Othello
Play
Summary
The Moor of Venice and the play's protagonist, Othello is a celebrated general of extraordinary nobility, eloquence, and self-possession whose very greatness — his directness, his trust, his capacity for absolute love — is turned against him by Iago. As Iago's poison of jealousy takes hold, the grandeur of his speech disintegrates and he murders the innocent Desdemona; his recognition of the enormity of his error and his final self-execution constitute one of the most devastating tragic endings in all of Shakespeare.
Notable Quotations
"She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them." *(1.3)*
"Othello's occupation's gone!" *(3.3)*
"O, now for ever / Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content! / Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars / That make ambition virtue!" *(3.3)*
"It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul." *(5.2)*
"Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate, / Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak / Of one that loved not wisely, but too well." *(5.2)*
"I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, / Killing myself, to die upon a kiss." *(5.2)*