Othello

This article is about Shakespeare's play. For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation).

In Othello, one of William Shakespeare's plays, Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona that begins with elopement and mutual devotion and ends with jealous rage and death. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet most readers and audiences believe the couple's strong love would overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who sets out to destroy Othello. Iago's false insinuations about Desdemona's infidelity draw Othello into his schemes, and Desdemona is subjected to Othello's horrifying verbal and physical assaults.

Othello was performed at court in 1604 and scholars believe Shakespeare wrote it that year or the year before. It was pubilshed as a quarto in 1622, and a somewhat fuller text was included in the 1623 First Folio. Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi was the chief source.

Productions at the Folger

• Othello (Folger Theatre, 2011)

Helen Hayes Awards

Nominations: "Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production" for Andrew F. Griffin

• Othello (Folger Theatre, 2002)

Helen Hayes Awards

Nominations: "Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production" for Scott Burgess

Early editions

First Folio

LUNA: First Folio: 2s3v - 2v6r

Hamnet: STC 22273 Fo. 1 no. 68

Second Folio

LUNA: Second Folio: 2v1v - 2y4r

Hamnet: 22274 Fo. 2 no. 07

First Quarto

LUNA: First Quarto

Hamnet: STC 22305 Copy 1

Second Quarto

LUNA: Second Quarto

Hamnet: STC 22306 Copy 1

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  The title page of Othello printed in the 1623 First Folio. STC 22273 Fo. 1 no.68.

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  The 1632 Second Folio title page of Othello. STC 22274 Fo.2 no.07.

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  The title page of the 1622 First Quarto edition of Othello. STC 22305 copy 1.

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  The 1630 Second Quarto title page of Othello. STC 22306 copy 1.

Modern editions

Othello can be read online with Folger Digital Texts and purchased from Simon and Schuster.

Hamnet link to Folger Edition: PR2753 .M6 2004 copy 2 v.27

In popular culture

Film

This 1995 adaptation of Othello stars Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh.

Watch the trailer for this 2001 teen drama adaptation of Othello, "O" starring Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, and Josh Hartnett.

Translations

The Folger owns at least 90 stand-alone translations of Othello in various languages (not including collected works). Cataloging of these works is ongoing as of early 2015, and many have full-level catalog records, but some works still have only partial records. Translations can be found Hamnet in by searching for "Translations"in the Genre/Form Term field, or by searching the Call Number (Left-Anchored) field for call numbers starting with PR2796 (see the list of Sh.Col. translations call numbers for specific language call numbers). Since not all translations are fully cataloged, some items may only turn up in one of these searches.

Other media

Audio

Othello Audio Edition from Simon & Schuster available on CD and as an audio download.

CAST
Othello	Owiso Odera
Iago	Ian Merrill Peakes
Desdemona	Janie Brookshire
Emilia	Karen Peakes
Rodrigo	Louis Butelli
Cassio	Thomas Keegan
Montano	Chris Genebach
Brabantio	Jeff Allin
Lodovico	Joe Guzman
Gratiano	Todd Scofield
Bianca	Zehra Fazel

Other parts were played by members of the cast.

Directed by Robert Richmond.

Original music composed by Anthony Cochrane and the recording was engineered by Matt Nielsen.

In partnership with Simon & Schuster Audio

Listen to Arun Rath's report on Giuseppe Monteverdi's Othello, the Moor of Venice on NPR's All Things Considered. (October 5, 2013)

Video

Hear Barbara A. Mowat, co-editor of the Folger Shakespeare Library editions, discuss word choice in Othello.

Watch dramaturg Michele Osherow and actors from Folger Theatre's 2011 production of Othello explore language in the play.

Listen to Osherow and the cast of the Folger Theatre 2011 production of Othello probe characters' use of deception.

Hear Robert Richmond, director of the 2011 Folger Theatre production of Othello, discuss jealously in the play.

Luminary app

The Folger Luminary Shakespeare App can be purchased on iTunes.