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A Study Guide |
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Study Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2003
This page has been revised, enlarged, and moved to
Key
Dates
Source .......The probable main source for Othello, Moor of Venice is.Ecatommiti, (also called Hecatommithi), published in Venice in 1566 and written by Giovanni Battista Giraldi (1504-1573), also known as Cinthio. Ecatommiti means One Hundred Tales. .......Othello is a stage play in the form of a tragedy in which a good man falls to ruin after an evil man inflames him with jealousy. .......Othello
takes place in Venice (in northern Italy) and Cyprus (an island in the
eastern Mediterranean about forty miles south of present-day Turkey). The
time is between 1489 and 1571. It is interesting to note that Venice is
the setting for both major Shakespeare plays dealing in part with racial
prejudice, Othello and The Merchant of Venice.
Characters
Othello:
Black Moor who is the greatest army general in Venice. He is intelligent,
courageous, and honorable. His marriage to beautiful Desdemona, the daughter
of a prominent Venetian, provokes racial slurs against him. But he carries
on with nobility and dignity as he leads an army against Turks on Cyprus.
His dedication to duty is eclipsed only by his dedication to Desdemona,
who follows him to Cyprus. So passionately does he love her that he cannot
endure the thought of another man even looking at her. And therein lies
his Achilles' heel, jealousy.
By Michael J. Cummings...© 2003 ....... When Othello elopes with Desdemona, daughter of Senator Brabantio, Iago realizes he has the perfect opening to get back at Othello. He enlists Roderigo, a former suitor of Desdemona, to awaken Desdemona’s father late at night. Then Iago, using crude racist metaphors, inflames Brabantio against Othello: For shame, put on your gown;....... Outraged, Brabantio complains to the Duke of Venice, claiming Othello used spells and charms to win Desdemona's favor. How else could a vile black man have won her favor?  .......When
a fleet of Turks threatens Cyprus, the Venetian Senate decides to send
Othello to Cyprus to defend it and become the new governor. During the
senate meeting, the duke listens to Brabantio's charges against Othello.
But after hearing Othello speak of his love for Desdemona, the duke finds
in favor of Othello, and Brabantio relinquishes his daughter to the Moor.
She decides to follow him to Cypress. Unaware that Iago was behind Brabantio's
earlier protests against the elopement, Othello orders Iago to accompany
his wife. Roderigo goes along at the urging of Iago, who tells Roderigo
that Desdemona will eventually tire of Othello. However, Iago also tells
Roderigo they must first act to discredit Cassio to prevent Desdemona from
taking up with him.
.......Meanwhile, a raging storm devastates the Turkish fleet, upending its attack, although the ships from Venice arrive safely at Cyprus. A celebration follows. .......On the evening of the first night in Cyprus, Iago–implementing his plan to discredit Cassio–gets Cassio drunk, then has Roderigo start an argument with him. Montano, the outgoing governor of Cyprus, intervenes, and Cassio wounds him. .......After Othello arrives at the scene of the commotion, he asks: “Honest Iago, that look'st dead with grieving / Speak, who began this?” (2. 3. 135-136). Playing the innocent, Iago replies: “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth / Than it should do offense to Michael Cassio” (2. 3. 181-182). Having duly established himself as an unbiased onlooker, he then says, ''Yet, I persuade myself, to speak the truth. . .” (3. 1. 183). After Iago recounts for Othello what happened during the fray, implicating Cassio, Othello tells Cassio that he will never more serve as the Moor’s officer. Lovely Desdemona appears and inquires about the disturbance. Othello tells her all is well, and they go off to bed. Montano is led away for treatment of his injury. Cassio, now alone with Iago, says he regrets his behavior. Iago tells him he can yet regain favor with Othello by having Desdemona intercede on his behalf. .......When Cassio presents his case to Othello’s wife, she agrees to speak with her husband on Cassio’s behalf. When she does so in an innocent attempt to be helpful, she arouses Othello’s jealousy. After all, Cassio is far younger than Othello–and terribly handsome. Is it not reasonable to believe that Desdemona has something going with Cassio? .......Meanwhile, Iago’s wife Emilia has found a handkerchief dropped by Desdemona. Othello had given it to his wife as a gift. When Emilia shows it to Iago, he sees an opportunity to advance his scheme and snatches it away, saying he has use for it. Iago then plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s room and tells Othello that Cassio has come into possession of it. When Othello asks his wife for the handkerchief and she cannot produce it, he tells her that it was a valued heirloom given to his mother by an Egyptian woman. He says his mother, in turn, gave the handkerchief to him as she lay dying, requesting that he give it to his future wife. .......“To lose ’t or give ’t away were such perdition / As nothing else could match” (3. 4. 69-70), Othello says. When he further presses Desdemona to produce the handkerchief and she cannot, he becomes convinced that she gave it to Cassio and has been having affair with him. Othello then tells Iago he plans to poison Desdemona, but Iago advises him to “strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated (4. 1. 182). As for Cassio, Iago says, “[L]et me be his undertaker” (4. 1. 184). .......Letters from the Duke of Venice arrive with Lodovico, recalling Othello to Venice and naming Cassio the new governor of Cyprus. Kind-hearted Desdemona praises Cassio. For this seemingly untoward gesture, Othello strikes and berates her. To further his plan, Iago again uses the hapless Roderigo, persuading him to kill Cassio for him. On a dark street Roderigo thrusts at Cassio but fails to kill him. Cassio in turn wounds Roderigo. Iago, darting by unseen, wounds Cassio in the leg. .......Othello arrives to observe from a distance. Believing Iago has been good to his word, that he has killed Cassio, the Moor goes back to the castle for the awful task of executing his wife. As others are drawn to the scene of the fray between Roderigo and Cassio, Iago returns with a lantern as if he is just discovering the melee. At an opportune moment he steals aside and finishes off Roderigo with a dagger thrust. Cassio is taken away for treatment. .......Othello, still in love with his wife, kisses her awake, asks her to prepare her soul for death, and–after an exchange of accusations and denials–smothers her with a pillow. As Desdemona lies dying, Emilia arrives to report the death of Roderigo. Desdemona cries out, “A guiltless death I die” (5. 2. 149), then breathes her last. Othello reveals that he killed his wife because she was having an affair with Cassio. Iago, he says, can verify her infidelity. Emilia, shocked, says Desdemona was always “heavenly true” (5. 2. 165) to Othello. If Iago reported otherwise, she says, he is a liar. .......Emilia calls for help, and Montano, Iago, and others respond. Emilia immediately impugns Iago: “You told a lie, an odious damned lie; / Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie” (5. 2. 215-216). Othello, still convinced of Desdemona’s guilt, brings up the matter of the handkerchief, saying Desdemona gave it to Cassio, as Iago can attest. Emilia then discloses that she found the handkerchief and gave it to her husband at his insistence. At long last, Iago’s whole sordid plot unravels. .......When Othello lunges at him, Iago stabs his wife and runs off. Montano and others pursue him. Emilia dies and Montano returns. With him are Lodovico, Cassio (carried on a chair), and Iago (held as a prisoner). Othello strikes at Iago with a sword and wounds him. When Cassio declares that he never wronged Othello, the Moor says he believes him and asks his pardon. Lodovico presents letters found in Roderigo’s pocket that disclose further details of Iago’s nefarious plot. .......Despondent with self-recrimination, Othello stabs himself, falls on the bed, and dies. Iago is held for punishment. “The time, the place, the torture” (5. 2. 427), Lodovico says, are up to the new governor of Cyprus, Cassio. .  Jealousy
has the power to destroy. It destroys both Iago (jealous that Michael
Cassio has received an appointment over him) and Othello (jealous that
his wife may love Cassio).
Racism in Othello .......Among
the vilest characters in all of Shakespeare is Iago. Audiences attending
Othello begin learning the extent of his villainy in the opening scene
of the play, when Iago uses racism as a spark to inflame Desdemona’s father,
Senator Brabantio, against Othello. Here is the scene:
’Zounds!4 sir, you’re robb’d; for shame, put on your gown;When Brabantio reacts with incredulity, Iago replies with a metaphor that this time compares Othello to a horse: ’Zounds! sir, you are one of those that will not serve God if the devil bid you. Because we come to do you service and you think we are ruffians, you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews7 neigh to you; you’ll have coursers for cousins and gennets8 for germans.9 (1. 1. 119).......Roderigo, whom Iago uses as a cat’s-paw, supports Iago’s story. Iago then says, “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you, your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs” (1. 1. 121). Roderigo adds that Desdemona is indeed in the “gross clasps of a lascivious Moor” (1. 1. 131). Brabantio, now convinced of the truth of the story, tells Roderigo to summon help. .......Afterward, on a street in another location, Iago meets with Othello to inflame him against Brabantio. The latter had denounced Othello, Iago says, with “scurvy and provoking terms” (1. 2. 10) after hearing of his and Desdemona’s elopement. Iago also says that he will divorce you,.......By and by, Brabantio and others appear. The senator, after denouncing Othello for taking Desdemona to his “sooty bosom” (1. 2. 87), accuses the Moor of having used “foul charms” (1. 2. 90) and “drugs or minerals” to weaken Desdemona’s will. .......The matter becomes an issue in the Venetian council chamber, where the Duke and other senators are preparing for war against the Turks. After Othello speaks eloquently of his love for Desdemona and she speaks on his behalf, the Duke exonerates Othello. But in doing so, the Duke obliquely denigrates Othello because of his race–apparently unintentionally, in a Freudian slip–telling Brabantio, “Your son-in-law is more fair than black” (1. 3. 311), implying that fairness is superior to blackness. Brabantio reluctantly accepts the ruling. .......Having lost a battle, Iago continues to plot to win the war, still using racism as one of his weapons. Consider that in referring to Othello, he sometimes inserts the word black to remind listeners that the Moor is different, a man apart, a man to be isolated. For example, after referring to Othello in Act 1 as a “black ram,” he tells Michael Cassio in Act 2, Scene 2, “Come, lieutenant, I have a stoup of wine, and here without are a brace of Cyprus gallants that would fain have a measure to the health of black Othello” (25). . .......Othello
is rich in memorable figures of speech, several of which have become part
of our language. Although the characters speak in prose as well as verse,
the imagery remains vivid throughout the play. Among the most frequently
quoted passages are the following:
For daws to peck at. (1. 1. 67-68)
Use of Irony Othello’s Prejudice, the Ultimate Irony .......Centuries of analysis and criticism of this play have focused on Othello as the victim of prejudice. Ironically, though, it is Othello who commits the most heinous act of prejudice in the play–forejudging his innocent wife as, in his own words, a “cunning whore” (4. 2. 105) who must pay for her transgression with her life. His mulish refusal to consider confuting evidence and his summary execution of his wife demonstrate that prejudice is an equal-opportunity affliction. Iago's "Good Name" .......Irony plays an important role in Othello. For example, Othello, a good man, commits a heinous crime. Iago, an evil man, masquerades as an honorable man. In fact, in one of the better known passages in the play, Iago extols honor, saying: ................Good
name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Iago’s Ironic Warning .......Ironically, it is the deceitful Iago who, in a pretense to make himself seem a friend to Othello, speaks of the danger of jealousy: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;Planted Evidence .......Writers
often use "planted evidence" as a ploy to impugn an innocent character
and thereby thicken the plot. Knives, guns, caches of jewels, umbrellas,
and cigarette lighters have all been used by writers to suggest that an
innocent character is guilty. The 19th Century playwright Oscar Wilde often
resorted to such ploys to complicate his plots. One of his plays, Lady
Windermere's Fan, relies heavily on seemingly incriminating evidence--a
fan and a handwritten letter--to implicate an innocent woman. What was
the planted evidence in Othello that implicated Desdemona? Describe
this evidence and explain its role in convincing Othello that his wife
was unfaithful.
.......The climax of a play or another literary work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting event in a series of events. The climax of Othello, according to the first definition, occurs in the third scene of Act III, when Othello becomes convinced that Desdemona has been unfaithful and resolves to retaliate against her. According to the second definition, the climax occurs when Othello kills Desdemona and discovers the horrible mistake he has made. .......Michael Cassio is a hinge on which the play turns. On the one hand, it was his promotion that aroused Iago's jealousy. On the other, it was his alleged (but nonexistent) love affair with Desdemona that aroused Othello's jealousy. .......In this play, Othello apparently strangles Desdemona or smothers her with a pillow. (The stage directions say he "stifles" Desdemona.) Murder by pillow or strangulation was only one of a remarkable variety of killing tools and methods Shakespeare used to send his characters to the beyond. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra commits suicide via the bite of an asp. In Richard III, Clarence is drowned in a barrel of wine. In Macbeth, hired assassins inflict "twenty trenched gashes" upon Banquo's head. In Cymbeline, Guiderius decapitates Clotan. In Titus Andronicus, throats are slit and Aaron the Moor is buried up to his chest, then starved. In Hamlet, Claudius murders his predecessor by pouring poison into his ear. In King John, a monk poisons the monarch in the conventional, oral way. The latter murder method has been a favorite of assassins since ancient times. It is said that the custom of garnishing food with parsley originated in the time of the Caesars. Parsley was a secret sign from a friend in the kitchen that food was uncontaminated. .......Hellen Gardner observes, "Othello is like a hero of the ancient world in that he is not a man like us, but a man recognized as extraordinary. He seems born to do great deeds and live in legend. He has the obvious heroic qualities of courage and strength, and no actor can attempt the role who is not physically impressive. He has the heroic capacity for passion. But the thing which most sets him apart is his solitariness. He is a stranger, a man of alien race, without ties of nature or natural duties. His value is not in what the world thinks of him, although the world rates him highly, and does not derive in any way from his station. It is inherent. He is, in a sense, a self-made man, the product of a certain kind of life which he has chosen to lead...."--Gardner, Hellen. Quoted in Bender, David, publisher. Readings on the Tragedies of William Shakespeare. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1996 (Page 140). .......Shakespeare's
works suggest that he might have visited? Consider that more than a dozen
of his plays--includingThe Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, All's
Well That Ends Well, Othello,
Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the
Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, and
The
Winter's Tale all have some or all of their scenes set in Italy. Consider,
too, that plays not set in Italy are often well populated with people having
Italian names. For example, although The Comedy of Errors
takes place in Ephesus, Turkey, the names of many of the characters end
with the Italian ''o'' or ''a'':--Angelo, Dromio, Adriana, Luciana.
In Hamlet's Denmark, we find characters named Marcellus, Bernardo
and Francisco. Practically all of the characters in
Timon of
Athens bear the names of ancient Romans--Lucullus, Flavius, Flaminius,
Lucius, Sempronius, Servillius, Titus, Hortensius. Of course, it is
quite possible that Shakespeare visited Italy only in his imagination..
.......A Moor was a Muslim of mixed Arab and Berber descent. Berbers were North African natives who eventually accepted Arab customs and Islam after Arabs invaded North Africa in the Seventh Century A.D. The term has been used to refer in general to Muslims of North Africa and to Muslim conquerors of Spain. The word Moor derives from a Latin word, Mauri, used to name the residents of the ancient Roman province of Mauritania in North Africa. To refer to Othello as a "black Moor" is not to commit a redundancy, for there are white Moors as well as black Moors, the latter mostly of Sudanese origin. Moors in Other Shakespeare Plays .......In
Titus
Andronicus Shakespeare introduces an evil Moor named Aaron who displays
goodness near the end when he pleads for his child's life.
Othello
introduces an upright and righteous Moor who displays evil near the end
when he suspects his wife of infidelity and kills her.
. 1. Old black ram: Othello.
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