“Othello” By William Shakespeare
“Othello” is tragic story that is set in Venice, Italy on an island in the Mediterranean Sea during the sixteenth century. The story begins with an altercation between Roderigo and Iago. Roderigo is a young rich man, and Iago is an antagonist with a strong ability of charming and convincing people. Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him pursue Desdemona, who he just found out married Othello. Iago hates Othello also because he gave a higher position to another solider in the army, Cassio. Brabanzio, Desdemona’s father, has the visitors of Roderigo and Iago, they visit him and explain frantically that Desdemona was “kidnapped” and has married Othello. Brabanzio is shocked to find Desdemona missing, so he gathers police in search of Othello. Iago does not want his hatred of Othello to be known, so he sneaks away from Roderigo to go confront Othello. Cassio is one of Othello’s young soldiers, who also tells him a message from the Duke.
The Duke says that Othello’s help is being summoned due to a Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Shortly after, Brabanzio, Roderigo, and the police confront Othello and accuse him of witchcraft. Then, Othello explains the message from the Duke; Desdemona’s father insists to accompany him, so he can accuse him in front of the senator. The plan of Brabanzio fails. The senator and Duke are sympathetic towards Othello and Desdemona’s situation. They decide to give Othello a chance to explain himself to everyone. Othello justifies their marriage by telling their love story of how Desdemona fell for Othello’s stories of war, not by witchcraft. Desdemona then confesses her love and defends her choice of marriage. Brabanzio steps aside uneasily, and lets the Duke and Senator continue their meeting. They tell Othello that he must travel to Cyprus to defend it against the Turks, Desdemona insists that she attends also. As they arrive in Cyprus, the governor has received a message, that a Turkish ship has wrecked during a storm in the sea. Then, Cassio arrives his ship, that did not wreck.
On the second ship, Iago, Roderigo, Desdemona, and Emilia, Iago’s wife. Cassio greets Desdemona by reaching for her hand, Iago then turns to the audience and says “as little a web as this” (l.169). Othello then arrives to greet his wife, Desdemona. He then unveils that there will be a celebration of the protection of Cyprus. Once Roderigo and Iago are alone, they begin to plot against Othello and his wife. Iago begins to say that Desdemona’s “blood is made dull with the act of sport” (ll.222) meaning she will look for sexual satisfaction in someone else. Iago reassures Roderigo that when this occurs, it will be Cassio. Iago elaborate plan to destroy Othello begins with telling Roderigo to initiate a fight with Cassio, that has been drinking due to Iago’s encouragement, during the festivities. The governor intervenes the fight to hold Cassio down, who then stabs Roderigo. Iago then sends Roderigo into town to raise awareness. Othello leaves his wife to become aware of the all the commotion. Othello commands to know who began the fight, Iago hesitates to expose his “friend” Cassio, but then Iago tells the whole story.
Othello then takes away Cassio’s high rank position in the army. Cassio is distraught by the fact that Othello has lost all trust and respect in him. Iago reassures Cassio that Othello will forget and forgive. Iago then shares a soliloquy that he will plot Cassio and Desdemona as lovers. Cassio sends musicians below Othello’s window. Othello sends down his clown, Cassio hopes the clown will send Iago’s wife to him. When the clown leaves, Iago tells Cassio that he will distract Othello, so he can speak to Desdemona. Desdemona is understanding of Cassio’s perspective of the fight and she assures him she will persuade Othello of her forgiveness. As Cassio is leaving, Othello and Iago return; Othello is fiery with rage and jealously. “ No, sure I cannot think it,/ That he would steal away so guilty-like,/See you coming”(ll.37-39). Othello and Desdemona can talk through what is bothering them both. Othello becomes over heated, so Desdemona hands him a handkerchief. As they leave for dinner, the handkerchief is dropped. Emilia picks up the handkerchief as she thinks of how Iago has always asked her to steal it from him. Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s room for when Othello demands proof later. Iago tells Othello that he has seen Cassio using the handkerchief to wipe his beard.
Othello vows to take revenge on his wife and Cassio. Othello confronts Desdemona by asking for the handkerchief, which she can not provide. As Cassio finds the handkerchief in his room, he is greeted by a prostitute whom he asks to take the handkerchief and copy its embroidery for him. Iago plans to trap Cassio in a lie of his affair with Desdemona, while Othello hides. Iago pumps Cassio for information about the prostitute, causing Cassio to laugh and confirm Othello’s suspicions. The prostitute then enters with Desdemona’s handkerchief, reprimanding Cassio for making her copy out the embroidery of a love token given to him by another woman. Othello later confronts Desdemona by calling her a whore, he then sends Emilia away. Iago tells Roderigo he must kill Cassio, to have his true love. Iago wounds Cassio, because Roderigo misses his shot.
Then, as Othello stands over Desdemona, preparing to kill, she pleads for her life. Othello then smothers her to death. Emilia announces that Roderigo is dead. Emilia tells the truth of the handkerchief and what Iago has done. Othello then wounds Iago, and he must go back to Venice to be held responsible. Othello makes a speech about how he would like to be remembered, then kills himself with a sword he had hidden on his person. The Elizabethan Era is considered the Golden Age of all English History. During this time, England embraces peace and prosperity, due to this art developed. The Elizabethan era has this name because Queen Elizabeth reigned during this time. “Othello” has been portrayed by the modern audience that Othello was eager to take his own life when the story came to an end. The three articles will explain the language used during the Elizabethan Era to show the modern audience that he was not eager to die.
“Othello’s Great Heart” is an article about the debate of if Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies “constitute a definable genre with common features.” Shakespeare’s play has continuously had a pattern of some type. “For he was great of heart”, the writer of this article believes that the comment made by Cassio is the only similarity made compared to Shakespeare’s other tragedies. Many readers of “Othello” have noticed that when the play is performed, there is quite a distance between audience and the events on stage when moving Othello’s body and the last words of the hero. The writer then speaks about the similarities between Othello’s and Hamlet’s death scene.
“ Let Tour captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov'd most royal; and for his passage,
The soldiers' music and the rite of war Speak loudly for him. “(V.ii.395-400)
“Hamlet's body is ceremonially carried out, and a `peal of ordnance are shot off.' In Othello, on the other hand, there is little ceremony. After the death of the hero the survivors immediately turn to practical matters: a curtain is drawn to hide the sight of the dead lovers; judgments are made about who will inherit Othello's possessions, who will succeed him in the administration of Cyprus, and who will oversee the punishment of Iago; and the play ends with a reference to the weighty business of informing headquarters in Venice of what has happened.” The writer is saying that there are differences for example, Othello was able to have some closure of his life with a ceremony, where Hamlet did not.
Shakespeare’s endings typically have action to close the story, but in Othello, Cassio’s words are able to replace that excitement. The speaker says , “Othello's mythological stature is not only defined by his color and his origins, by his words and his deeds, but also by the way the Venetians are presented — an aspect not discussed in Helen Gardner's essay: like most critics she seems to take it for granted that the world of the Venetians is the one familiar to us” because Shakespeare wanted the audience to look past Othello’s skin color in Venetian society.” At the end the villain is punished; social order is superficially restored. But the Venetians have not gained new insight. The limitations of their metaphysical order and, implicitly, that of the audience, have been challenged. Therefore, we cannot end up simply agreeing with the Venetians. Our final position should rather be one from which both worlds and their tragic relationship can be seen. We may be forced into this position by having our generic expectations thwarted, by an ending that is even more abrupt and oppressive than we may have expected.” The speaker concludes this article by saying just because justice was served does not mean the Venetians understand the tragedy.
“Why is Othello black?” is an article explaining the reasoning behind being called a tragic hero. The article begins with asking the reader if today’s society would allow Othello to be black and why did Shakespeare make the choice of making him black? The speaker begins by saying, “Shakespeare’s writing mostly predates the transatlantic slave trade and the more modern obsession with biological classification, both of which gave rise to our contemporary ideas of race”, meaning that when Shakespeare was writing these tragic stories with the idea in mind of moving past the idea of race in this time period.
The writer also goes into detail about how he thinks that Shakespeare wasn’t using color as a race, he was using it to symbolize that he was not an English man because at the time they were white. “When Shakespeare used the word “black” he was not exactly describing a race the way we would. He meant instead someone with darker skin than an Englishman at a time when Englishmen were very, very pale. Although Othello is a Moor, and although we often assume, he is from Africa, he never names his birthplace in the play. In Shakespeare’s time, Moors could be from Africa, but they could also be from the Middle East or even Spain.” The writer then speaks about how the word “black” has been used in history and stereotypes with it. He believes that Shakespeare had a deeper meaning to show to the audience in this time period. The writer says from records that Shakespeare played “Othello” for ambassador Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anon, then due to Shakespeare’s inspiration, he began “Othello” later the same year.
“Is this the real model for Othello?” is an article explaining how when Shakespeare once performed once of his famous tragedies for Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anon, it inspires “Othello.” Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun was in London at the time to lead a group of merchants to form an alliance with two groups of people. “Al-Annuri had landed in England in August leading a 16-man Moroccan delegation of merchants, translators, and holy men to conclude a military alliance between the Protestant Tudors and Muslim Morocco against their common enemy, Catholic Spain.” This man later formed relations to Queen Elizabeth along with the Persian rules, Shah Tahmsap so he could form another alliance but with him this time. “Al-Annuri was not the only person with whom Elizabeth was fostering relations. In the 1560s she wrote to the Persian Shi’a ruler, Shah Tahmasp.”
After he left, Shakespeare began his play of “Othello.” He created Othello as a Moor because he was inspired by Al-Annuri and his Christianity. Shakespeare also based the adventure of Othello battling the Turks to symbolize Al-Annuri’s battle. Shakespeare's goal for writing Othello based on Al-Annuri was to scare the Venetians. “It is neither horror nor admiration, but both simultaneously. As the play ends with Desdemona dead, Othello reminds the horrified Venetians: “… that in Aleppo once, / Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk / Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, / I took by th’ throat the circumcised dog / And smote him – thus!” The writer of this article wanted the reader to know how Shakespeare was inspired to create this epic love tragedy.
In conclusion, “Othello” is a poem written about a man who died due to his rage of jealously. “Othello” was mistakenly accused of being eager to die, when he just wanted to be with his true love, Desdemona. The three articles talk about how “Othello” was different than Shakespeare’s other tragic stories, the reasoning behind Shakespeare making Othello black, and the inspiration behind the entire story.
