Othello
William Shakespeare (1603)
“The most perfectly constructed villain in literature dismantles the most trusting man in the world — one planted suspicion at a time.”
Short Summary
Iago, passed over for promotion by the Moorish general Othello, engineers a slow poisoning of Othello's mind — planting the false belief that Othello's wife Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Othello, consumed by jealousy he calls honor, murders Desdemona in her bed. Iago's scheme is exposed by his own wife Emilia. Othello kills himself. Iago is arrested. Everyone is destroyed, and Iago explains nothing.
Detailed Summary
Othello opens in Venice, mid-crisis. Iago, ancient (ensign) to the Moorish general Othello, has been passed over for promotion — Othello chose Cassio, a theorist with no battlefield experience, over Iago, the veteran. Iago declares 'I am not what I am' and begins his revenge, simultaneously exploiti...