Othello
Othello is one of the famous tragedy plays written by the greatest playwright William Shakespeare. The play was performed on stage in London back in the year 1603 with actors from King's Men. The contemporary story was set in the late 14th century during the Ottoman and Venetian war. Shakespeare brings out the play's themes of racism, jealousy, betrayal, justice, and heroism.
Characters
Iago: The antagonist of the play. His greed for taking the captain's position leads him to destroy Othello's life and everyone around him. In the end, Iago succeeds in his evil plans but loses his life too.
Othello: The protagonist of the play. His gullible nature makes him too easy to be controlled by Iago, who implants jealousy against his wife.
Desdemona: Othello's young and beautiful wife. Even though Desdemona truly loves him, Othello's insecurity about being older than her makes him paranoid, and in the end, Othello ends up murdering his wife.
Brabantio: Desdemona's father. He was against the marriage of his fair daughter to a Black Moor. He had no choice but to accept when his daughter eloped with Othello and got married in secret.
Roderigo: A young businessman attracted to Desdemona and wants to marry her. He hated Othello for snatching her away. Iago uses Roderigo by giving him false hopes about Desdemona, and takes money from him in return.
Emilia: Iago's wife. She serves Desdemona sincerely but doesn't realize she is also being used by her husband, Iago.
Cassio: Othello's lieutenant. A young and handsome soldier devoted to Othello. Iago uses Cassio's good looks to make Othello believe that Desdemona cheated on him with Cassio.
Complete Summary
The story begins with Othello coming back to Venice after winning another battle. The town senator, Brabantio, invites Othello to his house for a meal as gratitude. The civilized town of Venice respected Othello and admired his captaincy in the Venetian army despite being a black man.
Desdemona, the senator's daughter, falls for Othello after secretly listening to his stories of bravery in a warzone. She talks to Othello when Brabantio is not present in the house. Othello also falls in love with Desdemona for her innocence and sentiments. They decide to marry each other, but Brabantio is entirely against it. He tries to find white young men as suitors for Desdemona. However, Desdemona escapes from the house with Othello, and the two get married secretly.
After the wedding, the governor, the senator, and the whole town accept the marriage between a fair woman and a black man.
After learning about the marriage between Othello and Desdemona, Roderigo picks a fight with Iago. Roderigo pays Iago a lot of money to make sure Desdemona notices him and falls for him, but their plan fails. Iago reassures Roderigo and promises Desdemona will soon leave Othello and marry Roderigo instead.
Iago, a low-rank officer for Othello, secretly hates him. He believes Othello had an affair with his wife, Emilia. As revenge, he plans to take Desdemona away from Othello.
After the wedding, Othello is ordered to go to Cyprus to fight the Turks. Desdemona insists on coming along too. Othello leaves first with Cassio for the battle. Desdemona follows later with another ship carrying Iago, Emilia, and Roderigo.
After reaching Cyprus, Desdemona meets Cassio. He comforts her after the storm wrecks the ship. Iago notices this and plans to make Othello jealous using Cassio.
When Othello returns after a victorious battle, he orders a feast. Desdemona and Othello leave together to recover from the journey. At the feast, Iago gets Cassio drunk and instigates Roderigo to pick a fight with him. Cassio stabs the governor, and Roderigo escapes.
Othello sees the injured governor and drunken Cassio and demotes Cassio. Iago then convinces Othello that Desdemona secretly has a physical relationship with Cassio. Othello threatens to kill Iago if his statement is a lie.
Guilty Cassio goes to Desdemona for help, requesting her to talk with Othello. Othello witnesses them together and starts believing Iago. Iago asks Emilia to steal Desdemona's handkerchief, which she does. Iago plants a duplicate in Cassio's room and convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful.
Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio. Iago brings Roderigo to do it. Cassio survives, Roderigo is killed, and Othello mistakenly thinks Cassio is dead. In a fit of rage, Othello kills Desdemona. Emilia exposes Iago's plot and is killed by Iago.
Cassio returns with proof of Iago's plan. Othello realizes his mistake and kills himself. Iago is captured and sent for execution.