Othello
by William Shakespeare
Jealousy destroys the marriage between an older black man and a younger white woman in 1500s Venice.
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About This Book
Othello was written in 1603 and first performed in 1604. The underlying story is based on “A Moorish Captain,” one of the stories in Cinthio’s Gli Hecatommithi, written in 1565.
Othello is a Moorish black general in Venice, known for his military prowess. He elopes with Desdemona, a noble Venetian lady, who is the daughter of Brabantio, a senator. When Othello promotes Cassio to be his lieutenant over Iago, his ensign, the evil Iago gets his revenge by alleging an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, sowing doubt in the mind of Othello.
This Standard Ebooks edition is based on William George Clark and William Aldis Wright’s 1887 Victoria edition, which is taken from the Globe edition.
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Public domain in the United States. Users located outside of the United States must check their local laws before using this ebook. Original content released to the public domain via the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.