Othello is a military general who works for the state of Venice. He's not from Venice, though. He's a Moor, meaning he's from North Africa. So he's in a very unusual position. He's one of the most important people in Venice, but he's perceived as an outsider.
The plot of Othello is pretty simple. Othello marries a young woman named Othello. Venetian woman named Desdemona. One of Othello's officers, named Iago, secretly hates Othello, so he convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him.
Othello becomes so jealous that he kills Desdemona. Iago gets caught, but the damage is already done, and Othello kills himself. Here's the play-by-play. At the start of Act 1, it's nighttime in Venice, and Rodrigo and Iago are discussing Othello's secret marriage to Desdemona.
Rodrigo is in love with Desdemona, and he's mad that Iago didn't tell him about it beforehand, because Iago is one of Othello's chief officers. officers. Iago tells Rodrigo that he actually hates Othello because Othello passed him over for a promotion, and he says they should go and wake up Desdemona's father and tell him she's run away. They go to Desdemona's father's house.
His name is Brabantio, and they yell outside his window for him to wake up. At first he's mad, but they explain that his daughter ran off with a black man. Brabantio sees that Desdemona's not in her room, so he gathers a group of men with swords and torches and goes to find Othello.
When Brabantio finds Othello, Brabantio says he's arresting him for using witchcraft to make Desdemona fall in love with him, because he's black, so she obviously wouldn't fall for him on her own. Othello says he's on his way to see the Duke, who just summoned him to a military mission, so they all go to see the Duke. The Duke hears both sides, but then Desdemona comes in and says she loves Othello.
There was no witchcraft. The Duke sends Othello off to defend the island of Cyprus, which is about to be attacked by the Turkish navy. Othello tells Iago to bring Desdemona to Cyprus after him.
Iago tells Rodrigo to sell his lands and follow them to Cyprus, where he'll have his chance to get together with Desdemona. When Iago's by himself, he says he hates Othello because Othello is ruined. rumored to have slept with his wife. He says he's going to get revenge by making Othello suspect that Desdemona is sleeping with the army's second-in-command, Michael Cassio.
The play moves to Cyprus. A big storm at sea destroys the Turkish fleet. The ships from Venice arrive, first with Michael Cassio, then Iago and Desdemona, then Othello.
They have a feast to celebrate the end of the war and Othello's marriage, and when Othello leaves for his wedding night, Michael Cassio and Iago are left in charge. To set his his plot in motion, Iago gets Michael Cascio drunk, then tells Rodrigo to pick a fight with him. Michael Cascio pulls a sword on Rodrigo.
Montano, the former governor of the island, tries to stop him, but Michael Cascio fights with Montano and wounds him. Someone sounds the alarm, and Othello comes out to find out what's happened. He removes Michael Cascio from his post for being drunk and disorderly. Iago tells Michael Cascio that the best way to get his position back is to talk to Desdemona and get her on his side. Michael Cascio takes this advice, and he gets Desdemona alone and asks for her help.
Desdemona is happy to help him because she knows him and thinks he's a loyal friend of Othello's. But when Othello and Iago come near, Michael Cascio leaves because he doesn't feel up to facing Othello personally. Iago takes this opportunity to plant the seed of doubt.
He points out to Othello that Michael Cascio snuck away when Othello came near. Desdemona tells Othello he should reconcile with Michael Cascio, and Othello says he'll do it soon. Iago appears and plants another suspicion in Othello's mind. He acts like something's wrong, but he's reluctant to say anything, so Othello has to drag it out of him. Then he says he doesn't know anything for sure, but Othello should watch Desdemona, because the signs of her cheating with Michael Cascio are all there.
Michael Cascio knows her and delivered messages between her and Othello when they were getting to know each other. Venetian women like to cheat. Desdemona definitely fooled her father when she was falling in love with Othello, so he knows she's a good liar.
but he tells Othello to beware of jealousy, because they don't know for sure. Even though there's no evidence, Othello starts to doubt himself right away. He's black, he's getting kind of old, and he's not a smooth talker like the Venetian nobleman, so maybe she is cheating on him with Michael Cascio. Desdemona comes in to tell him people are waiting for him to come meet with them, and he says he has a headache.
She tries to wrap his head with her handkerchief, and he pushes it away and she drops it. After they leave, Iago's wife Emilia picks it up. up because Iago has asked her to steal it.
Iago makes her hand it over and tells her to leave. Othello comes back in and he's completely obsessed with his jealous suspicions and furious with Iago for starting them. He demands some proof. Iago says he heard Michael Cascio talking in his room. sleep about sleeping with Desdemona.
Then he asks Othello if his wife has a handkerchief with strawberries embroidered on it, and Othello says yes. Iago says he saw Michael Cascio wiping his beard with it. Othello is completely convinced, and he swears that he'll kill them. both for revenge. Iago kneels and swears to help him.
Othello asks Desdemona where the handkerchief is, and Desdemona starts asking him to make the decision to reinstate Michael Cascio, partly because she has promised to do this, and partly to change the the subject from the handkerchief. Othello gets even angrier as she keeps bringing up Michael Casio. He tells her to go get the handkerchief, and when she doesn't, he becomes enraged and walks off. Casio comes to Desdemona to ask her again for her help, and she tells him he'll have to be patient. A prostitute named Bianca, who's in love with Michael Casio, comes to him and asks why he hasn't been to visit her.
He gives her the handkerchief, which he found in his room, and asks her to copy the embroidery. Iago and Othello talk about Desdemona's and Cassio's affair, and Othello gets so worked up he has an epileptic fit and falls into a trance. Michael Cassio comes by, but Iago tells him to wait a little ways away. Othello recovers, and Iago tells him to hide and watch while he speaks to Michael Cassio. Othello hides, and Iago asks Michael Cassio about Bianca and whether they're going to get married.
These questions make Michael Cassio laugh uncontrollably, and Othello interprets this as Michael Cassio's gloating about sleeping with Desdemona. In the middle of the conversation, Bianca comes up and throws the handkerchief at Michael Casio, which makes it look like Michael Casio took it from Desdemona and gave it to his prostitute. Iago and Othello make plans to murder him and Desdemona.
A nobleman named Lodovico arrives from Venice with letters from the Duke removing Othello from command and putting Casio in charge of Cyprus. While Othello is reading the letters in front of Lodovico, Desdemona, and others, he gets angry at Desdemona and hits her, shocking everyone. Othello accuses Amelia of helping Desdemona cheat, then calls Desdemona a whore.
Rodrigo complains to Iago, saying that Iago's been taking his gold and jewels and promising to deliver them to Desdemona, but he's no closer to sleeping with Desdemona than before. Iago gets his trust back and convinces him that the best way to sleep with Desdemona is to kill Michael Cascio, so Othello and Desdemona won't be able to leave the island. Rodrigo reluctantly agrees. Iago and Rodrigo lie in wait for Michael Cascio as he...
he leaves Bianca's apartment. Rodrigo attacks him, but his sword doesn't pierce Michael Cascio's coat. Michael Cascio stabs Rodrigo, and Iago comes from behind and stabs Michael Cascio in the leg and runs away.
Rodrigo and Michael Cascio are yelling in pain, so Lodovico and Graziano start coming their way. Iago acts like he's responding to these cries for help as well, and he stabs Rodrigo and kills him. Othello tells Desdemona to pray and prepare for her death and refuses to listen to her when she protests.
test she hasn't done anything. Then he smothers her with a pillow. Emilia comes in to tell him about the attack on Michael Cascio and sees Desdemona.
Othello admits he killed her, even though she wakes up for a moment and claims she killed herself. Emilia argues with Othello about whether Desdemona cheated on him, and Othello says it was her husband Iago who told him. Lodovico and Gratiano and Iago come in, and Emilia accuses Iago of making the whole thing up.
The story comes out, and Emilia says she stole the handkerchief. handkerchief and gave it to Iago because he told her to. Iago stabs Amelia and kills her, then runs away.
The other men arrest Othello and run after Iago to catch him, eventually bringing him back. Othello stabs himself with a weapon he'd been concealing and kills himself, and Iago is taken away to be tortured while Michael Cascio becomes governor of Cyprus. For more information about Othello, check out the Othello Sparknote on sparknotes.com. For a translation of the entire play into modern English, go to No Fear Shakespeare at nfs.sparknotes.com.