Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Othello: A Tragedy
    Othello: A Tragedy
    Othello: A Tragedy
    Ebook183 pages1 hour

    Othello: A Tragedy

    By William Shakespeare

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Othello, a Moorish captain, secretly falls in love with and marries Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian nobleman. While the two live happily at first, a spurned suitor of Desdemona’s and Iago, an ambitious officer under Othello’s command, plan to tear the couple apart out of revenge for perceived slights suffered at their hands.

    Known as “The Bard of Avon,” William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest English-language writer known. Enormously popular during his life, Shakespeare’s works continue to resonate more than three centuries after his death, as has his influence on theatre and literature. Shakespeare’s innovative use of character, language, and experimentation with romance as tragedy served as a foundation for later playwrights and dramatists, and some of his most famous lines of dialogue have become part of everyday speech.

    HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateDec 16, 2014
    ISBN9781443443449
    Othello: A Tragedy
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.

    Read more from William Shakespeare

    Related to Othello

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Fancy THAT!

      Apr 24, 2024

      "If you’ve been here for the long haul, you might remember that we have a wealthy friend called Alan, who made a lot of money running a building company and who likes to throw a lavish fancy dress party at his huge house on New Year’s Eve or thereabo

      3 min read

    • Article

      Press Ganged!

      May 1, 2020

      Press Ganged!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Press-ganged!

      Jun 13, 2019

      Press-ganged!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Seven Poems

      May 1, 2022

      Seven Poems
      2 min read

    • Article

      Be A Guard

      Feb 22, 2022

      Be A Guard
      6 min read

    • Article

      A summons FROM AUNTIE

      Jan 25, 2023

      ‘I know a fat old policeman, he’s always on our street,’ sang Mr Dear at the top of what I suppose we must call his voice. ‘A large and jolly red-faced man, he really is a treat.’ Then, suddenly, the only sounds were the gentle hum of the engine, th

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Refusal To Mourn The Deaths, By Gunfire, Of Three Men In Brooklyn

      Jan 1, 2019

      And at times, didn’t the whole countrytry to break his skin?—Tim Seibles You strike your one good match to watch its bloomand jook, a swan song just before a nightwind comes to snuff it. That’s the kind of dayit’s been. Your Black & Mild, now, useles

      7 min read

    • Article

      Be A Guard

      Feb 3, 2022

      Be A Guard
      5 min read

    • Article

      Ladies, BEWARE!

      Feb 22, 2023

      Mr Dear needed clarification. ‘Tell me again – what does he look like?’ I was telling him about David, the new volunteer at our charity shop, immediately nicknamed Captain Birdseye by his new colleagues. We’re kind like that. If he stopped shaving f

      3 min read

    • Article

      Hell Is Other People At Breakfast

      Sep 20, 2023

      Thanks to the miracle of tech, my wife can send me regular updates of her participation in a house party in a fishing lodge in Scotland. Amazingly, not just photographs but short film clips are transmitted almost in real time, showing what my father

      3 min read

    • Article

      Bard In The Woods

      Nov 30, 2020

      Bard In The Woods
      4 min read

    • Article

      Rosemary Old F Lame PROOF

      Nov 4, 2020

      “It was Keats – or one of that crowd – who described autumn as the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. That’s the trouble with poets. They just can’t seem to help looking on the bright side. The rest of us are feeling the cold, and wondering w

      3 min read

    • Article

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows

      Nov 1, 2022

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows
      11 min read

    • Article

      Black Tie – Worse Than The Black Death

      Dec 14, 2022

      It came as a shock recently to discover, in some long-abandoned cranny of this ravaged psyche, a residue of what felt like self-respect. Any epsilon male sunk deep into middle age, and deeper into irrelevance, has no business caring what others think

      3 min read

    • Article

      Drake Expectations

      May 18, 2021

      Drake Expectations
      2 min read

    • Article

      From The Front

      Feb 1, 2020

      I am deeply indebted to Ollie of this parish, noted scribbler and good chum also. Why? Because he suggested that we meet up and complain very loudly about absolutely everything in the entire world so we’d feel better and could then go back to our sep

      2 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      Aug 5, 2021

      profanisaurus@viz.co.uk aroma diffuser 1. n. A scientific device that breaks “essential oils” down into smaller molecules, dispersing them into the air for a pleasant or calming effect on the gullible. 2. n. The arsehole. Barbie’s minge sim. Somethin

      8 min read

    • Article

      HOW I WANT TO Grow Old

      Dec 5, 2023

      HOW I WANT TO Grow Old
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Book of Loki

      Mar 12, 2018

      The Book of Loki
      20 min read

    • Article

      Mrs W-C Gets The BRUSH-OFF

      Jun 1, 2022

      Mrs W-C Gets The BRUSH-OFF
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ab Not-so Fab

      Apr 28, 2022

      Ab Not-so Fab
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Epic Of Gilgamesh

      Jan 1, 2020

      My friends, who can reach heaven? The monster bellows like a river swollen with flood.Many are consumed in his fiery breath. My friends, who can reach heaven? Let us ask the mountain for a sign.Let us cut the spirits from the cedars. My friends, who

      3 min read

    • Article

      Hark, All Ye FAITHFUL

      Nov 11, 2020

      Good King Wenceslas looked out On the Feast of Stephen A neighbour shopped him to the police Now he plans to get even The party wasn’t all that large Twenty at the most But he still had to pay the fine So now that neighbour’s to-a-st ‘Leave it dear,’

      2 min read

    • Article

      Daughter’s DILEMMA

      Dec 29, 2021

      Daughter’s DILEMMA
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Othello

    4/5

    3,260 ratings24 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      My first expereince in Shakespeare. I didn't know what to expect, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I was pleasently surprised.
    • 5/5
      Ha ha, Othello scared me straight. Nor strangler nor stranglee shall righteous Martin be. No sir, now it's back to neck kisses and highly popular hugs, bike rides and long baths, summer sails and D&D, and teasing out symbologies of race and social place and monstrosity and gender and face from Shakespeare plays. The motto of this play could be "It's a good life; don't get all worked up over nothing, let sleeping dogs lie, and some people are just shitheads - forget 'em."
    • 4/5
      This is a nice edition, with a readable typeface, and appropriate notes and context, including descriptions of selected performances through 2001.
    • 4/5
      It's hard to review Shakespeare in a way that's worthy. I'll simply add my observation: so basic and so base.
    • 4/5
      I read Othello in college and really enjoyed it! Even wrote a ten page paper on the motives of Iago. I have actually never "met" a Shakespeare play that I didn't like.
    • 4/5
      Perhaps Shakespeare's best romance tragedy.
    • 4/5
      I read this seminal tragedy for the first time in anticipation of seeing it next week at The Globe. I'm ashamed to say I have read comparatively little Shakespeare and this is only the sixth complete play I have read. It remains a classic exposition of values of racism, revenge, jealousy and repentance. There are comparatively few characters, which makes it easy to focus on the main four or five and really get under the skin of their motivations.
    • 4/5
      Accessible radio version of the acclaimed 2007/8 production of "Othello" (at Donmar Warehouse, London). Ewan McGregor as Iago lets you laugh out loud just to make you feel embarrassed that you even thought it was funny the next moment. I had some difficulties to "get" Chiwetel Ejiofor's Othello (to be honest, I still don't entirely get it, but then there's a reason to listen to it again!).(Radio play recorded off BBC R3; also available from Donmar Warehouse.)
    • 5/5
      Read this for A-Level English and really enjoyed it. I love the story of Othello - my favourite Shakespeare as of yet.Iago is one of the best villains I have ever read - I absolutely loathe him but he is so fascinating. People who can manipulate you psychologically like that, tap into people's weaknesses and use them against people - truly very fascinating.
    • 4/5
      Othello, believing the report of the lying Iago, believes his wife Desdemona was unfaithful to him. Much of the evidence rests on a handkerchief. It's definitely sad as are most tragedies. Sadly there are far too many people who tell lies with consequences just as devastating as the ones in this play. It also shows the consequences of jealousy.
    • 5/5
      Loved this play from start to finish, thanks largely in part to Iago. His near flawless scheme against his general was absolutely brilliant. Shakespeare's language, is as eloquent as it is insightful, but that's unsurprising. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good tale of betrayal.
    • 5/5
      possibly my favorite Shakespeare play. betrayal. destruction. suicide. what more could you need? oh the epitome of artsy fartsy Mr. Shakespeare!
    • 5/5
      One of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Had the privilege of playing Desdemona; being in a Shakespeare play really gives you such a feel for what he's trying to convey. As is frequently noted, his messages and metaphors never seem to fade with time. Beautiful.
    • 4/5
      This is not my favorite Shakespeare play. I just find it so very sad. Sadder then the other tragedies. I can never get past Desdemona smothered to death. So, while this is great literature I simply cannot like it as it makes me too sad.
    • 3/5
      Despite the great dramatic aspects of this famous play, I really struggled to maintain my interest. I don't know why the language here seemed so much more difficult than in Titus Andronicus… will have to reread this someday to see if it just my inability to concentrate or whether it was actually the play that is the cause.
    • 5/5
      I love the rap of this! look it up on YouTube!
    • 3/5
      Not bad. Shakespeare once again shows his ability to take an age-old story and give it the Bard's Twist. However, I didn't like this story as much as Macbeth--where the magnificent Lady Macbeth helps push her husband to his crimes--nor did I like it as much as Hamlet--where the deep psychological issues rooted in Hamlet's character make him come to life in so many ways.Othello is an interesting character, but lacking in character and nobility.
    • 4/5
      1603, claustrofobe tragedie, over jaloezie en roddelHuiselijke tragedie; de intrige is belangrijker dan de karakters. Een één-thema-drama.Grote eenheid van tijd en ruimte (behalve I), blind noodlot overheerst. -Othello: neger, nobel en simpel, krachtig, maar geen subtiliteit, beheerst door zijn obsessie (jaloersheid)-Jago: fascinerende, complexe schurk, type machtswellusteling, verstrikt in zijn eigen list, maar geen andere keuze, wel ijskoud monster
    • 4/5
      Love, jealousy, lust, revenge, ambition -- it doesn't get much better than this. Iago is the consummate villain, dripping in evil. Othello is, of course, an idiot -- albeit a noble one. Very tight plot and narrative. Holds up well after hundreds of years -- that still blows me away.
    • 3/5
      Beware you are entering heresy: Not one of Bill's best. It was a drag to finsih, Iago's actions seem out of line with motivation, no great set speeches, few memorable lines and Othello's change of heart is too rapid. That said, Shakespeare was a working playwright and it is the academy that has enshrined all his work as great. The Folger Library edition was excellent.
    • 5/5
      Iago is possibly the slimiest villain ever penned, and Othello will always hold a place in my heart as the most tragic of Shakespeare's plays. The inevitability of the conclusion, the senselessness of all the deaths...it is such a beautiful, heartbreaking play. I think it's also one of the most readable, as well - the language is heightened, but understandable to a modern day audience, and the pure passion of the words is easily parse-able.
    • 4/5
      It is a bit difficult to read Shakespeare in English if it is not ones mother language, but it is still an enjoyable experience. Poor Othello, deceived by his 'honest, honest' Iago.
    • 4/5
      Had to read in high school but I liked it.
    • 5/5
      Shakespearian language is hard to grasp but after studying Othello in Literature I've definitely found it easier to follow. The love within the play is overwhelming but the pure jealousy and rage that can be found within the pages is enrapturing and it makes readers question their own ideals and values. The questions Shakespeare asks of our own relationships is valuable to anyone and his views and values are still relevant today. And who doesn't love a villain? Iago is awesome.

    Book preview

    Othello - William Shakespeare

    DRAMATIS PERSONAE

    DUKE OF VENICE BRABANTIO

    a Senator, father to Desdemona Other Senators

    GRATIANO

    brother to Brabantio, two noble Venetians

    LODOVICO

    kinsman to Brabantio

    OTHELLO

    the Moor, in the service of Venice

    CASSIO

    his honourable Lieutenant

    IAGO

    his Ancient, a villain

    RODERIGO

    a gull’d Venetian gentleman

    MONTANO

    Governor of Cyprus, before Othello Clown servant to Othello

    DESDEMONA

    daughter to Brabantio, and wife to Othello

    EMILIA

    wife to Iago

    BIANCA

    a courtezan, in love with Cassio

    Gentlemen of Cyprus, Sailors, Officers, a Messenger, Musicians, a Herald, and Attendants etc.

    THE SCENE: VENICE; CYPRUS.

    ACT ONE

    SCENE I. Venice. A street.

    Enter RODERIGO and IAGO.

    RODERIGO Tush, never tell me; I take it much unkindly

    That you, Iago, who has had my purse

    As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.

    [5]

    IAGO ’Sblood, but you will not hear me. If ever I did dream of such a matter, Abhor me.

    RODERIGO Thou told’st me thou didst hold him in thy hate.

    IAGO Despise me if I do not. Three great ones of the city,

    In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,

    [10]

    Off-capp’d to him; and, by the faith of man,

    I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.

    But he, as loving his own pride and purposes,

    Evades them with a bombast circumstance

    Horribly stuff’d with epithets of war;

    [15]

    And, in conclusion,

    Nonsuits my mediators; ‘For, certes,’ says he

    ‘I have already chose my officer’.

    And what was he?

    Forsooth, a great arithmetician,

    [20]

    One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,

    A fellow almost damn’d in a fair wife,

    That never set a squadron in the field,

    Nor the division of a battle knows

    More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric,

    [25]

    Wherein the toged consuls can propose

    As masterly as he – mere prattle, without practice,

    Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had the election;

    And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof

    At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds,

    [30]

    Christian and heathen, must be be-lee’d and calm’d

    By debitor and creditor – this counter-caster,

    He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,

    And I, God bless the mark! his Moorship’s ancient.

    RODERIGO By heaven, I rather would have been his hangman!

    [35]

    IAGO Why, there’s no remedy; ’tis the curse of service:

    Preferment goes by letter and affection,

    Not by the old gradation, where each second

    Stood heir to the first. Now, sir, be judge yourself

    Whether I in any just term am affin’d

    To love the Moor.

    [40]

    RODERIGO I would not follow him, then.

    IAGO O, sir, content you.

    I follow him to serve my turn upon him:

    We cannot all be masters, nor all masters

    Cannot be truly follow’d. You shall mark

    [45]

    Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave

    That, doting on his own obsequious bondage,

    Wears out his time, much like his master’s ass,

    For nought but provender; and when he’s old, cashier’d.

    Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are

    [50]

    Who, trimm’d in forms and visages of duty,

    Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves;

    And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,

    Do well thrive by ’em and, when they have lin’d their coats,

    Do themselves homage – these fellows have some soul;

    [55]

    And such a one do I profess myself.

    For, sir,

    It is as sure as you are Roderigo,

    Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago.

    In following him I follow but myself --

    [60]

    Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,

    But seeming so for my peculiar end.

    For when my outward action doth demonstrate

    The native act and figure of my heart

    In compliment extern, ’tis not long after

    [65]

    But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

    For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

    RODERIGO What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe,

    If he can carry’t thus!

    IAGO Call up her father.

    Rouse him, make after him, poison his delight,

    [70]

    Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen,

    And, though he in a fertile climate dwell,

    Plague him with flies; though that his joy be joy,

    Yet throw such changes of vexation on’t

    As it may lose some colour.

    [75]

    RODERIGO Here is her father’s house. I’ll call aloud.

    IAGO Do, with like timorous accent and dire yell

    As when, by night and negligence, the fire

    Is spied in populous cities.

    RODERIGO What, ho, Brabantio! Signior Brabantio, ho!

    [80]

    IAGO Awake! What, ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves, thieves!

    Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags.

    Thieves! thieves!

    BRABANTIO appears above at a window.

    BRABANTIO What is the reason of this terrible summons?

    What is the matter there?

    [85]

    RODERIGO Signior, is all your family within?

    IAGO Are your doors lock’d?

    BRABANTIO Why, wherefore ask you this?

    IAGO Zounds, sir, you’re robb’d; for shame, put on your gown;

    Your heart is burst; you have lost half your soul.

    Even now, now, very now, an old black ram

    [90]

    Is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise;

    Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,

    Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you. Arise, I say.

    BRABANTIO What, have you lost your wits?

    RODERIGO Most reverend signior, do you know my voice?

    [95]

    BRABANTIO Not I; what are you?

    RODERIGO My name is Roderigo.

    BRABANTIO The worser welcome!

    I have charg’d thee not to haunt about my doors;

    In honest plainness thou hast heard me say

    My daughter is not for thee; and now, in madness,

    [100]

    Being full of supper and distempering draughts,

    Upon malicious bravery dost thou come

    To start my quiet.

    RODERIGO Sir, sir, sir --

    BRABANTIO But thou must needs be sure

    My spirit and my place have in their power

    To make this bitter to thee.

    [105]

    RODERIGO Patience, good sir.

    BRABANTIO What tell’st thou me of robbing? This is Venice;

    My house is not a grange.

    RODERIGO Most grave Brabantio,

    In simple and pure soul I come to you.

    IAGO Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not serve God if the devil bid you. Because we come to do you service, and you think we are ruffians, you’ll have your daughter cover’d with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews neigh to you; you’ll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.

    [115]

    BRABANTIO What profane wretch art thou?

    IAGO I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.

    BRABANTIO Thou art a villain.

    IAGO You are – a Senator.

    [120]

    BRABANTIO This thou shalt answer; I know thee, Roderigo.

    RODERIGO Sir, I will answer anything. But I beseech you,

    If’t be your pleasure and most wise consent --

    As partly I find it is – that your fair daughter,

    At this odd-even and dull watch o’ th’ night,

    [125]

    Transported with no worse nor better guard

    But with a knave of common hire, a gondolier,

    To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor --

    If this be known to you, and your allowance,

    We then have done you bold and saucy wrongs;

    [130]

    But if you know not this, my manners tell me

    We have your wrong rebuke. Do not believe

    That, from the sense of all civility,

    I thus would play and trifle with your reverence.

    Your daughter, if you have not given her leave,

    [135]

    I say again, hath made a gross revolt;

    Tying her duty, beauty, wit, and fortunes,

    In an extravagant and wheeling stranger

    Of here and everywhere. Straight satisfy yourself.

    If she be in her chamber or your house,

    [140]

    Let loose on me the justice of the state

    For thus deluding you.

    BRABANTIO Strike on the tinder, ho! Give me a taper; call up all my people.

    This accident is not unlike my dream.

    Belief of it oppresses me already.

    Light, I say; light!

    [Exit from above.

    [145]

    IAGO Farewell; for I must leave you.

    It seems not meet nor wholesome to my place

    To be producted – as if I stay I shall --

    Against the Moor; for I do know the state,

    However this may gall him with some check,

    [150]

    Cannot with safety cast him; for he’s embark’d

    With such loud reason to the Cyprus wars,

    Which even now stands in act, that, for their souls,

    Another of his fathom they have none

    To lead their business; in which regard,

    [155]

    Though I do hate him as I do hell pains, Yet, for necessity of present life,

    I must show out a flag and sign of love,

    Which is indeed but sign. That you shall surely find him,

    Lead to the Sagittary the raised search;

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1