OTHELLO NOTES
Ham m ack AP English IV- AG
Pr obably wr it t en ar ound 1603
Set t i ng
lat e 15t h or ear ly 16t h cent ur y
Venice (nor t her n It aly), highly civilized
Cypr us (Medit er r anean island, sout hwest of Venice and sout h of Tur key)
valued f or it s st r at egic locat ion in t he Medit ar r anean and f or it s olives,
gr apes, ot her agr icult ur al pr oduct s; of t en f ought over by count r ies over
cent ur ies
The nam e Desdem ona m eans "ill- f at ed one" in Gr eek
Play begins in m edias r es. Iago and Roder igo ar e in t he m iddle of
discussing why Iago hat es Ot hello and why Roder igo needs Iago's help.
Ot hel l o, t he Moor
The def init ion of a Moor dur ing t he lat e 16t h and ear ly 17t h cent ur y- - in
ot her wor ds, when Shak espear e was wr it ing his plays- - is not clear , and
one can f ind var ious def init ions in dif f er ent sour ces. Most of t hem ,
however , agr ee on one t hing: Moor s cam e f or t he nor t her n Af r ica.
See below a br ief sam ple of explanat ions of t he wor d "Moor ."
"A Moor was a Muslim of m ixed Ar ab and Ber ber descent . Ber ber s wer e
Nor t h Af r ican nat ives who event ually accept ed Ar ab cust om s and Islam
af t er Ar abs invaded Nor t h Af r ica in t he Sevent h Cent ur y A.D. The t er m
has been used t o r ef er in gener al t o Muslim s of Nor t h Af r ica and t o
Muslim conquer or s of Spain. The wor d Moor der ives f r om a Lat in wor d,
Maur i, used t o nam e t he r esident s of t he ancient Rom an pr ovince of
Maur it ania in Nor t h Af r ica. To r ef er t o Ot hello as a "black Moor " is not t o
com m it a r edundancy, f or t her e ar e whit e Moor s as well as black Moor s,
t he lat t er m ost ly of Sudanese or igin." Sour ce: ht t p:/ / www.
cum m ingsst udyguides.net / xOt hello.ht m l
"Dur ing t he m edieval per iod, Moor becam e a com m on t er m t o r ef er t o
t he Muslim s of Islam ic Iber ian Peninsula and Nor t h Af r ica, who wer e of
Ar ab or Ber ber descent . The nam e r em ains associat ed wit h t he Muslim s
of Spain even t oday, despit e being ar chaic and inaccur at e, as it lum ps
Muslim and non- Muslim Ar abs, Ber ber s and ot her Af r icans t oget her ,
som et im es even wit h Iber ian Muslim s. In Spanish, t he cont inued use of
t he cognat e, m or o, is consider ed by m any t o be r acist ; in English, t he
t er m has only hist or ical cont ext s, wit h no pr oper pr esent - day
r ef er ent ." Sour ce: Wikipedia @ ht t p:/ / en.wikipedia.or g/ wiki/ Moor s
"As ear ly as t he Middle Ages, and as ear ly as t he sevent eent h cent ur y,
'The Moor s wer e,' accor ding t o t he Oxf or d English Dict ionar y, 'com m only
supposed t o be m ost ly black or ver y swar t hy, and hence t he wor d is
of t en used f or negr o.' Dr . Chancellor William s st at ed t hat 'The or iginal
Moor s, like t he or iginal Egypt ians, wer e Black Af r icans.' At t he beginning
of t he eight h cent ur y Moor ish soldier s cr ossed over f r om Af r ica int o
Spain, Por t ugal, and Fr ance, wher e t heir swif t vict or ies becam e t he
subst ance of legends. To t he Chr ist ians of ear ly Eur ope t her e was no
quest ion r egar ding t he et hnicit y of t he Moor s, and num er ous sour ces
suppor t t he view t hat t he Moor s wer e a black- skinned people." Sour ce:
Global Af r ican Com m unit y Hist or y Not es @ ht t p:/ / www.
cwo.com / ~ lucum i/ m oor s1.ht m l
It seem s clear , accor ding t o t he t ext of Othello, t hat Shakespear e's use of
t he wor d was int ended t o indicat e a black- or dar k- skinned per son. The
char act er Ot hello is a Moor , and is t her ef or e exot ic and som ewhat
m yst er ious t o t he Venet ian char act er s. Not only would his skin be a
dif f er ent color , but he would have had a ver y dif f er ent backgr ound,
pr act iced a dif f er ent r eligion, spoken a dif f er ent language, and pr act iced
dif f er ent cust om s. Ot hello had lived t he violent and danger ous lif e of a
soldier , while Desdem ona had been pr ot ect ed and pam per ed. Ot hello
had been t o st r ange lands and seen st r ange sight s, while Desdem ona had
been kept close at hom e in Venice. The t wo ar e opposit es in alm ost
ever y way, and it is pr ecisely t his t hat at t r act s Desdem ona t o him in t he
f ir st place. Soon he wins her hear t wit h his nobilit y of char act er , but her
init ial int er est in him is ignit ed by t he m yst er y of a m an so dif f er ent
f r om all t he ot her suit or s she has r ej ect ed. Far f r om being pr ej udiced
against him by his dif f er ences, she f inds him ir r esist able and f ascinat ing.
Ot her char act er s in t he play have t he ut m ost r espect f or Ot hello as a
noble m an of int egr it y and as an out st anding soldier . It is t o him t hat
t hey t ur n when t he Tur ks at t ack . Ot hello is clear ly held in t he highest
r egar d by alm ost ever yone, including Br abant io, unt il he elopes wit h
Desdem ona. Iago's hat r ed f or Ot hello is based not on Ot hello's r ace,
per sonalit y, char act er , or abilit y as a soldier , but inst ead on anger and
j ealousy. Ot hello is, at t he beginning of t he play,.an except ionally noble
m an wor t hy of t he adm ir at ion of t he ot her char act er s.
Iago
Iago is known as t he m ost evil char act er in all of lit er at ur e. He is able t o
deceive ever y ot her m aj or char act er in t he play, seem ing t o be t he
special, loyal f r iend of each while he eit her plot s against t hem or uses
t hem in his schem e of r evenge. Iago has only one adm ir able qualit y- -
except ional nt elligence- - and he uses t hat t o hur t t hose who t r ust him .
His m ot ive f or r evenge against Ot hello is weak. He allows his plot t o get
r evenge on one m an t o dest r oy at least f ive ot her innocent people. He
uses t he t r ust of t he ot her char act er s as a weapon against t hem . Not ice
how Iago is able t o m anipulat e ever y ot her m aj or char act er wit h f alse
f r iendship. Obser ve how he m aint ains t he appear ance of innocence. how
he inst igat es t r ouble wit hout seem ing t o be involved. Not ice t he f r equent
use of t he ot her char act er s' use of t he wor d "honest " t o descr ibe Iago.
Iago is a sk illf ul plot t er , indeed; but he is also an oppor t unist . Not ice
how he seizes chance occur ences and capit alizes on t hem . Iago's
suspicions t hat Ot hello and Cassio have been sleeping wit h Em ilia ar e
im agined. Shakespear e gives t he audience no indicat ion what soever t hat
eit her of t hem had anyt hing t o do wit h Iago's wif e. It m ay be t hat Iago,
an unpr incipled and evil m an, cannot conceive of r eal int egr it y in ot her s,
so he im agines t hat ot her s will easily do t he t hings t hat he him self
would do. Or it m ay be t hat Iago is m er ely t r ying t o r at ionalize his
hat r ed of Ot hello and his m ist r eat m ent of Cassio.
Desdem ona
The nam e Desdem ona m eans "ill- f at ed one," and it is cer t ainly an
appr opr iat e nam e f or her . The audience is t old t hat she is absolut ely
pur e and naive, so t im id t hat she had t ur ned down num er ous suit or s of
r ank and im por t ance. Her f at her is so sur e of her innocence, m odest y,
and obedience t hat he accuses Ot hello of bewit ching her . Lat er
Desdem ona pr oves her naivet e when she t ells Em ilia t hat she does not
believe t hat any wom an would ever cheat on her husband. She is ver y
idealist ic and r om ant ic; her f ascinat ion wit h Ot hello is ignit ed by his
t ales of st r ange places, danger , and br aver y. She sees Ot hello as a her o
wit h a gent le hear t , and she f eels ver y t ender t owar d him f or all of t he
har dships he has endur ed. At t he sam e t im e, she sees him as ext r em ely
br ave, power f ul, and m anly. She is so enam or ed of him t hat f or t he f ir st
t im e she is bold enough t o deceive her f at her by eloping wit h Ot hello, an
act ion t hat Iago lat er uses against her t o convince Ot hello of her bad
char act er . However , she is devot ed t o Ot hello, and her f ir st concer n
t hr oughout t he play is Ot hello's saf et y and happiness.
Cassi o
Cassio is a t r ue gent lem an and a m an of honor . He is a car eer soldier ,
devot ed t o Ot hello and eager t o do an excellent j ob. Par t of his dut ies
would be t o wait upon his com m anding of f icer 's wif e, t o t r eat her wit h
t he ut m ost r espect and def er ence. The kisses he gives her would be t he
convent ional gent lem an's kisses on Desdem ona's hand or cheek r at her
t han as r om ant ic kisses on t he lips. He t r eat s Desdem ona wit h r espect
and cout esy and never over st eps t he boundar y of pr oper decor um . He is
ver y concer ned wit h keeping his r eput at ion as a soldier , as a good
lieut enant t o Ot hello, and as a well- br ed gent lem an spot less. Even when
he m akes t he m ist ake of accept ing t he alcohol he knows he shouldn't
dr ink , it is because Iago convinces him t hat it would be discour t eous t o
t he r est of t he soldier s not t o. He t akes f ull r esponsibilit y f or his
m ist ake, again dem onst r at ing his st ellar char act er and int egr it y.
Cassio's behavior is above r epr oach except f or t he incident when he is
int oxicat ed. He never m akes advances t o Desdem ona, and Iago's
accusat ions of an af f air bet ween t he t wo ar e unf ounded. Even Cassio's
r elat ionship wit h Bianca can be excused as nor m al f or an unm ar r ied
young soldier dur ing t hat er a. (Ear lier in t he play, Iago m ent ions t hat
Cassio has a wif e, but appar ent ly Shakespear changed his m ind lat er in
wr it ing t he play and f or got t o cor r ect t hat line, because it is clear t hat
Cassio is unm ar r ied.)
Roder i go
Roder igo is so gullible and easily m anipulat ed t hat he is t he per f ect
vict im f or Iago. His inf at uat ion wit h Desdem ona blinds him and put s
him in Iago's power . Roder igo let s Iago cont r ol his ever y act ion, and he
becom es lit t le m or e t han a puppet in Iago's schem e of r evenge. Roder igo
event ually suspect s t hat he has been ill- used by Iago, but he is st ill t oo
st upid t o see t he decept ion as an indicat ion of Iago's t r uly evil nat ur e.
He f oolishly let s Iago know of his suspicions and seals his own f at e- -
Iago m ust dispense wit h Roder igo bef or e Roder igo r eveals all t hat he
k nows of Iago's act ions. Roder igo f inds him self bet r ayed by his
supposed ally and f r iend.