Othello arrives, greets his wife, and announces that there will be reveling that evening to celebrate Cyprus’s safety from the Turks. Once everyone has left, Roderigo complains to Iago that he has no chance of breaking up Othello’s marriage. Iago assures Roderigo that as soon as Desdemona’s “blood is made dull with the act of sport,” she will lose interest in Othello and seek sexual satisfaction elsewhere (II.i. 222). However, Iago warns that “elsewhere” will likely be with Cassio. Iago counsels Roderigo that he should cast Cassio into disgrace by starting a fight with Cassio at the evening’s revels. In a soliloquy, Iago explains to the audience that eliminating Cassio is the first crucial step in his plan to ruin Othello. That night, Iago gets Cassio drunk and then sends Roderigo to start a fight with him. Apparently provoked by Roderigo, Cassio chases Roderigo across the stage. Governor Montano attempts to hold Cassio down, and Cassio stabs him. Iago sends Roderigo to raise alarm in the town. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's marginal note to the closing speech of Act 1 in his own personal copy of Othello, cited by Thomson and Honigmann, 2016, p.45; Neil, 2006, p.31; McAlindon & Muir, 2005, p.xliv and by Honigmann, 1997, pp.33-34 Tags: Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Bibliography Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Character Study Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Criticism Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Drama Criticism, ELIZABEHAN POETRY AND PROSE, Essays Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Literary Criticism, Notes Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello, Othello Analysis, Othello Criticism, Othello Essay, Othello Feminism, Othello Notes, Othello Play, Othello PSychoanalysis, Othello Summary, Plot Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Simple Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Study Guides Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Summary Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Synopsis Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, Themes Of William Shakespeare’s Othello, William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s Othello Related Articles Maguire, Laurie " Othello, Theatre Boundaries, and Audience Cognition" in Orlin, Lena Cowen (ed.) "Othello - The State of Play" The Arden Shakespeare, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, pp.17-43 at p.34. Othello is a Moorish military commander who was serving as a general of the Venetian army in defence of Cyprus against invasion by Ottoman Turks. He has recently married Desdemona, a beautiful and wealthy Venetian lady younger than himself, without the knowledge of and despite the later objection of her father. Iago is Othello's malevolent ensign, who maliciously stokes his master's jealousy until the usually stoic Moor kills his beloved wife in a fit of blind rage. Due to its enduring themes of passion, jealousy, and race, Othello is still topical and popular and is widely performed, with numerous adaptations.

The word "whore" appears 14 times in Othello, more often than in any other work by Shakespeare, often used (in Kay Stanton's words) as a "male-initiated inscription onto the female as scapegoat." [112] And it is one of only two of the plays (alongside Timon of Athens) in which the word "whore" is used with specific reference to every named female character. [113] In the world of the play, whorishness is understood as the true and essential nature of women – yet this is constantly shown to be a projection of male imaginations, completely unrelated to the women's perceptions of themselves or to their behavior. [114] The over-reliance of the plot of Othello upon a trivial prop, the handkerchief, was noted in the play's earliest criticism. The same Thomas Rymer quoted above, in his 1693 A Short View of Tragedy, suggested that the play should better have been called "The Tragedy of the Handkerchief", arguing "the handkerchief is so remote a trifle, no booby on this side Mauritania could make any consequence from it." [120] [121]Towards the end of the play, Desdemona's goodness increasingly becomes represented by long-suffering martyrdom, perceived as a longstanding sign of acceptable femininity. In place of the headstrong heroine of the opening acts, Desdemona, increasingly stripped of agency, endures her husband's anger and humiliations – even his striking her in public – and eventually, while dying, tries to exonerate him for his murder of her. [115] Others perceive Desdemona's reaction as one of strength and dignity, not passivity. [116] Folger Theatre reopens this fall, with the rest of the building to follow in 2024. Learn about the building renovation and start planning your visit.

Hoenselaars, Ton "Shakespeare and Translation" in Wells, Stanley and Orlin, Lena Cowen "Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide", Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 645-657 at p.648. Shakespeare in performance From playhouse to film sets, explore four centuries of staging ShakespeareThe daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio. Desdemona and Othello are secretly married before the play begins. While in many ways stereotypically pure and meek, Desdemona is also determined and self-possessed. She is equally capable of defending her marriage, jesting bawdily with Iago, and responding with dignity to Othello’s incomprehensible jealousy. Thompson and Honigmann, 2016, pp.29-31 citing Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and Other English Poets.

A terminus a quo (i.e. the earliest year in which it could have been written) is given by the fact that one of its sources, Holland's translation of Pliny's Natural History, was published in 1601. [35] Greenhall, Susanne and Shaughnessy, Robert "Our Shakespeares: British Television and the Strains of Multiculturalism" in Burnett, Mark Thornton and Wray, Ramona (eds.) "Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century" Edinburgh University Press Ltd., 2006 pp.90-112 at p.94.The scene crowns love triumphant. The formerly self-sufficient Othello has now staked his life to his faith in Desdemona and their union, and she has done the same. The fulfillment of the wedding night that should come at the climax of the comedy is relocated to act 2, with the aftermath of the courtship and the wedding now taking center stage. Having triumphantly bested the social and natural forces aligned against them, having staked all to the devotion of the other, Desdemona and Othello will not be left to live happily ever after, and the tragedy will grow out of the conditions that made the comedy. Othello, unlike the other Shakespearean comedies, adds three more acts to the romantic drama, shifting from comic affirmation to tragic negation. Desdemona’s father makes a formal complaint about Othello’s behaviour to the Duke of Venice. His complaint is ignored and the Duke sends Othello to Cyprus to continue fighting in a war. In Shakespeare's main source, Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi, the character Disdemona (the equivalent of Shakespeare's Desdemona) says "I know not what to say of the Moor; he used to be all love towards me; but within these few days he has become another man; and much I fear that I shall prove a warning to young girls not to marry against the wishes of their parents, and that the Italian ladies may learn from me not to wed a man whose nature and habitude of life estrange from us" [87] [88]

A courtesan, or prostitute, in Cyprus. Bianca’s favorite customer is Cassio, who teases her with promises of marriage. Brabanzio

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In Othello, characters justify their actions on the basis of deserving justice. The first character we see seeking justice is Brabantio, who is outraged that his daughter has married a man of a different race, and decides that Othello must have bewitched her. Brabantio asserts “I therefore apprehend and do attach thee” (1.2.77), seeking legal restitution for the perceived violation to himself and his honor. However, Brabantio’s apparent demand for justice is rooted in his racial prejudice against Othello, and his sense that he is owed obedience from his daughter. He only feels entitled to justice because social structures have placed him in a position of racial superiority to Othello and gender superiority to Desdemona. What Brabantio envisions as justice is the reassertion of his racial and gendered dominance and power over others. Bob Dylan's song Po' Boy features lyrics in which Desdemona turns the tables on Othello, borrowing the idea of using poisoned wine from the final act of Hamlet. [326] Literature [ edit ] The word "honest" is used more than 40 times in the play, sometimes with reference to Desdemona's chastity, but in almost all other cases with reference to Iago, where it has a double meaning - as a condescending term for a social inferior, and as a reference to his supposed truthfulness. [142] The play’s protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a “free and open nature,” which his ensign Iago uses to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy.