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Synopsis of Othello
The play opens with Roderigo, a rich and foolish gentleman, complaining to Iago, a high-ranking soldier, that Iago hadn't told
him about the marriage between Desdemona, a senator's daughter, and Othello, general of the Venetian army. He is upset at
the development because he loves Desdemona and has previously asked her father for her hand in marriage. Iago is upset at
Othello for promoting Cassio above him and tells Roderigo that he is simply using Othello for his own advantage. Iago's
argument against Cassio is that he is a scholarly tactician and has no real battle experience that he can draw from. By
emphasizing this point, and his dissatisfaction with serving under Othello, Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell
him about his daughter's marriage. After Roderigo rouses Brabantio, Iago makes an aside that he has heard rumors that
Othello has had an affair with his wife. This acts as the second explicit motive for Iago's actions. Later, Iago tells Othello that he
overheard Roderigo telling Brabantio about the marriage and that he (Iago) was angry because the development was meant to
be secret. This is the first instance we see Iago blatantly lie within the text.News arrives in the Senate that the Turks have
attacked Cyprus and Othello is summoned to advise. Brabantio arrives and accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by
witchcraft, but Othello defends himself successfully before an assembled Senate.By order of the Duke, Othello leaves Venice to
command the Venetian armies against invading Turks on the island of Cyprus, accompanied by his new wife, his new
lieutenant Cassio, his ensign Iago and Emilia, Iago's wife. When they arrive, they find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish
fleet.Iago, who secretly resents Othello for favoring Cassio, takes the opportunity of Othello being away from home to
manipulate his superiors and make Othello jealous of his wife. He persuades Roderigo to engage Cassio in a fight, before
which he gets Cassio drunk. When Othello discovers Cassio drunk and in a fight, he strips him of his ranks, and confers them
upon Iago, which in turn strips Iago of his two stated reasons to exact revenge on Othello. After Cassio sobers up a bit, Iago
persuades Cassio to try Desdemona as an intermediary on Othello. It is of some note that throughout the text Iago is referred to
as "good", and "honest".Iago now works on Othello to make him suspicious of Desdemona and Cassio. Desdemona drops a
handkerchief that was Othello's first gift to her, and Emilia obtains this for Iago, who has asked her to steal it, having decided to
plant it in Cassio's lodgings as evidence of Cassio and Desdemona's affair. Emilia is unaware of what Iago plans to do with
the handkerchief. After he has planted the handkerchief, Iago tells Othello to hide, and goads Cassio on to talk about his affair
with his mistress Bianca, but since Bianca's name is not mentioned Othello thinks that Cassio refers to Desdemona. Enraged,
he decides to kill his wife and orders Iago to kill Cassio. Iago convinces a sexually-frustrated Roderigo to kill Cassio because
Cassio has just been appointed in Othello's place and, if Cassio lives to take office, Othello and Desdemona will leave Cyprus,
thwarting Roderigo's plans to win Desdemona. Roderigo attacks Cassio in the street after Cassio leaves Bianca's lodgings
and they fight. Both are wounded. Passers-by arrive to help and Iago joins them, pretending to help Cassio. Iago secretly stabs
Roderigo to stop him talking and accuses Bianca of conspiracy to kill Cassio. In the night, Othello confronts and then smothers
Desdemona in bed out of intense jealousy, before Iago's wife, Emilia, arrives. At Emilia's distress Othello tries to explain
himself, justifying his actions by way of her affair, citing the handkerchief (distinctively embroidered) as proof. Emilia realizes
what Iago has done, and she reveals Desdemona's "affair" was Iago's invention, and Iago is anything but honest. Determined
to get Othello arrested for murdering Desdemona, Emilia calls for the guard. They arrive, and Emilia begins to explain the
situation. Iago kills Emilia; Othello, realizing he has been toyed with, attacks Iago but is disarmed. Lodovico, a Venetian
nobleman, apprehends both Iago and Othello, but Othello commits suicide with a dagger before they could escort him. At the
end, it can be assumed, Iago is taken off to be tortured and possibly executed.

Shakespeare's Biography
For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare remains a mysterious figure with regards to personal history. There are
just two primary sources for information on the Bard: his works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from
Elizabethan times. Naturally, there are many gaps in this body of information, which tells us little about Shakespeare the man.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, allegedly on April 23, 1564. Church records from Holy Trinity Church
indicate that he was baptized there on April 26, 1564. Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather
merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed local heiress. William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children in the
Shakespeare household—three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a
merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the late
1570s.
There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. It is surmised by scholars
that Shakespeare attended the free grammar school in Stratford, which at the time had a reputation to rival that of Eton. While
there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support
this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, wrote that John Shakespeare had placed William "for
some time in a free school." John Shakespeare, as a Stratford official, would have been granted a waiver of tuition for his son. As
the records do not exist, we do not know how long William attended the school, but certainly the literary quality of his works
suggest a solid education. What is certain is that William Shakespeare never proceeded to university schooling, which has
stirred some of the debate concerning the authorship of his works.
The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage to Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. William was 18 at
the time, and Anne was 26—and pregnant. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. The couple later had twins,
Hamnet and Judith, born February 2, 1585 and christened at Holy Trinity. Hamnet died in childhood at the age of 11, on August
11, 1596.
For the seven years following the birth of his twins, William Shakespeare disappears from all records, finally turning up again in
London some time in 1592. This period, known as the "Lost Years," has sparked as much controversy about Shakespeare's life
as any period. Rowe notes that young Shakespeare was quite fond of poaching, and may have had to flee Stratford after an
incident with Sir Thomas Lucy, whose deer and rabbits he allegedly poached. There is also rumor of Shakespeare working as
an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire for a time, though this is circumstantial at best.
It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright.
Evidently, Shakespeare garnered envy early on for his talent, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London
playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide,
supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in
his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country."
Greene's bombast notwithstanding, Shakespeare must have shown considerable promise. By 1594, he was not only acting and
writing for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (called the King's Men after the ascension of James I in 1603), but was a managing
partner in the operation as well. With Will Kempe, a master comedian, and Richard Burbage, a leading tragic actor of the day, the
Lord Chamberlain's Men became a favorite London troupe, patronized by royalty and made popular by the theatre-going public.
Shakespeare's success is apparent when studied against other playwrights of this age. His company was the most successful
in London in his day. He had plays published and sold in octavo editions, or "penny-copies" to the more literate of his audiences.
Never before had a playwright enjoyed sufficient acclaim to see his works published and sold as popular literature in the midst
of his career. In addition, Shakespeare's ownership share in both the theatrical company and the Globe itself made him as
much an entrepeneur as artist. While Shakespeare might not be accounted wealthy by London standards, his success allowed
him to purchase New House and retire in comfort to Stratford in 1611.
William Shakespeare wrote his will in 1611, bequeathing his properties to his daughter Susanna (married in 1607 to Dr. John
Hall). To his surviving daughter Judith, he left £300, and to his wife Anne left "my second best bed." William Shakespeare
allegedly died on his birthday, April 23, 1616. This is probably more of a romantic myth than reality, but Shakespeare was
interred at Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 25. In 1623, two working companions of Shakespeare from the Lord Chamberlain's
Men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, printed the First Folio edition of his collected plays, of which half were previously
unpublished.
William Shakespeare's legacy is a body of work that will never again be equaled in Western civilization. His words have endured
for 400 years, and still reach across the centuries as powerfully as ever.

Questions for Discussion

1.        Why did Iago cruelly deceive Othello? List and discuss the reasons
for Iago's plot.

2.        Do you think that Desdemona's innocence contributes to her fate.
Why does she stay with Othello after he starts to abuse her? What would you
do if something like this happened to you?

3.        This play is about the racism of an entire community. How does
Shakespeare show that racism is one of the key factors in the outcome of
this tragedy?

4.        What do you think of the treatment of the other women in this play?
Why does Emilia help Iago by giving him the handkerchief. What do you
think of Cassio's treatment of Bianca?

5.        Do you have any sympathy for the foolish Roderigo? What motivates
him to be a conspirator? Why does Iago murder him?

6.        What are the reasons that Othello falls for Iago's story of Desdmona's
infidelity? Is he foolish or gullible?

7.        Discuss the relationship between Emilia and Iago. Were they ever in
love? Why does Iago kill her?

8.        Do you think the Alaska/Russian theme of this production contributes
or detracts from the play?

9.        Describe the characters as presented in this play. Which
performances did you like?

Notes on Edgeware's Production of Othello

It was during the run of Hamlet in 2002 that we began discussions about the possibilities of a production of Othello set in
Russian period Alaska. Transplanting the story began to make more and more sense the further we looked into it, the
distance between Venice and Kodiak is not so great as one might imagine. Each city had been a hub of trade and a
meeting place of diverse cultures.

When we began to look at the character of Othello in particular, it made complete sense that he should be Aleut. Lines
such as "being taken by the insolent foe, and sold to slavery" rang true to Aleut experience. We chose the mid 19th
century for the time period, an era near the end of Russian rule and the transition to American hands on the horizon. That
Othello should have attained such a high military rank had historical precedence, as Aleuts were given officer positions
in the Russian Imperial Navy. Othello's storied battles could have easily been played out in the Battle of Sitka, in 1802
and 1804, or among many skirmishes along the fur trade routes all the way down the Pacific coast to California and
Mexico. After more than a century of Russian contact, Aleut people had just begun to reach parity with their Russian
occupiers, only to lose those gains and undergoing a second colonization with the transfer of Alaska to American hands.
We found many connections between Alaskan history and the world of Shakespeare's Othello.

Ultimately though, it was not Shakespeare's intent to create an historical drama, but rather a tragedy of complex human
relationships. Shakespeare, gifted as he is in depicting "all qualities with a learned spirit of human dealings" invites us
to look at those human dealings in many settings and time periods. Shakespeare dared us to dream, and now more
than 5 years later that dream has become a reality. The process of transplanting the story has been challenging and
rewarding, we hope that this is the experience for the audience as well.

Allan Hayton, Actor Playing Othello