The Tragedy of Othello
By William Shakespeare
As usual, Othello is just an idea
Shakespeare adopted
 The
plot of Shakespeare's Othello
is largely taken from Giraldi
Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi, a tale
of love, jealousy, and betrayal.
However, the characters, themes,
and attitudes of the works are vastly
different, with Shakespeare's play
being a more involved study of
human nature and psychology.
Setting
 Begins in Venice, Italy and transitions to the
island of Cyprus
 Printed in 1622
Othello: Introduction
Othello is a general, a military leader, in
Venice hundreds of years ago.
But he is an outsider because he is from another
country—and of another race.
Othello: Introduction
When Othello secretly marries the young,
beautiful and noble Desdemona,
her father, Brabantio,
wants Othello to be
arrested.
But Desdemona loves
Othello and doesn’t
care that he is an
outsider.
Othello: Introduction
At the same time, the men in the army under
Othello can’t be trusted.
Cassio means well but
is open to bad
influences.
Iago pretends to be
Othello’s friend, but
secretly resents
Othello for passing him
over for promotion.
Othello: Introduction
Iago is determined to
get revenge.
He decides to attack
Othello in his most
vulnerable spot…
his love for Desdemona.
Othello: Introduction
Will Othello be able to see through
Iago’s schemes?
Or will jealousy and revenge turn to murder?
Othello: Background
Othello is from North Africa, while
Desdemona is from Venice, Italy.
Their marriage is a
meeting of cultures and
races.
Othello: Background
Othello is sometimes referred to as “the
Moor.” Moors are people with mixed Berber
and Arab groups living in northwestern
Africa.
Shakespeare included Moorish characters in other
plays: The Merchant of Venice and Titus
Andronicus. He used them to represent outsiders.
Othello: Background
Racism is an important concept in Othello,
as is the idea of judging others on the basis of
their appearance rather than what’s in their
hearts.
Othello: Background
The way a character speaks in Shakespeare’s
plays signals the way his or her mind is
working. It can also tell you a lot about the
character.
Othello often uses animal
imagery.
Desdemona often
speaks about her faith.
Background Info
Othello also touches upon a major
issue in Europe of this time period
The intermingling of Muslim religion
and culture with the West
Background Info

Othello is considered to be a prime
example of Aristotelian drama
It focuses upon a very small cast of
characters, one of the smallest used in
Shakespeare, has few distractions from
the main plot arc, and concentrates on
just a few topics, like jealousy.
Iago
 The
character of Iago is a variation
on the Vice figure found in earlier
morality plays
He deviates from this model because
of his lack of a clear motivation.
Why is it so popular?

One reason for the overwhelming
popularity of the play throughout the
ages is that it focuses on two people
who defied society in order to follow
their own hearts.
Topics
Appearance vs. reality
 Race
 Pride
 Magic

Order vs. chaos
 Good vs. evil
 Honesty
 Self-knowledge

Othello: Discussion Starters
Discuss (1)
What groups are sometimes treated as
outsiders in the United States today?
• Why are they seen by others as outsiders?
•How do others react to them?
Othello: Discussion Starters
Discuss (2)
Othello depicts many problems that arise
from jealousy and greed.
• Do these emotions still cause problems
today?
•If so, what problems have you seen them
create?