Shakespeare in Brief: Othello, the Moor of Venice
Othello has remained popular onstage because its plot is tightly woven, fast-moving, and free of a distracting subplot. Using few characters, the action revolves around the trio of Othello, Desdemona, and Iago, a monster who drives the action from start to finish. Othello also illustrates Shakespeare’s masterful psychological realism, both in dialogue and soliloquy.
A Secret Marriage in Venice
As the play opens, the mood seems strained because of a shift among the ranks of the Venetian Army. Othello, a noble Moor and army general, has just made the devoted Michael Cassio his personal lieutenant, passing over his ensign Iago, who holds the lowest rank granted to a commissioned officer. Needless to say, Iago is incensed. But he’s not the only one. Rederigo, a suitor to Desdemona, has just found out that she has eloped with Othello, so he takes his anger out on Iago for withholding the news.
Both livid, Iago and Roderigo decide to alert Senator Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, about the elopement. Shouting lewdly beneath Brabantio’s window, the two speak in nasty, irreverent terms about Othello’s sexual behavior with Desdemona. Brabantio is outraged over the news that his daughter has married a Moor.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Venice is reacting to the news that Turkish ships are about to invade Cyprus. From the senate chambers, he has sent for Othello and is in the process of assigning him to a command in Cyprus, when who should interrupt but the angry Brabantio. The senator appeals to the Duke to arrest and imprison Othello on the spot. Later, he complains that the general has stolen his daughter from him and married her without her father’s permission. Othello is prepared to defend himself, but also wants Desdemona summoned to tell her side of the story.
As Othello defends his honor, we see there is nothing rash or unreasonable about his behavior, nor has he done anything immoral. When she arrives, Desdemona publicly explains how much she loves Othello and dotes on him. Othello is exonerated and urged by the Duke to make haste to Cyprus. He grants Desdemona’s wish to accompany her husband. Othello decides that she should travel with Iago and puts her in the care of Iago’s wife, Emilia. Things start to get interesting with Iago secretly promises Roderigo that he shall soon have Desdemona back because it is likely that she’ll begin to stray from her husband. In a soliloquy, Iago reveals details of a plot to get revenge on Othello, which involves making him believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio.
In Cyprus, a Scheme to Entrap Cassio
Although a terrible storm destroys the Turkish flee, all of Othello’s ships arrive safely to his new command in Cyprus. Iago wastes no time in luring Roderigo, who doesn’t know Cassio, in on his plot to damage Cassio’s position in the army. Believing he may have a chance with Desdemona, Roderigo goes along with the plan.
That evening, there is much for the soldiers to celebrate. Because of the storm, the Turkish threat has been eliminated. Othello orders Cassio to keep a close watch on the Venetian troops in Cyprus. Iago gets to work, though, and manipulates Cassio into drinking too much. Then Roderigo involves the lieutenant in a brawl that brings Othello into the mix. Guilty of impropriety, Cassio is in a delicate position. When Othello arrives on the scene and wants to know what’s going on, Iago purposefully holds back the details of the brawl and its escalation. This makes Othello suspect the worst of Cassio. Believing that Iago is withholding information that would implicate Cassio and failing to trust his own lieutenant, he demotes Cassio, stripping him of his coveted rank as lieutenant. Cassio, of course, is eager to mend his reputation.
Afterward, the weasel Iago secretly advises Cassio to get Desdemona to use her influence to restore his position. This is just the beginning of Iago’s evil machinations.
Planting Seeds of Sexual Jealousy
Emilia arranges a meeting between Cassio and Desdemona, her mistress. When the meeting takes place, Iago makes sure that Othello catches Cassio making his departure. Desdemona, of course, pleads with her husband on Cassio’s behalf.
Iago begins posing questions about the couple’s relationship with Cassio during their courtship. Although Othello indicates that nothing unseemly or unlawful occurred between his wife and Cassio, Iago casts suspicion on Cassio’s honesty. At the same time, he professes his love for Othello to reinforce the general’s trust in him, so he can manipulate him with further revelations. When Othello asks for proof, Iago holds back but continues to plant the notion that Desdemona and Cassio were sexually involved before Othello married her.
The Missing Handkerchief
Sometime later, Desdemona accidentally drops her handkerchief and leaves the room before she realizes it is gone. Emilia finds it and gives it to Iago, knowing he’s asked her for it numerous times before.
Now Iago has his chance to invent the proof he needs to convince Othello that there is something going on between Desdemona and Cassio. He plants Desdemona’s handkerchief in Cassio’s room. When Iago sees Othello again, the general is not doing well at all. His mind is in chaos, and he seriously doubts his wife at this point. Iago sadistically feeds this jealousy with more lies. He tells Othello that he has overheard Cassio utter affectionate things to Desdemona during his sleep. Worse, he tells the general that he saw Cassio carrying the handkerchief. This latest fabrication pushes Othello nearer to the breaking point, and he is determined to get revenge against Cassio and Desdemona. When he learns that his wife cannot find the handkerchief, he believes he has genuine proof of her infidelity.
More Lies Until Othello Collapses into a Fit
Throughout the last two acts, Iago engineers two charades that show us the horrifying extent of his evil-doing. We witness how Othello's mistrust and jealousy have overcome him physically. In the first charade Iago sends Othello over the edge with more “proof” of Desdemona’s infidelity. He has the Moor eavesdrop on a conversation between him and Cassio. Cassio indiscreetly talks about his affair with Bianca, and overhearing this, Othello wrongly assumes he is talking about being with Desdemona. Now livid, Othello speaks to Iago about murder—a plan to murder his wife and her ostensible lover. Both men agree that Desdemona should be strangled, not poisoned.
“So Sweet Was Never So Fatal”
Order within Othello’s household quickly dissolves into chaos. Lodovico arrives from Venice to issue an order for Othello to return to Venice and informs him that Cassio should take his command in Cyprus. In this scene, Othello audaciously slaps and insults Desdemona in front of Lodovico and his men. In the next scene, a fearful Emilia urgently defends her mistress. Though Desdemona forgives Othello for mistreating her, Emilia starts to smell a rat, and that rat, of course, is her own husband.
Iago’s second charade occurs at the beginning of the fifth act. This time, he brings Roderigo into his and Othello’s plot to kill Cassio, telling him to provoke a swordfight with the former lieutenant. The plan goes awry and Iago ends up fatally stabbing Roderigo to rid himself of an incriminating witness. The rest of the action moves at a breathless pace toward one of Shakespeare’s most tragic conclusions. Inside the couple’s bedchamber, when Desdemona finally stands up to her husband’s accusations, he is provoked to murder her.
After Othello strangles his wife, Emilia enters the bedroom and finds her mistress gasping for life, still refusing to blame her husband. When Desdemona dies, the stage belongs to Emilia. She rages against Othello’s murder, confronts her husband, and demands to know the truth; then she bravely insists on reporting it to Montano, Gratiano, and all the others on the scene. In a final flurry of madness, Iago fatally stabs Emilia; reeling from Iago’s sadistic betrayal, Othello wounds the villain, who is taken away to be tortured and interrogated. When Lodovico relieves Othello of his power and his command, the fallen general acknowledges his errors and begs those listening to speak the whole truth about him, his past and recent deeds, and the circumstances that caused his fall from grace. Othello implies that despite his extreme love for Desdemona, he was provoked to extremes of jealous emotion that led him to sacrifice her. Afterward, he stabs himself to death and falls on the bed near her.
Check out our Literature & Philosophy section for more quick guides about Shakespeare’s plays. Happy reading!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays by Cynthia Greenwood
