. From his first entry, slender and
magnificently tall, framed in a high Byzantine arch, clad in white samite, mystic, wonderful, a figure of
Arabian romance and grace, to his last plunging of the knife into his stomach, Mr Marshall rode without
faltering the play's enormous rhetoric, and at the end the house rose to him.[55]
Marshall also played Othello in a jazz musical version, Catch My Soul, with Jerry Lee Lewis as Iago, in Los
Angeles in 1968.[56] His Othello was captured on record in 1964 with Jay Robinson as Iago and on video
in 1981 with Ron Moody as Iago. The 1982 Broadway staging starred James Earl Jones as Othello and
Christopher Plummer as Iago, who became the only actor to receive a Tony Award nomination for a
performance in the play.

When Laurence Olivier gave his acclaimed performance of Othello at the Royal National Theatre in 1964,
he had developed a case of stage fright that was so profound that when he was alone onstage, Frank
Finlay (who was playing Iago) would have to stand offstage where Olivier could see him to settle his
nerves.[57] This performance was recorded complete on LP, and filmed by popular demand in 1965
(according to a biography of Olivier, tickets for the stage production were notoriously hard to get). The
film version still holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for acting ever given to a Shakespeare
film – Olivier, Finlay, Maggie Smith (as Desdemona) and Joyce Redman (as Emilia, Iago's wife) were all
nominated for Academy Awards. Olivier was among the last white actors to be greatly acclaimed as
Othello, although the role continued to be played by such performers as Donald Sinden at the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1979–1980, Paul Scofield at the Royal National Theatre in 1980, Anthony
Hopkins in the BBC Television Shakespeare production (1981), and Michael Gambon in a stage
production at Scarborough directed by Alan Ayckbourn in 1990. Gambon had been in Olivier's earlier
production. In an interview Gambon commented "I wasn't even the second gentleman in that. I didn't
have any lines at all. I was at the back like that, standing for an hour. [It's] what I used to do – I had a
metal helmet, I had an earplug, and we used to listen to The Archers. No one knew. All the line used to
listen to The Archers. And then I went and played Othello myself at Birmingham Rep I was 27. Olivier
sent me a telegram on the first night. He said, "Copy me." He said, "Do what I used to do." Olivier used
to lower his voice for Othello so I did mine. He used to paint the big negro lips on. You couldn't do it
today, you'd get shot. He had the complete negro face. And the hips. I did all that. I copied him exactly.
Except I had a pony tail. I played him as an Arab. I stuck a pony tail on with a bell on the end of it. I
thought that would be nice. Every time I moved my hair went wild."[58] British blacking-up for Othello
ended with Gambon in 1990, however the Royal Shakespeare Company didn't run the play at all on the
main Stratford stage until 1999, when Ray Fearon became the first black British actor to take the part,
the first black man to play Othello with the RSC since Robeson.[59]

In 1997, Patrick Stewart took the role of Othello with the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington,
D.C.) in a race-bending performance, in a "photo negative" production of a white Othello with an
otherwise all-black cast. Stewart had wanted to play the title role since the age of 14, so he and director
Jude Kelly inverted the play so Othello became a comment on a white man entering a black
society.[35][36] The interpretation of the role is broadening, with theatre companies casting Othello as a
woman or inverting the gender of the whole cast to explore gender questions in Shakespeare's text.
Companies have also chosen to share the role between several actors during a performance.[60][61]
Canadian playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald's 1988 award-winning play Goodnight Desdemona (Good
Morning Juliet) is a revision of Othello and Romeo and Juliet in which an academic deciphers a cryptic
manuscript she believes to be the original source for the tragedies, and is transported into the plays
themselves.[62]

21st century

Othello opened at the Donmar Warehouse in London on 4 December 2007, directed by Michael
Grandage, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello, Ewan McGregor as Iago, Tom Hiddleston as Cassio, Kelly
Reilly as Desdemona and Michelle Fairley as Emillia. Ejiofor, Hiddleston and Fairley all received
nominations for Laurence Olivier Awards, with Ejiofor winning. Stand-up comedian Lenny Henry played
Othello in 2009 produced by Northern Broadsides in collaboration with West Yorkshire Playhouse.[63] In
March 2016 the historian Onyeka produced a play entitled Young Othello, a fictional take on Othello’s
young life before the events of Shakespeare’s play.[64][65] In June 2016, baritone and actor David
Serero played the title role in a Moroccan adaptation featuring Judeo-Arabic songs and Verdi's opera
version in New York.[66][67] In 2017, Ben Naylor directed the play for the Pop-up Globe in Auckland,
with Māori actor Te Kohe Tuhaka in the title role, Jasmine Blackborow as Desdemona and Haakon
Smestad as Iago.[68] The production transferred to Melbourne, Australia with another Maori actor,
Regan Taylor, taking over the title role.[69]

In September 2013, a Tamil adaptation entitled Othello, the Fall of a Warrior was directed and produced
in Singapore by Subramanian Ganesh.[70]

Adaptations and cultural references

Main article: Othello in popular culture

Othello as a literary character has appeared in many representations within popular culture over several
centuries. There also have been over a dozen film adaptations of Othello.

References

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Scene II; Desdemona in bed asleep., (1803)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden
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"Cinthioʹs Tale: The Source of Shakespeareʹs Othello" (PDF). St. Stephen's School.
Shakespeare, William. Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Bantam Books, 1988.

Young, John G., M.D. "Essay: What Is Creativity?". Adventures in Creativity: Multimedia Magazine. 1 (2).
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Shakespeare, William. Othello. Wordsworth Editions. 12. Retrieved from Google Books on 5 November
2010. ISBN 1-85326-018-5, ISBN 978-1-85326-018-6.

Bevington, David and Bevington, Kate (translators). "Un Capitano Moro" in Four Tragedies: Hamlet,
Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Bantam Books, 1988. pp. 371–387.

Professor Nabil Matar (April 2004), Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Stage Moor, Sam Wanamaker
Fellowship Lecture, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (cf. Mayor of London (2006), Muslims in London, pp.
14–15, Greater London Authority)

Black, Crofton (2002). "Leo Africanus's Descrittione dell'Africa and its sixteenth-century translations".
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"A Man of Two Worlds"

Lois Whitney, "Did Shakespeare Know Leo Africanus?" PMLA 37.3 (September 1922:470-483).

McPherson, David (Autumn 1988). "Lewkenor's Venice and Its Sources". Renaissance Quarterly.
University of Chicago Press. 41 (3): 459–466. doi:10.2307/2861757.

Bate, Jonathan (2004). "Shakespeare's Islands". In Clayton, Tom; et al. (eds.). Shakespeare and the
Mediterranean. University of Delaware Press. p. 291. ISBN 0-87413-816-7.

Sanders, Norman (ed.). Othello (2003, rev. ed.), New Cambridge Shakespeare, p1.

E. A. J. Honigmann (ed), Othello (1997), Arden Shakespeare, Appendix 1, pp. 344–350.

Paul Westine and Barbara Mowat, eds. Othello, Folger Shakespeare Library edition (New York: WSP,
1993), p. xlv.

John Kerrigan, Shakespeare's Binding Language, Oxford University Press (Oxford & New York: 2016)

Paul Westine and Barbara Mowat, eds. Othello, Folger Shakespeare Library edition (New York: WSP,
1993), pp. xlv–xlvi.

Shakespeare, William; Ruffiel, Burton (2005). Othello (Yale Shakespeare). Bloom, Harold. Yale University
Press. ISBN 0-300-10807-9.

Bate, Jonathan; Rasmussen, Eric (2009). Othello. Basingstoke, England: Macmillan. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-230-
57621-6.
Dickson, Andrew (2016). The Globe Guide to Shakespeare. Profile Books. pp. 331, 334. ISBN 978-
1781256343.

Making More of the Moor: Aaron, Othello, and Renaissance Refashionings of Race. Emily C. Bartels

"Moor, n2", The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edtn.

E. A. J. Honigmann, ed. Othello. London: Thomas Nelson, 1997, p. 15.

Singh, Jyotsna "Post-colonial criticism" pp. 492-507 from Shakespeare An Oxford Guide, ed. Stanley
Wells & Lena Cowen Orlin, Oxford: OUP, 2003 p.493.

Michael Neill, ed. Othello (Oxford University Press), 2006, pp. 45–47.

Honigmann pp. 2–3.

"Othello". Walters Art Museum.

Doris Adler, "The Rhetoric of Black and White in Othello" Shakespeare Quarterly, 25 (1974)

Oxford English Dictionary, 'Black', 1c.

Dickson, Andrew (2016). The Globe Guide to Shakespeare. Profile Books. p. 342. ISBN 978-1781256343.

Singh, Jyotsna "Post-colonial criticism" pp. 492-507 from Shakespeare An Oxford Guide, ed. Stanley
Wells * Lena Cowen Orlin, Oxford: OUP, 2003 p.493-494.

Singh, Jyotsna "Post-colonial criticism" pp. 492-507 from Shakespeare An Oxford Guide, ed. Stanley
Wells * Lena Cowen Orlin, Oxford: OUP, 2003 p.494-495.

Cartmell, Deborah (2000) Interpreting Shakespeare on screen Palgrave MacMillan pp. 72–77 ISBN 978-
0-312-23393-8

"The Issue of Race and Othello". Curtain up, DC. Retrieved 2 May 2010.

"Othello by William Shakespeare directed by Jude Kelly". The Shakespeare Theatre Company. Archived
from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2008.

Billington, Michael (5 April 2007). ""Black or white? Casting can be a grey area" Guardian article. 5 April
2007". Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

Michael Billington (28 April 2006). "Othello'' (Theatre review) ''The Guardian'' Friday 28 April 2006".
Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

"Othello". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

Roy Proctor, "’Othello’ is Honest on Bare Stage," Richmond News Leader," 10 February 1979

Jones, Eldred (1971). Othello's Countrymen. Charlottesville: Univ of Virginia Press.

Note also the character of Aaron the Moor in Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus

""Moor, n3", The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edtn".

Brownlow, F. W. (1979). "Samuel Harsnett and the Meaning of Othello's 'Suffocating Streams'".
Philological Quarterly. 58: 107–115.

Vozar, Thomas M. (2012). "Body-Mind Aporia in the Seizure of Othello". Philosophy and Literature. 36
(1): 183–186. doi:10.1353/phl.2012.0014.

Shakespeare, William. Four Tragedies. Bantam Books, 1988.

Loomis, Catherine ed. (2002). William Shakespeare: A Documentary Volume, Vol. 263, Dictionary of
Literary Biography, Detroit: Gale, 200–201.

Potter, Lois (2002). Othello:Shakespeare in performance. Manchester University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-
0-7190-2726-0.

F. E. Halliday, A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964, Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; pp. 346–347.

Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and
Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 32. ISBN 9780810893047. Retrieved 2 May 2019.

Duberman, p. 477

Duberman, p. 733, notes for pp. 475–478

Daily Express, 10 April 1959

Jet magazine, 30 June 2003

The (London) Independent, 6 July 2003

Christgau, Robert. Any Old Way You Choose It, ISBN 0-8154-1041-7

Laurence Olivier, Confessions of an Actor, Simon and Schuster (1982) p. 262

The Arts Desk – "theartsdesk Q&A: Actor Michael Gambon" – by Jasper Rees – 25 September 2010–
2009 The Arts Desk Ltd. Website by 3B Digital, London, UK.

Hugo Rifkind. "The Times 9 February 2004 "Black and white more show"".
Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

"Independent article 25 August 1993. "Edinburgh Festival"". Independent.co.uk. 25 August 1993.

Retrieved 18 August 2013.

5 October 2010 "The Docklands" Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

"Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia". Canadiantheatre.com. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

"Shakespeare's Othello | Cast & Creative – Lenny Henry". Othellowestend.com. 11 November 2002.
Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2009.

"Young Othello – The Voice". Retrieved 10 September 2017.

"Young Othello – Good Reads". Retrieved 10 September 2017.

http://www.theculturenews.com/#!DAVID-SERERO-starring-as-OTHELLO-in-a-Moroccan-Style-this-
June-in-New-York/cmbz/57282b750cf2051007a270c2

"Sephardic OTHELLO to Open in June at Center for Jewish History". Broadway World. 17 May 2016.

"The Cast". www.popupglobe.co.nz. Pop-up Globe. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017.
Retrieved 22 May 2017.

"Othello". PopUpGlobe. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017.

"William Shakespeare's Othello : the fall of a warrior, 19th-22nd September 2013, Goodman Arts
Centre". National Library Board Singapore. Retrieved 5 March 2018.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Othello

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Othello

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Othello.

The Annotated Othello Complete text of Othello with explanations of difficult words and passages. No
ads or images.

Othello at Project Gutenberg

Othello Navigator – Includes the annotated text, a search engine, and scene summaries.

Cinthio's Tale – A 19th-century English translation of Shakespeare's primary source.

Othello – analysis, explanatory notes, and lectures.

Othello – Scene-indexed and searchable version of the text.

Othello public domain audiobook at LibriVox

Othello at the Internet Broadway Database – lists numerous productions.

Othello study guide, themes, quotes, multimedia, and teacher resources

Othello Act and scene with summary & quotes, analysis, characters, topic discussions.

Othello at the British Library

Othello – Annotated text aligned to Common Core standards.

Othello Map

Banerjee, Subhrasleta. "From Confidence to Irrationality: Reviewing the Colour Issue in Shakespeare's
Othello". ThOthello: Plot Summary

Act I, Scene I

The play opens on a warm Venetian night, where a conversation is underway between Roderigo, a
gentleman, and Iago, a soldier under Othello's command. Roderigo, who has been courting Desdemona,
is upset with the news that she has eloped with Othello, a great Moorish warrior who is now a general in
the service of the ruler of Venice. Iago confesses to Roderigo that he hates the Moor because another
soldier, Michael Cassio, has been promoted to lieutenant instead of Iago. He reveals that he only
remains in Othello's service to facilitate his plans of revenge: "I follow him to serve my turn upon him"
(I.i.42). It is not surprising that Iago sees Roderigo as a useful puppet in his evil schemes. He tells
Roderigo that they should first inform Desdemona's father of the Moor's marriage to his daughter. Her
father, prejudiced and ignorant, will surely be livid when he hears that a black man has wed Desdemona.
Roderigo hopes that her father, Brabantio, will use his political status to see that their marriage is
quickly annulled. But Iago knows that the Duke would not jeopardize Othello's desire or ability to fight
for Venice in the Turkish wars by punishing him for marrying a Venetian nobleman's daughter. Othello's
punishment for wedding Desdemona is not part of Iago's plan. His plan at the moment is only to make
Othello believe that he is a trustworthy confidant. When Othello is confronted by Brabantio, Iago will be
there to lend his counsel and support. Iago and Roderigo stand below Brabantio's bedroom window and
Roderigo calls his name. To ensure a response, Iago adds,

Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves! thieves! thieves!

Look to your home, your daughter, and your bags!

Thieves! thieves! (I.i.79-81)

Brabantio comes to the window and Iago tells him to dress at once and come down, for "an old black
ram/Is tupping your white ewe" (I.i.88). Unable to understand Iago's reference to the union of Othello
and Desdemona, Brabantio demands to know why they are bothering him at such a late hour. Roderigo
explains that his daughter is in the 'clasps of a lascivious Moor' and Brabantio rushes into Desdemona's
room to find it empty. He runs downstairs and out into the street without even changing into his day
clothes. Furious, he demands to know if they have married and when Roderigo answers yes, Brabantio
cries 'treason'. Roderigo tells him where he can find Othello and Brabantio hurries off in a rage.
Act I, Scene II

The scene opens on a Venetian street where Iago has joined Othello and his attendants. Iago is quick to
report his conversation with Roderigo to Othello. Of course, Iago's retells the story to accommodate his
cunning plan. He says that Roderigo "prated"

And spoke such scurvy and provoking terms

Against your honor

That with the little godliness I have

I did full hard forbear him. (I.ii.6-9).

Cassio arrives with news that the Duke requires Othello at an urgent war meeting. Brabantio and
Roderigo enter and Brabantio lashes out at Othello: "O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow'd my
daughter?" (I.ii.62-4). Othello responds to the verbal attack with grace and dignity. Brabantio demands
that Othello go to prison. Othello calmly tells him that he cannot for the Duke needs him at once.
Brabantio decides to take the matter to the Duke, since he is already awaiting Othello. He is sure that
the Duke will brand Othello a criminal as he has done, sure that his is "not an idle cause" (I.ii.95).

Act I, Scene III

The Duke and his senators gather in the council chamber. They are concerned with the news that a
Turkish fleet is planning an attack on Cyprus, which is governed by Venice. They are discussing a counter
attack which will be led by Othello, when Brabantio comes storming in, accusing Othello of corrupting
his daughter, Desdemona, with "spells and medicines bought of mountebanks." Othello asks that they
summon Desdemona, for her testimony is the only defense he needs. While they wait for her, Othello
describes to the Duke the real way in which he won Desdemona's heart. She arrives, with Iago following
her. She tells the Duke and her shocked father that she did fall in love with Othello for the "visage in his
mind" (252). She begs to be allowed to go with Othello to Cyprus. The Duke grants her permission to
accompany Othello, but Othello must leave immediately. Desdemona must meet him there at a later
time, and Othello entrusts Iago with her safe passage: "Honest Iago/My Desdemona must I leave to
thee" (I.iii.295). The senate adjourns and leave the council chamber, followed by Brabantio, Othello,
Desdemona, and all the rest, except for Iago and Roderigo. Iago assures Roderigo that Desdemona's love
for Othello is fleeting and that, if Roderigo will come to Cyprus, he will continue scheming to break up
the newlyweds. Roderigo agrees and leaves to make preparations to sail for Cyprus. Once alone, Iago
reveals phase two of his evil plan -- the destruction of Michael Cassio, the soldier who received the
promotion from Othello. He will make Othello believe that Cassio is Desdemona's secret lover, thereby
ruining both of his enemies with the same lie.
Act II, Scene I

Act II opens in Cyprus where Montano, the Venetian governor, and his friends discuss a tempest that
might have destroyed the Turkish fleet. A messenger comes in with the news that the enemy ships have
indeed been pulled under by the waves. But they soon begin to fear that the very same storm has taken
the lives of Othello and his crew. Cassio arrives, confirming that Othello cannot be located. One ship
does land, carrying Iago, Desdemona, Roderigo, and Iago's wife, Emilia, who has come to look after
Desdemona. Desdemona is shaken with fear for her husband, but, much like her warrior husband, she is
brave and steady, and keeps her worry to herself. She converses with Iago and Emilia, and is sure to
include Cassio in the discussion. Cassio is an old and beloved friend of Othello's and he too is afraid that
the ship has been lost at sea. Out of this great concern for Othello's safety, Cassio takes Desdemona by
the hand. Iago delights in this overt display of affection that he will use against them. A trumpet sounds
and to everyone's relief Othello enters. He greets Desdemona with a kiss and addresses the crowd,
proposing a great feast in celebration of the Venetian victory. All but Iago and Roderigo move from the
seaport to the royal castle. Iago tells Roderigo that Cassio is also in love with Desdemona and that, to
help their plans, Roderigo should pick a fight with Cassio while he is on duty. This will hurt Cassio's
reputation and ruin his friendship with Othello and help keep him apart from Desdemona. Desperate,
Roderigo agrees: "I will do this if you can bring it to any opportunity." (II.i.276). They bid each other
goodbye and Iago walks off alone. He soliloquizes that he intends to "make the Moor thank and love"
him, while at the same time planting thoughts of jealousy in Othello's mind -- thoughts so strong "That
judgement cannot cure." (II.i.296)

Act II, Scene II

On a street in Cyprus a herald announces the great victory feast and party that Othello has planned. All
the soldiers have full liberty to make merry until eleven o'clock that evening, at which time they must
return to their posts.

Act II, Scene III

In the great hall of the castle Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio speak briefly about Iago. Othello tells
Cassio that Iago is "most honest." Othello and Desdemona leave and Iago comes in to join Cassio. Iago
asks him to partake in a glass of wine. Cassio agrees, but insists that he have only a little, for he has "no
brains for drinking". But reason gives way to temptation and soon Cassio is drunk. Although he should
know better, Cassio takes his post as usual. Iago sends Roderigo to engage Cassio in the fight and within
moments the two come bursting back into the hall, swords clashing. They duel until Othello rushes in
and demands that they stop. Disappointed and angered by Cassio's behavior, Othello dismisses him
from duty. Othello leaves and Iago convinces Cassio that, in order to regain Othello's favour and his
position as lieutenant, he must persuade Desdemona to speak to Othello on his behalf. Cassio leaves,
confident that Iago's plan will work to restore his friendship with Othello. Iago is also sure that his plan
will be a success, but with much different results. His intent is to make it appear that Desdemona is
pleading for her long-time lover. Desdemona will become Iago's most valued pawn:

So I will turn her virtue into pitch,

And out of her own goodness make the net

That shall enmesh them all." (II.iii.336-8)

Act III, Scene I

Outside the castle, Cassio has gathered some musicians in the hopes of putting Othello in a good mood.
Cassio asks Emilia if she will grant him access to visit Desdemona. Iago overhears and offers to fetch
Desdemona at once. Desdemona agrees to an interview with Cassio and Emilia shows him to
Desdemona's chamber.

Act III, Scene II

In this short scene Othello makes plans to inspect some parts of the fortifications built by his troops. The
purpose of this scene is to explain why Othello is not initially present when Desdemona meets with
Cassio. Iago had planned to concoct a story to ensure Othello was absent for Cassio's visit, but luck has
made Iago's job easier indeed.

Act III, Scene III

The scene shifts to the garden of the castle. Cassio asks Desdemona to speak to Othello and convince
him that he is still a trustworthy soldier and friend. Desdemona does not hesitate to help because she
knows how deeply Cassio and Othello feel for one another. She longs for them to reconcile: "You do love
my lord/You have known him long" (III.iii.10-1). In a moment of brilliant dramatic irony, Desdemona
innocently professes her undying support for Cassio:

Assure thee

If I do vow a friendship, I'll perform it

To the last article. My lord shall never rest;

I'll watch him tame and talk him out of patience;

His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift;

I'll intermingle everything he does

with Cassio's suit. (III.iii 20-6)

Othello returns to the castle and first greets Iago. They go together to see Desdemona and they catch a
glimpse of Cassio leaving out the back entrance. Under his breath, Iago is quick to add "Ha! I like not
that" (III.iii.34). Othello asks what Iago means by such a statement. Confused, he further asks if that was
really Cassio that just parted from his wife. Iago, in the midst of administering his first dose of poison,
replies "Cassio, my lord?/No sure, I cannot think it/That he would steal away so guilty-like/Seeing you
coming" (III.iii.37-40). Desdemona rushes over to Othello and immediately begins to plead for Cassio. So
adamant is she that Othello agrees to a future meeting with Cassio to begin a reconciliation: "Prithee no
more. Let him come when he will/I will deny thee nothing (III.iii.75). Happy with Othello's answer,
Desdemona leaves the garden and Iago, alone once again with Othello, continues his evil machinations.
He asks if Cassio knew about Othello's love for Desdemona from the beginning of their courtship.
Othello says yes and adds that Cassio even served as a matchmaker for the two and "went between
[them] very oft." Iago shows deep concern and subtly hints that Cassio's ulterior motive had been all
along to engage in an affair with Desdemona. Iago plays upon Othello's insecurities, reminding him that
Cassio is younger and more handsome and is a white Venetian citizen. It does not take long before
Othello is convinced of Desdemona's betrayal. He chooses the words of Iago over his trust in his wife,
and declares "my relief must be to loathe her." (III.iii.268). Desdemona enters with Emilia to call Othello
for supper. He tries to hide his inner turmoil but Desdemona can tell that he is troubled. He complains
that he has a headache. She pulls out a handkerchief embroidered with strawberries and lovingly puts it
to his head, but he pushes it away and it falls to the ground. Othello insists she not bother picking it up,
and he tells her that he is ready for supper. For some time Iago has asked Emilia to steal Desdemona's
handkerchief and now, alone in the garden, she has the opportunity. Hiding it in her pocket, Emilia
wonders what Iago's intentions are for the handkerchief. Iago enters and Emilia proudly shows him the
handkerchief. He calls her a "good wench" and she asks him for what purpose will he use it. He refuses
to tell her and she leaves on his command. Once alone, Iago reveals what Emilia desired to know: I will
in Cassio's lodging lose this napkin/And let him find it" (III.iii.321-2). Othello returns from his short
supper and he is distraught to say the least: "Farewell, tranquil mind" (III.iii.350). Desdemona's
treachery consumes his thoughts and he lashes out at Iago, demanding immediate proof of her betrayal.
Iago makes up a story that placed him outside Desdemona's chamber a short time before, and he tells
Othello that he heard Desdemona professing her love to Cassio. Othello rages "I'll tear her to pieces"
and Iago adds that he has seen Cassio with Desdemona's handkerchief -- the first gift Othello ever gave
her. Othello cries for "blood! blood! blood!" (III.iii.451) and kneels before his confidant Iago, taking a
vow of revenge:

Now, by yond marble

heaven,
In the due reverence of a sacred vow

I here enrage my words. (III.iii.459-62)

Iago also kneels and pledges his loyalty to Othello. In this joint swearing of oaths, Iago and Othello have
become partners in evil. Through this act we see Othello's transformation from hero into villain.

Act III, Scene IV

In front of the castle Desdemona and Emilia meet the Clown, a servant to Othello. Desdemona asks him
where Cassio might be, and he says that he will search for him. Desdemona is distraught over her
missing handkerchief and tells Emilia that she would have rather lost anything else she owns, ironically
adding:

and but my noble Moor

Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness

As jealous creatures are, it were enough

To put him to ill thinking. (III.iv.22-4)

Othello arrives and cunningly asks Desdemona to lend him the handkerchief, and she replies that she
cannot. He tells her the history of the handkerchief, and packs his tale with implied accusations. He next
tells her that, if the handkerchief were misplaced, it would be an irrevocable loss. Now afraid of the
consequences, she lies to Othello and assures him that it is not lost. But Othello grows more angry and
storms out of the room in a rage. Iago and Cassio enter and Cassio asks Desdemona if she continues to
plead his case before Othello, and she admits that she cannot because she too has fallen out of favour
with her husband. But she promises to discuss Cassio with Othello when she is again on good terms with
him. Desdemona and Emilia leave and Cassio stays behind to talk to Bianca, his lover, who has just come
out of the castle. Bianca chides him for not giving her the attention she deserves. He pulls out the
handkerchief that Iago planted in his chamber and asks Bianca if she will make a copy of the
embroidered pattern, for he finds it very beautiful. She agrees and Cassio asks to be alone as he waits
for a possible word with Othello.

Act IV, Scene I

On the grounds of the castle, Iago and Othello have found a secluded place in which to continue their
discussion of Desdemona's adultery. Although to the audience it appears that they have resumed where
they left off at the end of Act III, Shakespeare hints that much time has elapsed and that Iago used those
missing hours and days to pollute further Othello's mind. Iago tells Othello that Cassio has admitted to
having sex with Desdemona. Othello, overcome with rage, spirals into incoherent hysteria:
Lie with her? lie on her? -- We say lie on her when they

belie her. -- Lie with her! Zounds, that's fulsome.

Handkerchief -- confessions -- handkerchief! -- To

To confess, and be hang'd for his labour -- first to be hang'd,

and then to confess. (IV.i.35-40)

He collapses in a trance-like state, oblivious to the outside world. Iago delights in his victory: "Work
on/My medicine, work" (IV.i.44-5). Cassio enters and Iago pretends that he has information about
Othello but they must discuss it later. Cassio leaves and when Othello regains his composure, Iago tells
him that he will work a confession out of Cassio if Othello will secretly listen to their conversation. When
Cassio comes back, Iago asks him about Bianca, and he replies that he knows that she loves him but that
"She is persuaded I will marry her out of her own love and flattery/not out of promise" (IV.i.127-9). As
expected, Othello thinks that Cassio is referring to Desdemona. Bianca comes in holding Desdemona's
handkerchief. Livid, she tells Cassio that she was a "fine fool" to take the "minx's token." She demands
he give the handkerchief back to the woman it belongs to, whom she assumes is Cassio's lover. Bianca
runs away and confused Cassio follows her. Othello steps out of the shadows. His rage has
metamorphosed into cool hatred as he calmly asks: "How shall I murder him, Iago?" (IV.i.166). He
resolves also to murder Desdemona for her betrayal and discusses with Iago the best way to be rid of
her. He asks for poison, but Iago says no, "Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed
she hath contaminated" (IV.i.202-3). Othello responds like a heartless monster: "Good, good! The justice
of it pleases. Very good!" (IV.i.204). Iago wants the privilege of killing Cassio himself and he will report
back to Othello before midnight. Desdemona appears with Lodovico, her kinsman, who brings word
from the Duke that Othello must return to Venice and that Cassio will be placed in charge of the soldiers
in Cyprus. When Desdemona openly expresses her happiness for Cassio's promotion, Othello strikes her,
screaming "Devil!". Timidly, Desdemona says that she will leave Othello's presence for fear she will
anger him more. Lodovico, surprised at Othello's behavior, asks him to call her back. Othello does, only
to brand her a devious manipulator in front of her kinsman. He orders her away and storms off to
prepare for his trip back to Venice. Lodovico wonders if this is the noble Moor whom the senate believes
to be a master of all situations. Iago tells Lodovico that he has changed much and that his treatment of
Desdemona is at times even worse than what they have just witnessed. Lodovico says that he is sorry to
have been so deceived by the Moor and the scene comes to a close.

Act IV, Scene II

In a room of the castle Othello has found Emilia to question her about her knowledge of Desdemona's
affair. She tells him that she has been with them every time they have spoken, and that she has heard
nothing that would be considered suspicious in the least. She begs Othello to put such thought out of his
mind at once, for Desdemona is as true and loyal a wife as any woman could be. She adds, "If any
wretch have put this in your head/Let heaven requite it with the serpent's curse!" (IV.ii.15-6). Othello
commands her to leave. He does not want to hear the truth and ignores her testimony. He calls her a
madam, lying to protect her whore Desdemona. When Desdemona enters Othello coolly asks her to
come to him. Desdemona is very afraid and when he orders Emilia to leave Desdemona begs to hear the
reason for his fury. He asks her what she is and she replies that she is his loyal wife. He calls her "as false
as hell" and a labels her a strumpet and a whore. Desdemona is stunned when she realizes what she is
being accused of, and she can only deny the charges against her, which fall upon deaf ears. When Emilia
re-enters to check on Desdemona, Othello walks out, telling Desdemona to keep their conversation a
secret. Emilia asks Desdemona is she is all right and she replies that she cannot tell if she is awake or
dreaming. Shaken to her very core, she cannot regain her composure, but asks Emilia to fetch her
husband. Emilia is surprised at Desdemona's request for Iago, but she agrees and leaves to search for
him. When Iago comes into the room, Desdemona begs for his counsel. Iago tells her that a matter of
state is weighing heavy on Othello's mind and he assures her that all will soon be well. She leaves the
room and Iago immediately sends Roderigo to kill Cassio. Roderigo agrees to the murder because Iago
convinces him that Cassio's death will force Othello to remain in Cyprus and thus Desdemona will also
stay and continue to be close to him.

Act IV, Scene III

In another room, Othello is gathered with Desdemona, Emilia, and Lodovico. Othello tells Desdemona to
dismiss Emilia and get to bed, and he will be up shortly. While she gets ready for bed she speaks with
Emilia, who helps her unpin her gown. Desdemona sings a sorrowful song about a woman who is
abandoned by her lover and she waits for Othello's knock at the door. She asks Emilia how any woman
could do what she herself is falsely accused of doing. Emilia replies that she can certainly understand
why women sometimes cheat on their husbands and, considering the way men treat their wives, it is
oftentimes wholly justifiable. Desdemona bids Emilia good night and the scene ends with Desdemona's
lines so characteristic of her virtuous nature. She prays that the poor way in which she has been treated
by Othello will teach her, not to hate or seek revenge, but to forgive and improve upon her own faults:
"Good night, good night/Heaven me such uses send/Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!"
(IV.iii.102-3)

Act V, Scene I

Out on the streets Iago positions Roderigo to ambush Cassio. Roderigo stands in the shadows with his
sword ready, and Iago watches close by, mentioning to the audience that he hopes each one will kill the
other so that he will not have to return Roderigo's money and jewels. Cassio appears and Roderigo
attacks him, but Cassio's thick coat shields him from the point of the rapier. Cassio strikes Roderigo,
wounding him, and Iago is forced to crouch down and stab Cassio in the leg. Cassio's injury causes him
to fall to the ground and when Othello arrives, he is delighted to see what he believes is the corpse of
Cassio. He quickly leaves for the castle, ready to administer Desdemona's punishment. Lodovico and
Gratiano appear and Rogerigo asks for their help. Iago comes out of the dark and pretends to be
shocked by the chaos. Cassio is very much alive and he identifies Rogerigo as one of his attackers. Iago,
aware he must silence Roderigo for good, expresses his outrage at the attack and stabs Rogerigo in a fit
of supposed righteous indignation. Roderigo cries "O damn'd Iago! O inhuman dog!" (V.i.63), and dies.
Iago orders Emilia to tell Othello what has happened and, when Biana arrives upon the scene, Iago
accuses her of being Roderigo's accomplice and places her under arrest.

Act V, Scene II

The scene shifts to Desdemona's bedchamber in the castle. Desdemona is sleeping peacefully when
Othello enter with a lantern. He stands for a long while at the foot of her bed, staring at her, overcome
with feelings of love. He declares that he will not scar her beautiful face, but rather he will kill her
"bloodlessly". He kisses her one last time and she awakens and sweetly asks her husband to come to
bed. He orders her to say one final prayer and to prepare for death. She begs him to tell her what she
has done and he reveals it is because she gave his handkerchief to her lover, Cassio. She pleads with him
to fetch Cassio who will support her innocence, but he says the Cassio is dead. She begs Othello to let
her live, "Kill me tomorrow; let me live to-night!" (V.ii.80). But Othello will not listen to her cries, and
cooly tells his horrified wife that "It's too late" (V.ii.88). He smothers Desdemona where she lay. Emilia
bangs on the door, reporting to Othello that Cassio has been injured but that he is still alive. Othello
draws the curtains on Desdemona's bed to hide his heinous deed and lets Emilia in to tell him more. But
Desdemona, not quite dead, lets out a faint cry professing her innocence one last time. Emilia demands
to know who has hurt her, and even now Desdemona loves Othello enough to protect him: "Nobody -- I
myself. Farewell" (V.ii.124). Desdemona dies, and Othello cowardly denies that he has murdered her.
But Emilia does not believe him and he at last blurts out that he is guilty, but only of sending a "liar gone
to burn in hell!" He threatens Emilia to keep silent but she screams "murder" and alerts the whole
castle. Montano and Iago run into Desdemona's chamber, and Othello again speaks of the handkerchief.
Emilia tells Othello that Iago made her steal the handkerchief, and, beginning to comprehend the
terrible truth, he lunges at Iago, but is promptly disarmed by Montano. Iago grabs Emilia and stabs her,
much to the dismay and shock of Montano. As she lay dying, Emilia remembers Desdemona's song and
confirms that she was chaste and in love only with the "cruel Moor." Iago runs away and the men chase
after him, leaving Othello by himself. He has a sword hidden in the chamber and he waits for the men to
return with Iago as prisoner. Othello stabs Iago, only to wound him, and is again disarmed. He asks
forgiveness of Cassio who is now in the room, and Cassio obliges. More information about Iago's plot is
revealed in a letter left by Roderigo and picked up by Cassio as he lay on the street. Othello gives a final
speech and pulls out a dagger he has hidden well. He stabs himself and falls dying next to Desdemona.
He last words are to his innocent wife and victim: "I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd thee. No way but this/Killing
myself, to die upon a kiss." (V.ii.358-9)
How to cite this article:

Mabillard, Amanda. Othello Plot Summary. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. (date when you accessed
the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plots/othellops.html >.

_________

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Shakespeare and Race: The Relationship Between Othello and Desdemona

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Othello: Essay Topics

Shakespeare's Sources for Othelloeatre International (ISSN 2278-2036TI), 11 (January-February 2018):
88-93. William Shakespeare: Othello, the Moor of Venice

Summary by Michael McGoodwin, prepared 1999

William Shakespeare

Acknowledgement: This work has been summarized using The Complete Works of Shakespeare Updated
Fourth Ed., Longman Addison-Wesley, ed. David Bevington, 1997. Quotations are for the most part
taken from that work, as are paraphrases of his commentary.

Overall Impression: This is great Shakespeare, profoundly moving and with great language.

Per Bevington: Main source is G. B. Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi, which was available in French
translation to WS. Probably based on a real event in Venice c. 1508. WS considerably changed the story
and added characters.

Act I

Act I Scene 1

Venice, a street before Senator Brabantio's house. Iago tells Roderigo (a "gulled gentleman") of
Desdemona's elopement with Othello. Iago tells of his own hatred for Othello, since Othello passed up
the recommendations made by Iago's mediators to name Iago his lieutenant and instead appointed
Michael Cassio, a Florentine, to this position. Iago regards Cassio as less experienced and attributes the
appointment to favoritism. Iago was given a subordinate position as Othello's ancient [ensign]. Iago
gives vent to his dark thoughts, saying he will give the semblance of serving Othello while all the while
serving his own purposes. He will disguise his true feelings, saying "For when my outward action doth
demonstrate/The native act and figure of my heart/In compliment extern, 'tis not long after/But I will
wear my heart upon my sleeve/For daws to peck at."

Iago tells Roderigo to awaken the sleeping father of Desdemona, Brabantio, to "poison his delight" and
"plague him with flies". Iago calls out "Thieves" and Brabantio appears above. Iago says "an old black
ram is tupping your white ewe" and "the devil will make a grandsire of you" [Othello is older and a black
African while Desdemona is fair]. Brabantio recognizes only Roderigo and tells him he is has already told
him he will not allow Roderigo's suit for Desdemona. Iago compares Othello to a Barbary horse and says
"your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs." Roderigo asks if Brabantio
knows of the elopement, and tells him to search his house. Iago slinks away, not wanting to be
associated with this covert action against his superior officer, knowing he must continue to put up an
appearance of love for Othello. Roderigo laments the loss of Desdemona to Othello. Brabantio is
incensed at Desdemona's actions and concludes she must have been charmed into it—he wishes he had
given her instead to Roderigo and asks Roderigo to lead him to her.

Act I Scene 2

Venice, before Othello's lodgings. Iago speaks to Othello of Roderigo's alleged harsh words attacking
Othello's honor, and asks if Othello and Desdomona have really married. Othello is confident the high
regard in which he is held for his military actions will help him win against attack Brabantio's attack.

Cassio arrives with others and tells Othello the Duke of Venice and senators want to meet with him
immediately regarding news of a Turkish attack bearing down on Cyprus. Iago informs Cassio that
Othello has married.

Brabantio arrives with Roderigo. He threatens Othello with his sword, while Iago pretends to defend
against Roderigo, but Othello refuses to fight his new father-in-law. Brabantio accuses him of enchanting
his daughter with charms and drugs, and wants him taken before the Duke. Othello tells him he is
already on his way there.

Act I Scene 3

Venice, a council chamber. The Duke, senators, and officers meet. The Turkish fleet is said to be bearing
on Cyprus, then another messenger says it heads instead for Rhodes, then another says the fleet joined
another on its way to Rhodes, and that the now larger fleet is again heading toward Cyprus. Duke tells
Othello he must go to Cyprus to defend against the Ottomans.

Brabantio presents his case against Othello, claiming Othello used witchcraft or potions to win
Desdemona "against all rules of nature". Othello offers to tell his "unvarnished" tale of how he fairly
won her, while they send for the lady to tell her version. Othello says her father had welcomed him into
his house and had questioned him about his exotic origins and heroic deeds. Desdomona heard these
stories and was greatly impressed, taking pity on him and falling in love with him. Desdomona arrives
and confirms that she has a duty not just to her father but now to her husband as well. Brabantio gives
her to Othello and washes his hands of her. The Duke counsels that Brabantio should not mourn that
which cannot be undone and advises him to be philosophical, but Brabantio remains bitter.
Duke asks Othello to leave for Cyprus that night [to serve as governor and defend the island], an
assignment which he readily accepts as he is accustomed to war. He asks that Desdomona be properly
placed. Her father does not want her, and Desdomona wants to join Othello. Othello agrees and assures
the council that it is not for reasons of sexual pleasure but to satisfy her wish that he wants her to come
to join him. Desdomona is left with Iago and his wife Emilia to join Othello soon. Brabantio warns
Othello that Desdomona has deceived him, so may also deceive Othello.

After they have all left, Roderigo laments that he will drown himself, but Iago speaks contemptuously of
virtue and suicide for love and talks him out of it, arguing for reason over passion. He argues that she
will soon tire of this unnatural marriage and that he should gather money for Iago to help him pursue his
desire to win her. They pledge to pursue revenge against the Moor jointly. To himself, Iago boasts he is
making this fool his purse. He decides on a plan: to claim to Othello that Cassio is too familiar with
Desdomona and says "Hell and night/Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light."

Act II

Act II Scene 1

Seaport in Cyprus, near the quay. The "substitute" [i.e., deputy] governor of Cyprus, Montano, looks out
to sea with other gentlemen at the storm raging. The Turkish fleet is halted by the storm. Michael Cassio
arrives by ship, and expresses worry about the fate of Othello. Iago then arrives in another ship. Cassio
describes to Montano Othello's marriage to the divine Desdemona, "our great captain's captain". Iago
enters with Desdemona, Emilia, and Roderigo, and Cassio is quite affectionate with the ladies, asking
Iago to forgive his "bold show of courtesy" to Emilia which results from his breeding. Iago jests about his
wife's traits, talkativeness etc. Desdomona playfully asks Iago how he would describe her, and they
exchange witty word play about fair, foul, black, white, wit, foolish, etc. To himself, Iago plots how
Cassio's affection to Desdomona will play into his purposes, saying "With as little a web as this will I
ensnare as great a fly as Cassio."

Othello finally arrives by ship. and greets Desdomona with great happiness. He also greets his old friend,
Montano.

Iago speaks privately to Roderigo, telling him Desdomona loves Cassio and that her expression of love
for the Moor is false, since he is like a devil and "very nature will instruct her" in finding an alternative
lover. He speaks of her lecherous thoughts, how she and Cassio "met so near with their lips that their
breaths embraced together." He tells Roderigo to provoke Cassio that night while Cassio is on watch
[presumably in order to neutralize this competitor]. After Roderigo exits, Iago muses to himself how he
suspects the lusty Moor has had relations with Emilia, and how Iago has himself lusted for Desdomona.
He plans to practice "upon [Othello's] peace and quiet/Even to madness."

Act II Scene 2

Cyprus, a street. The herald announces that Othello has proclaimed a night of celebration for the victory
and for his nuptials.

Act II Scene 3

Cyprus, the citadel. Othello assigns the guard to Cassio and retires with Desdomona to at last
consummate their marriage (Iago: "He hath not yet made wanton the night with her; and she is sport for
Jove.") Iago talks with Cassio, suggesting Desdomona is provocative, but Cassio does not agree. Cassio
does not want to drink, recognizing that he does not handle drink well and has already had a glass, but
Iago talks him into it and they all drink. Iago sings drinking songs, Cassio gets drunk, then claims the
lieutenant is to be saved before the ancient. Iago hints to Montano that Cassio has a drinking problem
and wonders why Othello trusts him so.

Iago sends Roderigo to provoke Cassio. Cassio enters chasing Roderigo drunkenly and strikes him—Iago
raises a cry for help. Cassio attacks Montano, who has tried to restrain him. Othello arrives and
castigates Cassio for the brawling, for which Cassio can make no satisfactory explanation. Othello asks
who started the fight. Iago pretends he does not want to incriminate Cassio and seems to try to defend
him, while implying his guilt. Othello tells Cassio he is no longer his lieutenant and returns to bed with
Desdemona.

Cassio laments with Iago his downfall and shame from drink ("O God, that men should put an enemy in
their mouths to steal away their brains!"). But Iago minimizes the importance of reputation: "Reputation
is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving." Iago recommends
that he appeal to Desdomona to plead his case with Othello. To himself, Iago says he will plant the idea
with Othello that Desdomona makes her appeals for Cassio because she lusts for him—"So will I turn her
virtue into pitch". Roderigo returns and laments his declining money and lack of results, but Iago
counsels that "wit depends on dilatory time".

Act III
Act III Scene 1

Before the chamber of Othello and Desdomona. Cassio arrives with musicians, who play. A clown
[country rustic] appears, speaking in puns about wind instruments, says "thereby hangs a tail" [rather
than the usual "tale" in AYLI and MWW]. Cassio asks to speak to Emilia. Iago arrives and Cassio tells him
he has asked to speak to Emilia—Iago exits. Emilia tells Cassio that Desdomona is already advocating for
him, and that Othello will soon restore him. But Cassio asks nevertheless to speak to Desdomona alone,
and enters their quarters.

Act III Scene 2

The citadel. Othello tells Iago he plans to walk with others on the fortifications (breastworks) of the
citadel and asks him to deliver letters to the Senate.

Act III Scene 3

The garden of the citadel. Desdomona meets with Cassio and Emilia; Desdomona assures Cassio she will
do all she can for him, and will work on Othello until he relents. Othello and Iago appear in the distance
and Cassio decides to exit, not wishing to speak then to Othello.

Iago spots them and says to Othello "Ha? I like not that." Othello has also seen Cassio depart from
Desdomona and Iago begins to plant seeds of doubt about her fidelity. Desdomona says to Othello she
was meeting with Cassio, says he is penitent—Othello says he will not deny her wish to see Cassio
reinstated. He concludes "When I love thee not, Chaos is come again." Iago continues to build his subtle
case against Desdomona. He asks if Cassio knew of Othello's love for Desdomona while Othello wooed
her—he answers yes. Othello wants Iago to explain his evasive suspicions and ruminations. Iago cautions
Othello not to be jealous and feigns reluctance to divulge his inner thoughts. Iago reflects on reputation
"Who steals my purse steals trash" [quite opposite to his sentiments expressed earlier to Roderigo] and
cautions him about the "green-eyed monster" of jealousy. Othello is incensed, his concern piqued, but
he would require proof. Iago advises him "Look to your wife;/ observe her well with Cassio". Iago
reminds him that Desdomona deceived her own father. Iago suggests that Desdomona desires a match
"Of her own clime, complexion, and degree,/Whereto we see in all things nature tends". Iago says to
"leave it to time" and not draw hasty conclusions, then exits. Othello says to himself "If she be false,
then heaven mocks itself."

Desdomona and Emilia reappear to Othello. His head is in pain and she offers her handkerchief—he
refuses it and it drops to the ground as she focuses on her husband's distress. Emilia picks it up after the
couple leave, knowing her husband has asked for it. Iago appears and she gives it to him in secret and
after a bawdy interchange. He refuses to tell her what he intends to do with it. To himself, Iago plans to
use the handkerchief as evidence, saying "Trifles light as air/Are to the jealous confirmations strong/As
proofs of holy Writ" and knows that his poison is already working on the Moor.

Othello is tormented by Iago's insinuations ("thou hast set me on the rack"), laments the loss of his
tranquility, wishing he were not aware of her alleged infidelity. He becomes angry with Iago, and Iago
pretends that he regrets being so honest. Iago wants to know what evidence would be available that
would prove her infidelity, commenting that they are unlikely to catch her actually being "topped". He
relates an episode when he lay asleep with Cassio in which Cassio spoke in his sleep of Desdemona,
telling her to be wary of their love, kissing Iago as if it were her, and then he put his leg across Iago. He
pauses though, claiming this was but a dream, but Othello thinks it was a "foregone conclusion". Now he
wants to tear her to pieces. Iago tells Othello he saw Cassio wiping his beard with the handkerchief.
Othello's rage increases. Iago suggests that Othello delay the reinstitution of Cassio in order to observe
Desdemona's behavior. Othello asks Iago to murder Cassio within 3 days and wants to murder
Desdemona.

Act III Scene 4

Before the citadel. Desdomona asks the clown where Cassio can be found, accompanied with more
word play. Desdomona is worried about the lost handkerchief and Emilia fails to take the opportunity
presented to tell her she found it and gave it to Iago But Desdomona denies Othello will be jealous,
saying it is not in him to feel so.

Othello appears and queries her about her moist hand, suggesting she has a liberal (licentious) heart.
She begins to plea for Cassio, but he wants her to lend him her lost handkerchief. She cannot produce it,
and he tells of its origins, sewn by a sibyl and having magic powers to hold marriage together, passed
down to him from his mother. He demands she produce it, but she still is absorbed with advocating for
Cassio. Othello leaves. The pragmatic Emilia interprets his angry behavior as jealous but Desdomona
doesn't understand why he should be.

Iago and Cassio arrive. Cassio pleads again for Desdomona's help, but Desdomona says her master is not
receptive now. Iago wonders with her why Othello could be angry, then exits.
Desdomona wonders with Emilia why Othello should have such ideas, but Emilia comments on the
irrationality of jealousy. Desdomona promises again to Cassio to plead his cause. Desdomona and Emilia
exit.

Bianca, a courtesan and mistress of Cassio, arrives and wants to know why he has been staying away
from her. He gives her Desdemona's handkerchief, asking that she have it copied. She is jealous,
wondering where he got it. Cassio does not want to be seen with her for the time being.

Act IV

Act IV Scene 1

Before the citadel. Othello speaks with Iago— he has become obsessed over the alleged unfaithfulness
of Desdomona. Iago has told Othello that he saw Cassio with the handkerchief bragging about lying with
his mistress. Othello feels the rage of his jealousy and rationalizes that it must be grounded in fact, since
"Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion without some instruction." He falls in a
trance. Iago gloats that his poison is working.

Cassio appears and Iago tells him that Othello is having an epileptic fit. Cassio leaves. Othello awakens
and thinks Iago mocks him about his sore head, as if it were growing cuckold horns. Iago suggests
Othello hide and observe Cassio when he will again brag that he is "to cope your wife."

Othello stands aside and Iago questions Cassio about Bianca (not Desdemona as he said to Othello.).
Cassio makes jokes about her, saying he would never, as a customer, want to marry her, that she
[Bianca] is persuaded only out of her own love that they will marry. Bianca arrives and angrily returns
the handkerchief to him.

Othello left alone with Iago concludes Cassio cared so little about Desdomona that he gave the
handkerchief she had given him to Bianca. Othello is now determined to kill Desdomona. Iago suggests
he strangle her in bed rather than poison her.

Lodovico, a kinsman of Desdomona, arrives from Venice, and enters accompanied by Desdomona.
Othello reads the letter Lodovico brings, but makes angry comments about Desdomona, finally striking
her and implying her infidelity. Iago in private disparages Othello to Lodovico, and Lodovico wonders if
this is the noble Moor so unshakable in the past.
Act IV Scene 2

The citadel. Othello questions Emilia about Desdomona, but Emilia defends her and suggests some
wretch has put the wrongful ideas in his head. Othello thinks she is merely an effective liar and is
assisting her in her liasions.

Desdomona enters with Emilia. Othello is insulting, implying they are like customer and whore, and asks
Emilia to guard the door for the "procreants". He interrogates Desdomona, asking her to swear she is
honest (faithful), but accuses her of being false. He will not believe her, calling her a whore. He leaves,
giving Emilia money as if for services.

Desdomona asks Emilia to lay out her wedding sheets. Iago arrives and Emilia tells him of the cruelty
Othello showed to Desdomona. Emilia suspects there is a villain who has put Othello up to this, but she
does not suspect Iago. Desdomona hopes to win back the affection of her husband. Iago attributes all
this begavior to Othello's concern with the business of the state.

Roderigo and Iago meet. Roderigo accuses Iago of accomplishing nothing for his efforts, jewels, and
money. But Iago reassures Roderigo he will soon have Desdomona. Iago tells Roderigo that the Venetian
commission has sent word to deputize Cassio in Othello's place as governor, and to send Othello to
Mauritania (Africa). Iago wants Roderigo to kill Cassio, thereby delaying the departure of Othello, and
tells him that Cassio sups that night with Bianca.

Act IV Scene 3

The citadel. Othello, with Lodovico, tells Desdomona to go to bed and to dismiss her attendant. Left
alone, Emilia prepares Desdomona for bed. Desdomona has foreboding thoughts and asks that she be
wrapped in the wedding sheets if she should die before Emilia. She recalls the sad "Willow" song taught
her by her mother's maid from Barbary, and sings it, though frightened by sounds she hears. She asks if
Emilia would be unfaithful for all the world. Emilia is pragmatic and would indeed be so, suggesting
wives should repay husbands for their own infidelity. But Desdomona would not be unfaithful even for
all the world.

Act V

Act V Scene 1
A street in Cyprus at night. Iago positions Roderigo to attack Cassio as he leaves Bianca. Roderigo attacks
but Cassio stabs him. Iago, from behind, wounds Cassio in the leg. He later reappears as if he had not
been there before and summons an alarm. Othello arrives and is happy to see Cassio lying wounded.
Gratiano (also a kinsman of Desdomona) and Lodovico appear but are cautious and stand off. Iago acts
as if he is defending against Cassio's attacker and kills Roderigo, then tends to Cassio's wound. Bianca
arrives and Iago expresses suspicion of her involvement in this plot. Emilia arrives, and Iago instructs her
to tell Othello and Desdomona of the attack.

Act V Scene 2

A Bedchamber in the citadel. Othello enters, Desdomona is asleep in her bed. He debates killing her, and
kisses her, "So sweet was ne'er so fatal". She awakens and he asks her if she has said her prayers, and
wants her to confess her sins. He accuses her of giving the handkerchief to Cassio, which she denies. He
says Cassio is dead, and she weeps—this angers him and in a rage he smothers her despite her pleas.

Emilia arrives and, not seeing Desdomona, informs him of the murder of Roderigo and that Cassio lives.
She discovers Desdomona and calls him a devil, saying Desdomona was true to him. He tells her Iago
told him that Cassio and Desdomona were lovers, and she says he lied. She ignores his threats with his
sword and calls out Murder.

Montano and Gratiano and Iago arrive. Emilia demands that Iago refute Othello.'s version of what
happened, and when he sticks to his story she calls him a liar and villain. Othello falls on the bed and
cries out in despair and Emilia says "Nay, lay thee down and roar;/For thou hast kill'd the sweetest
innocent/That e'er did lift up eye." Iago threatens Emilia with a sword but she will not cease her
accusations. She says she gave the handkerchief to Iago, who had begged her to steal it. Othello runs at
Iago, and in the scuffle Iago stabs Emilia, then flees. Othello is disarmed, then Montano and the others
chase after Iago, leaving Othello locked in with Desdomona and Emilia.

Emilia tells Othello that Desdomona was chaste, then dies.

Gratiano reenters. Othello has pulled out a hidden knife. He is remorseful and knows he is condemned
to hell.
Cassio is brought in on a litter with Lodovico, Montano, officers, and with Iago as prisoner. Othello
wounds Iago and is disarmed. Othello calls himself an "honorable murderer", acknowledges he plotted
with Iago for the murder of Cassio. Iago refuses to speak further. Lodovico produces letters found on
Roderigo which tell of his plot with Iago to kill Cassio. Cassio says he found the handkerchief in his room,
and Iago has confessed to planting it there. Roderigo's letter also tells of the plot against Cassio while he
was drunken and on watch. Lodovico announces that Cassio is now governor of Cyprus, and that Iago
will face torture to force further confession. Othello asks that "When you shall these unlucky deeds
relate,/Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,/Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak/Of
one that loved not wisely but too well." He stabs himself, saying to Desdomona "I kissed thee ere I killed
thee. No way but this,/Killing myself, to die upon a kiss."

Lodovico commands Iago to look on the tragic outcome of his plotting. He commands Cassio to seize the
fortunes of Othello and to arrange the censure and torture of Iago. He will return to Venice to relate
what has happened. .

McSYNOPSIS: OTHELLO

Iago, a Venetian soldier and ensign, is passed over for promotion by Othello, a Moorish nobleman who
has reached the pinnacle of his career: he is general of the Venetian army and has secretly married
Desdemona, daughter of an important statesman in Venice. Partly to be avenged for this slight and
partly because of his dark nature, Iago has determined to destroy Othello’s happiness.

His first attempt in this villainy is in awakening Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, and telling him of his
daughter’s marriage to the black Moor. Enraged, Brabantio appeals to the duke of Venice to punish
Othello but gives up in his efforts when he realizes that Desdemona truly loves her new husband. Iago,
however, is not so easily defeated; and he soon enlists the help of Roderigo, a rejected suitor of
Desdemona, in his future attempts to ruin Othello.

When Othello is sent from Venice to defend Cyprus from the Turks, Desdemona sails to join him, in the
safekeeping of Iago and his wife, Emilia. A storm disperses the Turkish fleet, ending the threat to Cyprus,
and Othello is quickly reunited with Desdemona on the island. Now, Iago begins to scheme in earnest.
He gets Cassio, whom Othello promoted ahead of Iago, drunk while on duty, thereby prompting Othello
to dismiss the dishonored Cassio from his service and make Iago his lieutenant. Then Iago goads Othello
into believing that Desdemona is Cassio’s lover.
Othello soon becomes obsessively jealous and willing to believe anything he is told about his innocent
wife. Iago’s final “proof” of Desdemona’s infidelity revolves around the loss of a special handkerchief
Othello had given her during their courtship. Iago tricks his wife, Emilia into stealing the handkerchief,
then convinces Othello that Desdemona has given it to Cassio as a love token. When Desdemona cannot
produce the handkerchief, Othello is certain she has been unfaithful and swears an oath of vengeance
on his wife and Cassio. That evening, Othello orders Desdemona to await him alone in bed. As she
prepares for sleep and fearing Othello’s dark mood, she sings “A Willow Song,” a wistful song taught to
her about a maid who was forsaken by her lover.

In Desdemona’s bedchamber, Othello gazes down at the innocent beauty of his sleeping wife. She
awakens, and despite her pleas for life, Othello smothers her with a pillow. A horrified Emilia enters, and
Othello justifies himself, citing the handkerchief as proof. Recognizing the handkerchief as the one she
stole for her husband, she is stunned and reveals Iago’s guilt. Iago enters the scene, kills Emilia, is
arrested, and is almost killed by Othello, who now is horrified as he understands the truth. Despite
demands for an explanation of his treachery, Iago remains silent and is condemned to a tortuous death.

Before Othello can be led away to face his justice, he begs his listeners to speak of him “as one that lov’d
not wisely but too well.” He then draws a concealed weapon, stabs himself, and kisses Desdemona as he
dies.Goodwin.Net logo 120