Othello is without a doubt one of the greatest tragedies ever written. It is one of Shakespeare's later plays and, in my opinion, one of his best. Although originally based on a short story, Shakespeare did really adapt it and make it his own.
Othello is a general in the service of Venice. Iago is Othello's friend, but then Othello promotes Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant and Iago is incredibly jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign against the hero. Othello elopes with Desdemona but Iago starts to plot against them. Othello becomes very suspicious of Desdemona. He confides in Iago that he plans to poison Desdemona. Plots and murders ensue and Othello returns to the castle to kill his innocent wife, eventually smothering her to death. Emilia tells Othello the truth about the scheming Iago. Othello wounds Iago, then kills himself. Iago kills Emilia.
I like that Othello is brave and quite competent, even if towards the end his decisions aren't quite so rational and he acts on impulse. It is a great example of a text that was written hundreds of years ago, but with themes that can be applied to modern day situations.
It is a difficult read and takes along time to get through so I would only recommend it to people who like classics and have a lot of patience!
I really like classics and enjoy Shakespearean texts so I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would award it five stars.
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