The Return of Othello

Othello

William Shakespearec. 1603
Influence88th pct
Popularity76th pct
Shakespeare

Read this if you…

  • want the greatest villain of any book ever
  • like the theme of jealousy

Skip this if you…

  • aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
  • foolishly think shakespeare is overrated

The Groblé Take

Iago has got to be one of the top villains of all time. He plays it so cool until the end. Fantastic character, one of Shakespeare best

Connections

The lineage through Othello

Built Onwhat came beforeOthelloMetamorphoses

  • Metamorphoses by Ovid. Othello built on it. - Behind Othello's "Pontic sea" vow — the tide that never turns back — stands Ovid's Medea, the figure of a will hardened past any return - Shakespeare read the *Metamorphoses* in Golding's English; its logic of a self metamorphosed by passion runs straight into Othello's unmaking
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Gallery

Depicted in Art

Othello stands in trance-like calm at the foot of Desdemona's bed as she sleeps, moments before he smothers her.

Eugène Delacroix, 1849

Othello, seated in a Venetian palazzo, recounts his travels to Desdemona and Brabantio under a tapestry.

Carl Ludwig Friedrich Becker

Othello clasps Desdemona on the quay at Cyprus after their separate sea voyages, surrounded by greeting Venetians.

Thomas Stothard, 1799

Othello tells Desdemona the story of his life by firelight, her father in the background growing uneasy.

Charles West Cope, 1868

Othello stands over the sleeping Desdemona by candlelight, sword drawn, at the climax of Act V.

Antonio Muñoz Degraín, 1881

The couple stand in close embrace on a Venetian balcony, lit by the lagoon, in the play's brief calm before Cyprus.

Théodore Chassériau, 1849

Othello recoils from the bed after smothering Desdemona, hearing knocking at the chamber door.

Alexandre-Marie Colin, 1829

Brabantio publicly disowns Desdemona in the Venetian senate chamber as she clings to Othello.

Eugène Delacroix

Iago leans close to a brooding, seated Othello, pouring the first poison of jealousy into his ear in the play's pivotal temptation scene.

Théodore Chassériau, 1844

A bare-shouldered young man glares sidelong out of deep shadow, brow furrowed — Cameron's brooding character study of the villain Iago.

Julia Margaret Cameron, 1867

Othello entrusts the newly-wed Desdemona to Iago's care before sailing for Cyprus, Iago bowing with feigned loyalty.

Théodore Chassériau, 1844

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$6.99$6.51

Folger Shakespeare Library

2004

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

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Notable Quotes

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on.

Iago, Othello
All 25 quotes, with sources →
Adaptations

Screen & Stage

Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)

AcclaimPraised by 5 notable voices
  • Samuel Johnson, English critic & lexicographer, 1709–1784: "The cool malignity of Iago, silent in his resentment, subtle in his designs."
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English Romantic poet & critic, 1772–1834: "The last speech, the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity—how awful!"
  • Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet & novelist, 1799–1837: "Othello was not jealous, he was trustful."
  • Paul Robeson, singer, actor, activist, 1898–1976: His 1943 Broadway Othello ran a record 296 performances — the play's longest Broadway run, and the first major U.S. staging with a Black Othello.
  • Harold Bloom, American literary critic, 1930–2019: Iago is the supreme figure of malevolence in Western literature — Shakespeare's most compelling villain.

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