Othello : Key info
Othello is a notable literary work by William Shakespeare. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, to various questions of Othello.
Key info
Writer: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Full Title: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.
Source: The primary source for Shakespeare’s Othello is a short story titled “Un Capitano Moro” (which translates to “A Moorish Captain”) from “Gli Hecatommithi,” a collection of stories written by Giovanni Battista Giraldi (also known as Cinthio), an Italian writer, in 1565.
Written Time: 1603-04
Published Date: 1622.
Genre: Tragedy
Tone: Tragic
Point of View: Third-person Omniscient
Words: 26450
Total Acts: (V)
Setting:
Time Setting: Late 16th century, during the Renaissance Period.
Place Setting: Venice and Cyprus
Background: Shakespeare’s main source for the story of Othello is a tale about a Moorish Captain from a book called Gli Hecatommithi by Cinthio (Giovanni Battista Giraldi). This book has one hundred short stories about love, organized into ten groups. The third group is about cheating in marriage. In Cinthio’s story, only Disdemona (which is similar to Shakespeare’s Desdemona) has a name; the other characters are called simply the Moor (Othello), the Ensign (Iago), and the Corporal (Cassio).
In the story, the Ensign falls in love with the Moor’s wife, Desdemona, but she does not love him back. This makes him angry, and he tricks the Moor into thinking Desdemona has cheated on him. The Moor and the Ensign end up killing Desdemona using socks filled with sand and making it look like an accident by bringing down the ceiling in her bedroom. Later, the Ensign is tortured to death for other reasons, and Desdemona’s family kills the Moor.
Moral Lesson:
Jealousy destroys relationships and lives.
Truth and trust are essential.