The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice

William Shakespeare’s classic play Othello, featuring valuable tools for educators and readers, from the esteemed Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works.

In Othello, William 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.

The authoritative edition of Othello from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

—Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

—Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

—Scene-by-scene plot summaries

—A key to famous lines and phrases

—An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language

—Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books

—An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play