[Music] hello my name is dr aiden elliot and this is the complete guide to shakespeare in this video i will provide an overview of othello i won't summarize every single event but i will highlight the main causal events and the character traits of iago and othello that make those events possible when this play opens as often happens in a shakespeare play the characters are responding to something that has already happened in this case othello has married testimonia and appointed michael cassio as he second in command these decisions will cause problems for othello some more serious than others first a venetian nobleman called roderigo was trying to marry desdemona himself and had been sending her gifts via iago so he is angry second iago expected to be made othello's second in command and so he is angry and third othello has not sought permission to marry desdemona from her father brabanchio and so this will anger him the first thing to say is that roderigo is not much of a threat to othello he's gullible and he's a pawn that's moved around and manipulated by iago the threat from desdemona's father however is more serious because he accuses othello of winning desdemona through witchcraft and act punishable by death but we discover that the venetians need othello to fight the turks in cyprus and so they ask probancio to just accept the marriage but brabanchio says one thing that iago will subsequently use to mentally torture othello that desdemona had deceived her father and might also deceive him but othello's most powerful adversaries iago because he is ironically one of the people he trusts the most othello frequently refers to him as honest iago and he continues to do this until the very end of the play it's one of othello's weaknesses as the argo tells us othello thinks people are honest if they appear to be honest now another key feature of shakespeare's plays is that a character sets new goals at the end of act one and in this case the character is iago and he has two main goals to get michael cassio fired from his job and to make othello think cassio is having an affair with desdemona so the immediate goal is to remove cassio and when the action moves to cyprus we discover that michael cassio has two weaknesses he can't drink much alcohol and he angers easily that's why iago gets cassio drunk and has roderigo taught him a fight breaks out and one of the cypriots trying to stop the fight is stabbed by cassio othello is furious and dismisses cassio from his job a second in command now that iago's first objective has been achieved his goal for act three will be to make othello jealous by thinking that cassio and desdemona are having an affair but how can he do that well by persuading cassio to ask desdemona to help him get his job back what better way of making a fellow jealous than have her meet privately with a good looking and charming man as act 3 begins we see cassio talking to desdemona and when othello and iago arrive he hurriedly leaves and the argo mutters ha i like not that now when questioned about what that is iago says nothing and will only say can't have been cassio moving away because he wouldn't steal away so guilty like but then of course othello discovers it was cassio stealing away guiltily iago then hears another critical piece of information cassio had accompanied othello on his visits to see desdemona before they were married and had sometimes delivered messages to her on his own so when he argo says indeed he's implying that they can't be trusted on their own together now othello is suspicious at this point but he says he needs visual proof that desdemona is having an affair with cassio at which point of courtyargo reminds othello that destimona lied to her father when she married him crucially halfway through act 3 scene 3 which is the midpoint of the play where events take a decisive turn in another direction desdemona doesn't notice that she's dropped a handkerchief that othello had given her this handkerchief is a symbol of marital fidelity and imbued othello believes with magical powers so when amelia picks it up and gives it to iago the implications for desdemona are serious especially when iago reveals he will leave it in cassio's house now by the second half of act 3 scene 3 othello concludes that he needs the ocular proof that desdemona is having an affair with cassio he needs to see with his own eyes but this allows iago to ask him if he really wants to see cassio and desdemona having sex together now when othello rejects this option iago tells an enormous lie he claims that he shared a barrack room bed with cassio and that cassio had turned over in his sleep kissed thiago thinking he was desdemona and then talking in his sleep said they must keep their affair secret othello takes this statement at face value after all he still believes that iago is an honest man aniaga then tells another lie he says that he's seen cassio with desdemona's handkerchief othello is now convinced of her guilt again because he thinks iago is being honest now by the end of act 3 scene 3 othello has sworn to kill destimona and iago has sworn to kill cassio iago is finally made second in command and has succeeded in making othello jealous othello then asks desdemona for the handkerchief which of course she can't show him and we discover that cassio has found the handkerchief and has asked bianca a prostitute to make a copy of it now until this point othello has been largely convinced by a series of suggestions in contrast the events at the beginning of act 4 are the first time he sees anything for himself although ironically he then misinterprets what he sees iago arranges for othello to secretly observe him meeting with cassio where he'll discuss cassio's affair with desdemona in particular iago says watch out for cassio's reactions now what othello doesn't know is that they then laugh about cassio's relationship with the prostitute bianca this alone is proof enough but when bianca then arrives with the handkerchief othello thinks that not only has casio been given the handkerchief but he's now given it to a prostitute at this point othello again says he will kill desdemona but othello now receives a letter ordering him to leave cyprus and return to venice leaving cassio in charge when desdemona sounds pleased that cassio will be put in charge a fellow hitser now she actually means she's happy that she and othello will be returning to venice but again othello misinterprets what he sees and hears now shortly after a fellow accuses testimonia of being a prostitute and leaves amelia reacts by suggesting someone has been plotting against desdemona ironically emilia doesn't yet realize she's describing her husband reminding us again of how good a liar he is and at the end of act four desdemona sings the willow song and discusses infidelity with emilia willow is a symbol of grief or unrequited love and this scene reinforces the idea that desdemona would never consider infidelity herself and also foreshadows her murder in act 5. act 5 sees the effects of all the scheming now come to a climax roderigo he's told to murder cassio but he's murdered himself in the process iago unseen by anyone stabs cassio but fails to kill him and then in the final scene othello murders destimona before revealing to emilia that it was iago who told him desdemona was unfaithful her response where she says my husband four times indicates her shock she cannot believe what she's hearing and reveals that it was the argo who took the handkerchief and then iago says he merely told othello his thoughts and made some suggestions it was othello who decided that what he heard and saw meant desdemona was guilty and this is of course true after this a fellow stabs the argo but fails to kill him and when he asks iago to reveal his motivation he simply refuses to say othello's final tragic act is to stab himself and die after kissing desdemona leaving us with a question that has puzzled people for over 400 years why did iargo do what he did was it motiveless malignity or was it just jealousy so i hope this video has given you some useful insights and it will help you to get greater enjoyment from william shakespeare's othello give a thumbs up if you enjoyed this video and subscribe now so that you never miss any of my future posts [Music]