The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

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1. ACT I.

   Venice: the secret marriage exposed, and Othello sent to Cyprus against the Turks.

   1. Scene 1 — Venice. A street.

      At night in Venice, Iago tells the gull Roderigo he hates Othello for promoting Cassio over him. To spite the Moor they rouse the senator Brabantio with crude shouts that his daughter Desdemona has eloped with him.

   2. Scene 2 — Venice. Another street.

      Iago feigns loyalty, warning Othello of Brabantio's anger. Brabantio confronts Othello with drawn swords, but an urgent summons to the Senate over the Turkish fleet interrupts the quarrel.

   3. Scene 3 — Venice. A council chamber.

      The Senate weighs conflicting reports of the Turkish fleet bound for Cyprus. Brabantio accuses Othello of witchcraft; Othello tells how he wooed Desdemona with his life-story, and she confirms her love. He is ordered to Cyprus. Alone, Iago fleeces Roderigo ('Put money in thy purse') and resolves to use Cassio to undo Othello.

2. ACT II.

   Cyprus: a storm wrecks the Turkish fleet; Iago disgraces Cassio and sets his trap.

   1. Scene 1 — A seaport in Cyprus. A Platform.

      A tempest scatters the Turkish fleet and the Venetian ships make harbour. Cassio, Desdemona, Iago, and Emilia land safely, and Othello arrives to a joyful reunion. Iago, watching Cassio's courtesy to Desdemona, lays his plan and again strings Roderigo along.

   2. Scene 2 — A street.

      A herald proclaims a night of feasting and bonfires to celebrate the fleet's destruction and Othello's marriage.

   3. Scene 3 — A Hall in the Castle.

      Iago plies the weak-headed Cassio with wine and has Roderigo provoke him; Cassio wounds Montano in the brawl. Roused from bed, Othello cashiers Cassio. Iago then counsels the ruined lieutenant to beg Desdemona to plead his case — the bait of the whole plot.

3. ACT III.

   The temptation: Iago kindles Othello's jealousy, and the handkerchief becomes 'proof.'

   1. Scene 1 — Cyprus. Before the Castle.

      Cassio brings musicians to greet Othello; the Clown dismisses them. Cassio asks Emilia to win him a private word with Desdemona.

   2. Scene 2 — Cyprus. A Room in the Castle.

      Othello sees to the fortifications and dispatches letters — a brief link scene.

   3. Scene 3 — Cyprus. The Garden of the Castle.

      Desdemona warmly promises to plead for Cassio. Iago drops his poison — hints, hesitations, 'the green-eyed monster' — until Othello demands 'the ocular proof.' Desdemona's handkerchief, dropped and picked up by Emilia, passes to Iago, who invents Cassio's dream and says Cassio wipes his beard with it. Othello kneels with Iago in a vow of revenge ('Like to the Pontic sea') and makes him his lieutenant.

   4. Scene 4 — Cyprus. Before the Castle.

      Othello demands the handkerchief and tells its uncanny history; Desdemona, unable to produce it, only deepens his fury by pressing Cassio's suit. Cassio gives the found handkerchief to his mistress Bianca to copy.

4. ACT IV.

   Iago tightens the snare; Othello, convinced, strikes Desdemona and plans her death.

   1. Scene 1 — Cyprus. Before the Castle.

      Iago works Othello into an epileptic fit, then stages a laughing talk with Cassio about Bianca that Othello, out of earshot, takes to be about Desdemona; Bianca flings back the handkerchief as 'proof.' Othello resolves to strangle Desdemona, Iago to kill Cassio. Lodovico arrives from Venice with letters recalling Othello — who strikes Desdemona before them all.

   2. Scene 2 — Cyprus. A Room in the Castle.

      Othello questions Emilia, who swears Desdemona honest, then confronts Desdemona herself as a whore in all but name. Roderigo, sure he has been cheated of his jewels, is talked by Iago into murdering Cassio that night.

   3. Scene 3 — Cyprus. Another Room in the Castle.

      Preparing for bed, Desdemona sings the mournful Willow Song and talks with Emilia, who bluntly defends wives driven to faithlessness by their husbands.

5. ACT V.

   The bloody night: Roderigo and Desdemona killed, Iago exposed, Othello's suicide.

   1. Scene 1 — Cyprus. A Street.

      In the dark street Roderigo and Cassio wound each other; Iago stabs Cassio from behind in the leg and, to silence him, kills Roderigo, then casts suspicion on Bianca.

   2. Scene 2 — Cyprus. A Bedchamber in the castle: Desdemona in bed

      Othello smothers Desdemona in her bed. Emilia raises the alarm and, recognizing the handkerchief, exposes her husband's plot; Iago kills her and flees. Othello wounds the captured Iago, learns the whole truth, and — recalling his service to Venice — kills himself, falling upon a kiss. Cassio is left to rule Cyprus and Iago to torture.

Characters

• Othello protagonist

  A Moorish general in the service of Venice, valued for his military skill and his dignity, who has secretly married the Venetian senator's daughter Desdemona. A commanding, eloquent, deeply loving man, he is worked on by his ensign Iago until jealous suspicion of Desdemona's faith destroys his judgement; he smothers her and, learning the truth, kills himself. The play treats him as both a noble outsider and the target of the other characters' racist contempt ('the Moor', 'thick-lips').

• Iago antagonist

  Othello's ensign (ancient), passed over for the lieutenancy in favour of Cassio. One of Shakespeare's great villains: a brilliant, motiveless-seeming manipulator who confides his schemes to the audience and engineers Othello's jealousy with insinuation and the planted handkerchief. He calls himself honest while ruining everyone around him — Othello, Cassio, Roderigo, and his own wife Emilia, whom he kills. At the end he refuses to explain himself: 'Demand me nothing.'

• Desdemona deuteragonist

  The daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio, who elopes with Othello for love of his character and his story. Frank, loyal, and warm, she defends her choice before the senate and pleads (innocently) for Cassio's reinstatement — the very kindness Iago twists into 'proof' of an affair. She remains devoted even as Othello turns on her; he smothers her in her bed, and with her last breath she refuses to blame him.

• Cassio major

  Michael Cassio, the well-bred Florentine officer whom Othello promotes to lieutenant over Iago. Courteous and a touch vain, he has a weak head for drink; Iago exploits this to get him cashiered, then uses his courtesy toward Desdemona and his affair with Bianca to feed Othello's jealousy. He survives the play, wounded, and is left to govern Cyprus.

• Emilia major

  Iago's wife and Desdemona's waiting-gentlewoman. Worldly and outspoken (her 4.3 speech defends wives who err), she unwittingly aids the plot by giving Iago the dropped handkerchief, then exposes him once she grasps what he has done — denouncing him over Desdemona's body, for which he kills her.

• Roderigo supporting

  A foolish, love-sick Venetian gentleman who lusts after Desdemona and keeps paying Iago to procure her for him. Iago strings him along, pocketing his money and jewels and using him to discredit Cassio; in the final night Iago has him attack Cassio, then kills him to silence him.

• Brabantio supporting

  A Venetian senator, Desdemona's father, roused at night by Iago and Roderigo with the news that his daughter has married the Moor. He accuses Othello of using witchcraft to seduce her, brings the charge before the Duke, and — overruled — disowns her with a warning Iago will later weaponize: 'She has deceived her father, and may thee.'

• Lodovico supporting

  A noble kinsman of Brabantio who arrives from Venice with letters recalling Othello and naming Cassio governor of Cyprus. He witnesses Othello strike Desdemona ('Is this the noble Moor...?') and, at the end, takes charge, seizing Iago for torture and judgement.

• Montano supporting

  The governor of Cyprus whom Othello succeeds. He greets the Venetians, is wounded by the drunken Cassio in the brawl Iago provokes, and returns at the end to help expose the truth.

• Duke of Venice minor

  The Duke of Venice, who hears Brabantio's charge against Othello in the night council, is won over by Othello's account and Desdemona's testimony, and dispatches Othello to defend Cyprus against the Turkish fleet.

• Gratiano minor

  A Venetian nobleman, Brabantio's brother and Desdemona's uncle, who comes to Cyprus with Lodovico and is present at the bloody climax, reporting that Brabantio has died of grief at the marriage.

• Bianca minor

  A courtesan of Cyprus in love with Cassio. He gives her Desdemona's handkerchief (found in his lodging) to copy, and her jealous return of it in front of Othello becomes the 'ocular proof' Iago needs. Iago later tries to pin Cassio's wounding on her.

• Clown minor

  Othello's servant, a jester who quibbles with the musicians (3.1) and carries a message to Desdemona (3.4) — the play's brief comic relief.

• First Senator minor

  A senator of Venice in the night council, who questions the conflicting reports of the Turkish fleet and helps weigh Brabantio's complaint against Othello.

• Second Senator minor

  A second senator in the Venetian council scene.

• First Gentleman minor

  One of the gentlemen of Cyprus who watch the storm and report the scattering of the Turkish fleet and the arrival of the Venetian ships (2.1).

• Second Gentleman minor

  A second Cyprus gentleman describing the tempest and the safe landing of Cassio and Desdemona (2.1).

• Third Gentleman minor

  A third gentleman of Cyprus who brings news during the watch for Othello's ship (2.1).

• Fourth Gentleman minor

  A gentleman of Cyprus with a single line during the harbour-watch (2.1).

• First Officer minor

  An officer attending the Duke's council in Venice, reporting the latest dispatches about the Turkish galleys (1.3).

• First Musician minor

  One of the musicians Cassio brings to play beneath Othello's window the morning after the wedding, dismissed by the Clown (3.1).

• Sailor minor

  A sailor who brings word to the Venetian council that the Turkish fleet is bearing for Rhodes, not Cyprus (1.3).

• Messenger minor

  A messenger who reports the movements of the Turkish fleet to the senate (1.3).

• Herald minor

  Othello's herald, who proclaims a night of feasting and bonfires to celebrate the destruction of the Turkish fleet and Othello's marriage (2.2).

• Gentlemen ensemble

  Gentlemen of Cyprus speaking together.

• All ensemble

  Several characters speaking together.

• Duke and Senators ensemble

  The Duke and the senators of Venice reacting together in the council scene (1.3).

Cross-references

• Folger Shakespeare
• MIT plain text
• Wikipedia