Othello



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Play Synopsis
Othello, a Moorish general of Venice, has promoted Cassio as his lieutenant; Iago, who was hoping for the promotion himself, makes plots against both Cassio and Othello to exact revenge. Othello has secretly married Desdemona, the beautiful daughter of Venetian senator Brabantio, and Iago determines to use Desdemona as the means of his revenge. When Othello is posted to Cyprus by the Duke of Venice, Iago escorts Desdemona there to meet him, taking along his own wife, Emilia. When they've arrived in Cyprus, Iago sets his machinations to motion. He tricks Cassio into getting drunk, then has Roderigo—a former suitor of Desdemona whom Iago has convinced to aid him with the hope of winning Desdemona back—pick a fight with Cassio that ends in Cassio's arrest. Because of this, Cassio is demoted. Then Iago has Cassio visit Desdemona, saying that an appeal to her might do well to convince Othello to reinstate him.

This accomplished, Iago goes straightaway to Othello so that he can lead him to where Desdemona and Cassio are talking. As Iago and Othello view the scene, Iago plants seeds of doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind concerning Desdemona's fidelity. The scenario Iago suggests is that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. Later, fortune literally drops Desdemona's handkerchief into Iago's hand; he gets the handkerchief from Emilia, who discovered it, plants the handkerchief in Cassio's room, and then tells Othello that he saw Cassio with it. When Othello asks Desdemona about the handkerchief, she tells him that it was lost (which is the truth as she knows it). Cassio, meanwhile, has given the handkerchief to a courtesan with whom he is intimate. Iago manipulates a conversation with Cassio about his courtesan to make it appear to Othello—who is eavesdropping at the behest of Iago—that Cassio is talking about Desdemona.

His smoldering rage now beginning to bubble over, Othello tells Iago to kill Cassio and then angrily confronts Desdemona. In spite of Desdemona's protests of innocence (backed up by Iago's wife, Emilia), Othello is now convinced of her infidelity with Cassio. Iago, meanwhile, has Roderigo attempt to murder Cassio; when Roderigo fails to do more than wound the soldier, Iago slays him so that Roderigo can't implicate him in the affair. Othello strangles Desdemona in her bed. When Emilia discovers the crime, she decries the Moor as a villain and at first refuses to believe that Iago has so evilly manipulated Othello. However, Iago's appearance and subsequent answers lead Emilia to confront the fact that her husband is responsible for this tragedy. When Iago cannot keep Emilia from telling the truth about the handkerchief, he stabs her and attempts to escape; not only is he captured, but letters found on Roderigo's body thoroughly implicate Iago as the treacherous villain that he is. Faced with the shame of having murdered an innocent Desdemona, Othello stabs himself in front of Cassio and dies on Desdemona's bed, beside her.

Complete Script of the Play
@http://shakespeare.mit.edu/othello/index.html @http://www.theplays.org/othello/

Othello, the Moor of Venice


Husband of Desdemona, whom he murders because he has been misled by the villainous Iago.
 * Othello**

A Moorish general in the service of Venice, Othello has just married the much younger Desdemona as the play opens. The central dynamic of the drama is his alteration from a noble lover to a raving killer under the malevolent influence of his aide, Iago, who convinces Othello that his wife is having an affair with another officer, Cassio. Unable to trust Desdemona--he lacks this basic element of love--Othello disintegrates morally. His destructiveness extends to his own suicide when his error is exposed. He suffers emotional agonies throughout this process, and the reader suffers with him, grieving for the destruction of his inherent nobility and the beauty that his marriage exemplifies at its outset.

The lacking in trust is implicit in the Moor's situation from the outset, for he cannot partake in social solidarity that encourages and reinforces trust between humans. He is an outsider in Venice because of his profession--a mercenary soldier--and his race. He is isolated from the world he has married into, allowing Iago to convince him that Desdemona might have come to detest him because of his race; he lacks the support of a solid position in this new world to temper the fear of rejection that his jealousy feeds.

Othello's striking placement between Iago and Desdemona resembles the situation of the central character in a morality play: symbolic of the human soul, he was placed between the angel and the devil who each demanded his loyalty. He is emblematic of one aspect of human life; he incarnates the inexorable guilt and ultimate death that we recognize as the tragic element in humanity's fate, but the eventual awareness offers a redeeming catharsis.

Iago
Othello's villainous aide.

The play centers on Iago's effort to destroy Othello's happiness. He convinces him that his wife has been having an affair with his lieutenant Cassio. One of Shakespeare's most thoroughly villainous characters, Iago has intrigued audiences for generations through his combination of real malice and seemingly unjustified lust for revenge. However, Shakespeare does provide this villain with stimuli that provoke his evil. In fact, if Iago's motives seem unclear it is because he is motivated in several ways.

Iago has been passed over in promotion. Military ambition is commonplace, and this is an entirely credible motive, but his jealousy of Othello is the other motive that spurns him forward. Iago's issues stem from a morbid imagination, but from his point of view they are inducements to action.

His multiple motives make his a humanly credible character, but these are joined by an inhuman ferocity that adds a dose of terror to our perception of him. His envy and anger are so strong that they compel him to risk his life in his passionate effort to damage Othello. Though he has motives, his response outweighs the stimulus, and thus a less easily understood motive merges with the others: Iago loves evil for its own sake.

With his pleasure in evil Iago resembles the Vice of medieval drama. The vice was an allegorical figure whose delight in horseplay and mischievous humor make him a popular character. Iago, however, is a realistic, rather than abstract, embodiment of evil. He has a double role in the play of a villain to the audience but a friend to the characters in the play. He is seen as good by everyone but the audience, which fosters a high degree of suspense.

Cassio
A Florentine officer serving under Othello.

Cassio receives the position that is sought by Iago, thus creating an enemy of Iago without his knowing. Iago gets Cassio drunk and incites Roderigo to fight him; the lieutenant disgraces himself by brawling drunkenly while on guard and is demoted.

More important is the handkerchief that Iago plants on Cassio to help convince Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are lovers. An enraged Othello comissions Iago to kill Cassio, and Iago again employs Roderigo. However, Cassio survives the attack and testifies against Iago in the play's closing minutes.

The change in Othello's attitude towards Cassio is paralleled by Cassio's change towards Iago. He is grateful for what seems like excellent advice from Iago to ally himself with Desdemona. Though this is to have disastrous consequences, Cassio does not see through Iago until much too late, after the villain is exposed in the wake of murder.

Desdemona
She is the wife of Othello.Desdemona is unjustly suspected of adultery and murdered by her jealous husband, who has believed the lies of his villainous aide, Iago.

She is a strong, outspoken woman, unafraid to challenge the racial bias of Venice or the opinions of her imposing husband, and she is also touching in her sorrow as Othello's love turns toward hostility. Her function is largely symbolic; she represents the spirit of self-sacrifice traditionally associated with the most intense and spiritual love. Indeed, in her martyr-like resignation to an entirely undeserved death, many commentators see her as symbolizing Christian love and acceptance of God's will.

In Desdemona, Shakespeare created an emblematic figure: she resembles an angel that opposes the devil in morality plays, struggling for control of the central character, who is a symbol of humanity. Like the angel, Desdemona evokes the forgiveness of God, and, as in the medieval play, the good she represents is acknowledged at the close and thus is seen to be the play's central theme.

She is a passive figure, as her only role is to play the chief repository of the play's values. She firmly and courageously stands up to prejudices of the only society that she has ever known. Once committed to Othello she is steadfast; the central fact of the play is her unswerving loyalty. Her love is literally unconditional, standing in stark contrast to the malevolence of Iago.

Vocabulary
Snipe Contemptuous Malevolence Pragmatist Lascivious Perdition Innocuous Furtively Cuckold Garnered Magnanimity Complicit Voracious Rapacious Judicious Judicial Cynical Skeptical Abstruse Obtuse

Study Help for the Play
http://cummingsstudyguides.net/xShakeSph.html#top (Shakespeare Study Material) @http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/Othello/0.html http://cummingsstudyguides.net/xOthello.html#Othello (Full Study Guide of the Play) @http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/othello/summary/othello_summary.htm @http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Othello.id-138.html @http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plots/othellops.html @http://nfs.sparknotes.com/othello/ (If struggling with the lyrics, try using this site to help understanding)