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Do you need more help with Othello? Either way, in our ultimate Othello cheatsheet, we’ll provide an essential summary of the text, a breakdown of the key characters, the context you need to know, and a detailed analysis of the play’s themes.
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To write about Othello, you have to understand what’s happening in Othello. So, let’s get you up to speed.
What’s the plot?
Othello, a Moorish general, promotes Cassio to a lieutenant position instead of his friend Iago. Shortly after, Othello marries Desdemona – a senator’s daughter – in secret. Fuelled with anger, Iago attempts to get back at Othello by manipulating him, and nearly everyone else in the drama to get what he wants.
First, he tries to ensure Othello is arrested and punished for his secret marriage. When that fails, Iago feeds seeds of doubt to Othello about his wife’s, Desdemona’s, infidelity. This makes Othello go crazy with jealousy, leading him to murder his wife and himself.
Ultimately, Iago’s manipulative scheme is exposed and he is arrested. Cassio is then appointed as the island’s governor, the position Othello had coveted.
Now, let’s go through each act in a bit more detail so you don’t miss out on any juicy plots and sub-plots!
The play opens with an argument between Roderigo and Iago about Othello’s secret marriage with Desdemona. Roderigo has been attempting to pursue Desdemona with Iago’s help. Upon hearing the news, Roderigo isn’t happy.
To further complicate things, Othello recently promoted Cassio to a lieutenant position instead of Iago leading him to hold a grudge against Othello. As such, the two decide to expose Othello and Desdemona’s secret marriage to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio.
Fuelled by rage and betrayal, Brabantio brings the secret lovers to court in front of the Duke. He accuses Othello of using witchcraft to woo his daughter. However, the couple claims that it was Othello’s stories of his heroic adventures that ultimately won Desdemona. The Duke is sympathetic to the couple.
Hearing this, Brabantio disowns Desdemona. Desdemona leaves with Othello to Cyprus (see context below) for his military duties.
At Cyprus, Iago convinces that Roderigo that he still has a chance of winning Desdemona. Iago lies and claims that Desdemona is actually in love with Cassio, not Othello.
Consequently, Iago gets Cassio drunk, giving Roderigo a chance to duel with Cassio. During the fight, Cassio accidentally stabs the governor, Montano.
Hearing the news, Othello strips Cassio’s position as lieutenant, putting Iago’s plan in place.
Iago takes this chance to convince Cassio to talk to Desdemona, claiming that she can help talk Othello into giving Cassio his position again.
Cassio follows Iago’s instructions and receives Desdemona’s promise to help. Meanwhile, Iago begins to plant seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona’s infidelity.
Iago and Othello walk into Cassio and Desdemona’s conversation. Feeling awkward, Cassio leaves. Iago suggests that there might be something going on between them, which causes Othello to become suspicious.
To further this, Iago encourages his wife, Emilia, to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief without providing her with any reasons. The handkerchief is red with strawberries; a gift from Othello when they first started courting. It became a sign of their love and relationship.
Knowing this, Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s bedroom.
Later, when Desdemona asks Othello to reconsider Cassio’s demotion, Othello finds out that she ‘lost’ her handkerchief. This sends him into a spiral of jealousy and rage.
Here, Othello finds more and more ‘evidence’ of Desdemona’s infidelity.
Cassio finds the red handkerchief in his room and questions where it came from. He asks his mistress, Bianca, to copy the embroidery. At the same time, Iago ‘coincidentally’ leads Othello to Cassio and Bianca’s conversation. Othello sees Desdemona’s handkerchief, and has an epileptic fit.
He is convinced that Desdemona’s cheating on him.
Gutted and enraged, he is ready to kill both Cassio and Desdemona.
When he returns home that night, Othello accuses Desdemona of infidelity. Both Desdemona and Emilia protest for Desdemona’s innocence. However, Othello simply believes that Desdemona must be so cunning that she even tricked her maiden.
After supper, Desdemona has a premonition of her death. She tells Emilia that she doesn’t regret her marriage.
That night, Roderigo tells Cassio that he doesn’t want to pursue Desdemona anymore. However, Iago convinces him to kill Cassio as this is his chance to step up and woo Desdemona.
Roderigo attempts to stab Cassio in an ambush but misses. Instead, Roderigo is stabbed by Cassio. Iago steps in and wounds Cassio. Cassio screams, leading Othello to think that Iago has killed Cassio.
Now, Othello enters his bedroom and sees Desdemona peacefully sleeping. She wakes up to see Othello and calls him to bed. He refuses and instead, tells her to pray. Desdemona knows that she will be killed. She begs him to spare her life as she’s innocent, but Othello smothers her with a pillow, refusing to listen.
As this is happening, Emilia runs to their room to announce Roderigo’s death. Desdemona wakes for a second and claims that she committed suicide to protect Othello. She dies again.
Emilia is shocked and confronts Othello. Othello confesses himself and claims that he killed Desdemona for infidelity based on Iago’s claims. Emilia realises that her husband lied to Othello and orchestrated these events.
Emilia attempts to expose Iago when he enters the room with other men. Iago confesses and kills Emilia to shut her up.
Othello realises that he murdered his innocent wife and kills himself out of guilt.
The guards capture Iago and send him to prison. Cassio is promoted to governor of the Island.
We know that remembering all the characters can get confusing sometimes. To help you remember, here’s a quick reference list:
| Characters | Who are they? |
| Othello | Othello is a moor (African) and a highly respected general in the Venetian military. However, he is still a victim of racism, and therefore, has to secretly marry his Venetian lover, Desdemona. While he is brave and courageous, he is simultaneously, insecure and emotional. |
| Iago | Iago is the villain and Machiavel of this drama. He is Othello’s junior (ensign or ancient – essentially his servant and right-hand man) and is angry that Othello chose Cassio for the promotion instead of himself. As such, Iago feeds Othello seeds of doubt and lies to make Othello lose control and cause chaos, whilst presenting himself as Othello’s helpful and loyal friend. |
| Desdemona | Desdemona is Othello’s wife, and Brabantio’s daughter. While she has married Othello in secret, she is portrayed as innocent, kind and pure. She is intelligent, determined, courageous, and loyal. |
| Cassio | Cassio is a young and good looking soldier. He was promoted to a lieutenant position by Othello. Iago falsely accused Cassio of having an affair with Desdemona, causing Othello to go crazy with jealousy. |
| Emilia | Emily is Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s handmaiden. She is loyal to Desdemona and is suspicious of her abusive husband, Iago. |
| Brabantio | Brabantio is the Venetian senator and a father to Desdemona. He dislikes the fact that his daughter married a Moor in secret. |
| Roderigo | Roderigo is a wealthy but widely unliked nobleman. Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and attempts to woo her with Iago’s help. |
Shakespeare’s society was significantly different from ours today. As such, it’s important that you know their context to better understand why the text was written the way it was written.
Shakespeare’s Othello was written in the year of Queen Elizabeth’s death (March, 1603). However, it is believed to have been written for James I, a keen scholar of Moorish cultural and military history. It was first performed in the Jacobean Era after King James I took the throne.
This is why Othello is often regarded as a Jacobean play.
The conflict between European Catholics and the Ottoman Empire (known as Turkey today) has existed for centuries before Shakespeare’s time. From the 11th century to the 15th, Catholics and the Ottoman Empire fought to control Cyprus, Spain, and other eastern Mediterranean countries.
Although Cyprus was already part of the Ottoman Empire during Shakespeare’s time (1564 – 1616), the play was set in an earlier context where Cyprus has not yet been conquered.
Cyprus is a small island off of the Greece coast. In the late 1400s, a Venetian woman married the King of Cyprus, James II. When the King died, she abdicated her throne, allowing Cyprus to become a part of Venice.
The Venetians used the Cyprus land to attack the Ottomans, and the Ottomans attempted to conquer Cyprus. This was the setting of Othello.
Although this conflict subsided during Shakespeare’s time, the Venetian’s and Ottoman’s (also referred to as Moors) hatred for each other did not. So, Shakespeare’s audience will still relate to this contextual setting.
Moor is a name used by the European Christians to describe Northern African-Muslim people of the Berber (African ethnic group) and Arab people.
For a while, Europe maintained trade with Northern Africa and even involved themselves in the slave trade. This also. meant that African peoples were enslaved and brought to Europe for the slave trade.
However, due to the European-Ottoman conflict, the Europeans still held great prejudice against people of Moorish descent, even long after the conflict was over.
This is partly what led Queen Elizabeth to issue a racist proclamation to deport Moors from England in 1596. The African workers refused to leave, leading her to issue another proclamation in 1601. Queen Elizabeth also saw the local distrust of these foreign workers and leveraged fear of that to appear stronger as a ruler by cracking down on them.
This racist attitude towards the Moors can be clearly seen in Othello, with the racist remarks made against Othello (like “Black ram“) and his alienation and mistreatment (eg. Brabantio accusing Othello of using ‘black magic’ to woo his daughter because she can’t possibly fall in love with a Black man).
Europe during the 15-16th century was highly Christian and pre-deterministic. Their societal structure was also very hierarchical, with the Queen/King on top, and peasants on the bottom rank.
They believed in determinism and fate; the idea that people are born with a set-out plan by God.
This meant that they believe that people are innately good or evil and that people do not have free will and cannot have ambition.
For instance, Iago is represented as evil as Shakespeare often refers him as the devil. On the other hand, Desdemona is portrayed as a pure woman, linked to goodness.
They also believe in the Great Chain of Being, natural order and retribution.
The Great Chain of Being is a hierarchy created by God to ensure social order. It begins with Gods on top, followed by angels, humans, animals, plants, and then non-living animals.
Chaos will ensue if the Natural Order is not held.
In simple terms, people cannot challenge God’s will, whether it is attempting to scale one’s rank in society, disobeying the King/Queen (representatives of God), or attempting to take fate into their own hands.
If they disobey God’s plan, they will suffer retribution.
For example, if we look at this through the lens of Othello:
The natural order is reset.
During Shakespeare’s time, women were viewed as the property of their father, and the property of their husband’s.
Women were seen as objects and possessions.
Marriage was a transaction between the father and the husband, where the woman is the object being passed. Fathers tend to arrange marriages for their daughters.
As such, if a woman marries without her father’s permission, it was seen as theft. This was why it was so controversial that Othello and Desdemona married in secret.
We see Brabantio refer to Othello many times as a thief for stealing his daughter.
“Down with him, thief!” and “O thou foul thief, where hast thou stowed my daughter?” – Brabantio (Act 1, Scene 2).
Women were also expected to be subservient and submissive to their fathers and husbands. They cannot question men’s authority and cannot be independent.
However, in Othello, the women he portrays are stronger, observant, intelligent, and less subservient. They realise their role in society and are able to step away from this expectation.
For instance, when Emilia realises Iago’s schemes, she relinquishes her duties as his husband by exposing him: ‘Tis proper I obey him, but not now‘.
Emilia also gave a speech about how women and men are ultimately the same:
‘Let husbands know,
Their wives have sense like them; they see and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have’
– Act 4, Scene 3
Ace your English analysis with our HSC experts. Our comprehensive Theory Book and structured lessons will help you refine your analysis and writing skills.
You need to be confident with the themes in Othello to ensure that you can approach any essay or discursive question thrown at you!
Here are the themes we’re going to get you on top of:
Jealousy is one of the main drivers of the conflict in Othello. Shakespeare explores the detrimental effects of jealousy and how it can drive people insane.
“Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock” – Iago, Act 3, Scene 3
Firstly, Iago gets jealous that Cassio got promoted instead of himself. This causes Iago to scheme his way to his promotion, leading to numerous deaths and ruined relationships.
Secondly, Iago takes advantage of Othello’s jealousy to put his plans into place. Although Othello claims that he needs ‘ocular proof’ of Desdemona’s infidelity, he settles for circumstantial evidence when he sees Cassio with Desdemona’s handkerchief.
This causes him to become the ‘green eyed monster’ itself, fuelled by rage and jealousy. Othello’s jealousy ultimately led to Desdemona’s and his own death.
Thirdly, Roderigo is jealous that Othello managed to woo Desdemona instead of himself. As such, Roderigo willingly follows Iago’s plans to destroy Othello… which leads to his own death.
Quotes on Jealousy:
“O, beware, my lord of jealousy;
It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.”
– Iago, Act 3, Scene 3
“The Moor’s already changes with my poison;
Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons,
Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
But with a little act upon the blood
Burn like the mines of Sulphur.”
– Iago, Act 3, Scene 3
“But jealous souls will not be answered so;
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they are jealous: ‘tis a monster
Begot upon itself, born on itself.”
– Emilia, Act 3, Scene 4
Othello is discriminated against and mistreated because of his race. Throughout the play, the other characters call him derogatory terms like “black ram”, “thick lips”, and “Barbary horse”.
Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, even accused Othello of using black magic for wooing his daughter because it is unnatural for a Venetian woman to love a black man.
“It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect / That will confess perfection so could err / Against all rules of nature” – Brabantio, Act 1, Scene 3
Furthermore, even if other characters respect Othello for his military actions, they still think blackness is a negative thing. For instance, the Duke tells Brabantio that Othello is more White than Black. So, Brabantio doesn’t need to worry about Desdemona marrying Othello:
“And, noble / signior, / If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.” – the Duke, Act 1, Scene 3
We see that throughout the play, Othello also internalises these racist views. He regards himself as an outsider and less than human because of his race.
For example, once Othello realises that he wrongly murdered Desdemona, he likens himself to a “base Judean”.
“Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,“
This includes an implicit reference to the Indian caste system, the notion that some are implicitly lower than others. With this reference, Othello is once again degrading himself because of his skin colour.
Quotes on racism and prejudice:
“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe…
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:”
– Iago, Act 1, Scene 1
“Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!
For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy,
So opposite to marriage that she shunned
The wealthy curlèd darlings of our nation,
Would ever have, t’ incur a general mock,
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou—to fear, not to delight.”
– Brabantio, Act 1, Scene 2
“Haply, for I am black
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have, or for I am declined
Into the vale of years”
– Act 3, Scene 3
Many of the issues that unfolded in the drama were because people were misled and manipulated. There is a very thin line between appearance and reality, and Iago took advantage of this.
Throughout the text, Iago portrays himself as Othello’s trusted friend. However, behind this persona, Iago is pulling all the strings to make Othello (falsely) think that his wife is cheating on him with Cassio.
For instance, Iago stages the whole handkerchief situation to spark the ‘jealous monster’ within Othello. He manipulates his wife, Emilia, to steal the handkerchief from Desdemona, and plants it in Cassio’s room. Iago then deliberately leads Othello to witness the interaction between Cassio and Bianca, putting his plan in place.
Shakespeare creates a stage within a stage.
That’s not all, Iago also tricks Roderigo to stab Cassio in order to win Desdemona… leading to Roderigo’s own death. And, Iago tricks Brabantio to
In summary, Iago is the machiavellian who manipulates everyone to make things go his way.
Appearance vs reality quotes
“Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me
For making him egregiously an ass,
And practising upon his peace and quiet
Even to madness. ‘Tis here, but yet confused.
Knavery’s plain face is never seen till used.”
– Iago
“Rouse him. Make after him, poison his delight,
Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen,
And, though he in a fertile climate dwell,
Plague him with flies.”
– Iago, Act 1, Scene 1
“Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our
wills are gardeners.”
– Iago, Act 1, Scene 3
“Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word.”
– Iago, Act 5, Scene 2
Women in Shakespeare’s time were seen as mere property, not individuals. (See context above)
Men either overlooked women’s opinions (eg. Brabantio taking his daughter to court for marrying Othello) or they viewed them as unfaithful and impure even when they aren’t guilty (eg. Othello seeing Desdemona as disloyal, and everyone viewing Bianca being an adulteress)! This was a period when honour killings – murdering a woman because she had been unfaithful were still somewhat acceptable
However, Shakespeare challenges this by giving them important roles in the play.
For instance, Emilia is seen as the token of truth in the play. She exposes Iago, and even presents a whole speech about the inequality between men and women in society. Meanwhile, Desdemona stands up against her father in court and claims her love for Othello.
Women quotes:
IAGO
She did deceive her father, marrying you,
And when she seemed to shake and fear your looks,
She loved them most.
OTHELLO
And so she did.
– Act 3, Scene 3
“Oh, devil, devil!
If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
Out of my sight!”
– Othello, Act 4 Scene 1
“Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them. They see and smell
And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
As husbands have. What is it that they do
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is ‘t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections,
Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
Then let them use us well. Else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.”
– Emilia Act 4, Scene 3
Read our Part 2: How to analyse Othello for Different Year 11 English Modules now.
Written by Matrix English Team
The Matrix English Team are tutors and teachers with a passion for English and a dedication to seeing Matrix Students achieving their academic goals.
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