Othello is the name of a five-act tragedy by the great English dramatist William Shakespeare. Its full title is Othello, the Moor of Venice. It is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, standing with Macbeth, King Lear, and Hamlet as one the greatest dramas in all literature. Shakespeare wrote it between 1602 and 1604, and it was first performed in 1604 in Whitehall, London, in the presence of King James I. It was published in 1622, and a revised version appeared in 1623.
Shakespeare’s source for Othello was the Hecatommithi (One Hundred Tales, about 1565) of an Italian writer called Giambattista Giraldi (1504-1573), who wrote under the name Cinthio. Translations of some of Cinthio’s stories were included in the Palace of Pleasure (1566, 1567, 1575), collected by the English translator William Painter. But Shakespeare may have read the story in Italian or French.
The first act of the play is set in Venice, and the remaining acts are set in a seaport on the island of Cyprus. Othello, a noble Black Moor (North African), has spent his life as a soldier and become a general in the army serving the republic of Venice, Italy. He marries Desdemona, a beautiful Venetian girl much younger than himself. Desdemona’s father, a Venetian senator named Brabantio, complains to the Duke of Venice that Othello has stolen his daughter. But Othello successfully defends his behavior. Soon after this, he is ordered to Cyprus to fight off a Turkish invasion. He takes Desdemona with him, as well as Cassio, a young Florentine whom he has just promoted to lieutenant, and Iago, an older soldier who serves as Othello’s aide. The villainous Iago decides to destroy Othello by persuading him that Desdemona has made love to Cassio. Iago apparently hates Othello because he has been passed over for promotion and because he thinks the Moor seduced his wife. However, the source of Iago’s hatred of Othello has been a matter of speculation and controversy for generations.
Using Cassio and another young man, Roderigo, as pawns in his game, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful. He nags away at Othello’s insecurity over his ethnic origins, age, and lack of sophistication. Finally, he gets his wife, Emilia, Desdemona’s maid, to steal a handkerchief given to Desdemona by Othello. Iago ensures that the handkerchief comes into Cassio’s possession and that Othello sees Cassio with it. Finally convinced by Iago’s constant insinuations, Othello murders Desdemona by smothering her in her bed. In the closing scenes of the play, Emilia helps to reveal Desdemona’s innocence, and Iago kills her. He has already killed Roderigo for failing to murder Cassio. But letters found on Roderigo’s body prove Iago’s guilt, and he is arrested. After the Moor learns that he has been tricked, he stabs himself and dies, describing himself as “one that loved not wisely, but too well.”
This play is Shakespeare’s most straightforward tragedy. The action moves rapidly, and the language is simple and direct. Othello differs from most of Shakespeare’s other tragedies because it does not deal with public affairs and royalty. Instead, Othello is a tragedy of personal tensions, of love and hatred, and of jealousy and impatience.
