Othello at a glance: Your brief guide to William Shakespeare's tragedy

The first known production was on 1 November 1604; it has hardly fallen out of favour since

Hugh Quarshie (left) as Othello and Lucian Msamati as Iago in a 2015 RSC production (RSC)

Plot: Othello, Moorish hero of Venice’s wars against the Turk, secretly marries Desdemona, to the fury of her father, a Venetian senator. Iago, Othello’s evil ensign, tricks Othello into thinking that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio, Othello’s most loyal subordinate. Consumed by jealousy, Othello kills Desdemona, then, realising that he has been tricked, stabs himself.

Themes: Jealousy; manipulation; race.

Background: The first known production was on 1 November 1604; it has hardly fallen out of favour since. The roles of Othello and Iago are famously challenging. Until recently, the title role was usually played by white actors (John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Orson Welles), blacked up. Ira Aldridge was the first black actor to play the part, in 1833. In the mid-20th century, Paul Robeson played it several times; Laurence Fishburne played it in a 1995 film.

Key characters

• Othello – noble in all but his jealously.
• Desdemona – gentle, innocent, doomed.
• Iago – implacable schemer, driven by “motiveless malignity”.

Top lines

• “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.” Iago admits his duplicity, Act 1 Scene 1.
• “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” Iago warns Othello against the very jealousy he is stoking up, Act 3 Scene 3.
• “She lov’d me for the dangers I had pass’d, And I lov’d her that she did pity them.” Othello explains his love for Desdemona, Act 1 Scene 3.
• “Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.” A hypocritical discourse by Iago, Act 3 Scene 3.
• “One that lov’d not wisely but too well.”  Othello’s epitaph for himself, Act 5 Scene 2.
• “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.” Othello’s final words, Act 5 Scene 2. 

Echoes

Giuseppe Verdi based one of his greatest operas (Otello) on it. José Limón used it as the basis of his 1949 ballet (The Moor’s Pavane) The provocative parrot in Disney’s Aladdin shares his name with Iago. The novel The Serpent of Venice, by Christopher Moore, combines the plot of Othello with that of The Merchant of Venice. Eugène Delacroix painted The Death of Desdemona.