• Venice. Othello, a Moorish general in Venetian service, has secretly married Desdemona — a young white noblewoman. Her father is furious • Iago — Othello's ensign, passed over for promotion — resolves to destroy Othello. His motive: resentment, envy, and something darker • Othello is sent to Cyprus to defend against the Turks. Iago begins his campaign • Iago's method: suggestion, not accusation. He plants the idea that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio (Othello's lieutenant) • The handkerchief: Othello's first gift to Desdemona. Iago arranges for Cassio to have it. "Ocular proof" — but manufactured • Othello disintegrates. From eloquent commander to incoherent rage: "Goats and monkeys!" The poison works • "Put out the light" — Othello smothers Desdemona in her bed. She protests her innocence. He doesn't believe her • Emilia (Iago's wife) reveals the truth: she gave Iago the handkerchief. Iago kills her • Othello realizes what he's done. "Of one that loved not wisely, but too well." He stabs himself and dies on Desdemona's body • Iago is arrested. He refuses to explain: "Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word" • The play's horror: Desdemona is completely innocent. Othello's jealousy has no real basis. Iago creates everything from nothing • The tragedy of a good man destroyed by trusting the wrong person — and a society where racial difference makes that trust fragile