Summary: At the beginning of the play, the charming gentleman Roderigo comes on stage, complaining to the ensign Iago that he knows nothing about Desdemona’s marriage to Othello. He had previously informed her father out of fascination with her, and now regrets her choice. Othello promotes Cassio, which deeply resents Iago. Iago suspects Othello had an affair with his wife Emilia and accuses Cassio of being merely a theorist lacking practical experience. Iago talks at length about Roderigo’s failed love and his own dissatisfaction with Othello, successfully instructing Roderigo to inform Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, of her elopement. Iago then secretly finds Othello and informs him of Brabantio’s arrival.
News arrives in Venice that the Turkish forces have attacked Cyprus, and General Othello is summoned by the Senate. Brabantio publicly accuses Othello of using witchcraft to seduce his daughter, but Othello defends himself, recounting his past, claiming Desdemona fell in love with him because of his story, gaining the trust of the Venetian duke, Roderigo, Gratiano, and other senators; Brabantio remains dissatisfied, asserting that Desdemona will ultimately betray Othello. The duke orders Othello to command the Venetian forces against the invading Turkish army in Cyprus, allowing his wife, lieutenant Cassio, ensign Iago, and Iago’s wife Emilia to accompany him.
The troops arrive in Cyprus and find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Othello holds a celebration and privately drinks with Desdemona. While the commander is away, Iago gets Cassio drunk and then incites Roderigo to challenge Cassio, creating chaos. Othello intervenes, accuses Cassio, and dismisses him. Iago persuades Cassio to entrust Desdemona to plead for him.
Iago then approaches Othello, claiming Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona. Othello had previously given Desdemona a handkerchief as a first gift, which she accidentally lost. Iago has Emilia pick up the handkerchief and give it to Cassio. Iago then has Othello observe and provokes Cassio to talk about his mistress Bianca, leading Othello to mistakenly think the subject is Desdemona. When Bianca finds the handkerchief, she accuses Cassio of hiding treasures and having many lovers. Othello, seeing this, is enraged and publicly humiliates his wife.
Roderigo complains to Iago about gaining nothing, and Iago urges him to kill Cassio. When Cassio leaves Bianca’s residence, Roderigo attacks him but is seriously wounded; Iago stabs Cassio from behind, injuring his leg. Iago hides himself in the shadows; when everyone hears Cassio’s cry for help, Iago appears pretending to assist him. When Cassio points to Roderigo as the murderer, Iago immediately kills him to silence him and accuses Bianca of being an accomplice.
That night, Othello confronts Desdemona and strangles her in bed. Emilia arrives and calls for help; others rush in, and Emilia exposes Iago’s conspiracy. Hearing about the handkerchief, Othello realizes the truth and uncovers Iago’s plot, who then angrily stabs his wife. Othello is overwhelmed with remorse, attacks Iago, who admits his guilt but refuses to explain. Roderigo condemns both, and Othello commits suicide. Roderigo declares Gratiano as Othello’s successor and takes Cassio and Iago back to Venice.
1. The “love” in this play is not between two people but about men’s face and status
The most poisonous aspect of bourgeois drama is portraying marriage and love as “private affairs,” making you forget that behind them are property, reputation, and status.
The entire “love line” from the first act is set from the start:
- Roderigo likes Desdemona not because she is a “person,” but because she is an object that can bring him face, status, and satisfaction.
- Brabantio opposes his daughter’s marriage not out of concern for her happiness but because she is his family’s face, his property, and what he can arrange.
- Othello treats the handkerchief as a “first gift,” later as “evidence,” which shows that in his eyes, his wife’s value is not as a person but because she “belongs to me” and “gives me face.”
So, the so-called love in this play boils down to one sentence:
Women are men’s “possessions,” and men prove themselves by whether women are “loyal.”
2. The core of bourgeois love view: treating women as private property, marriage as possession, and suspicion as truth
1) “Elopement” is not romantic but a bourgeois scare tactic against women’s autonomous choice
The play begins with “informing,” “tattling,” “father’s anger,” and “Senate trial.” This is not about love; it’s about telling the audience:
Women choosing their own men will bring disaster; disobeying fathers will bring disaster; going against family arrangements will bring disaster.
Brabantio publicly accuses Othello of “witchcraft,” which seems absurd but actually contains class logic:
- He does not allow his daughter to “choose freely.”
- As long as she does not follow his arrangement, he must find a reason: not because she has her own will but because she is “confused” or “deceived.”
This logic is still common today:
Women who disobey are called “brainwashed” or “corrupted.”
The purpose is one: deny women as capable of making decisions on their own.
2) The handkerchief plot: depicting “love” as “evidence,” and marriage as “ownership certificate”
Othello does not give the handkerchief as a “keepsake” but as “proof.”
His obsession with the handkerchief later is because in his mind:
- Handkerchief = she is mine, she follows the rules
- No handkerchief = she is unfaithful, she does not belong to me, I am ashamed
This is the dirtiest part of bourgeois love:
Love is not mutual support but using an object, a vow, a photo to prove “she is under my control.”
So Iago doesn’t need to actually catch an affair; he only needs to remove the “evidence,” and Othello will sentence his wife himself.
Does this mean Othello loves? No, he loves his own power as a husband.
3) The prophecy that “betrayal is inevitable”: poison of bourgeois intimate relationships
Brabantio’s phrase “she will betray you eventually” is crucial. It depicts marriage as:
- Not living together
- Not fighting together
- But a “transaction that can betray at any moment”
The bourgeois view of love is like this:
Turning relationships into suspicion, interrogation, control, and verification.
Every step Othello takes afterward:
- Eavesdropping
- Surveillance
- Questioning
- Public humiliation
- Murder
This is not “jealousy”; it is treating marriage as a ruling relationship:
I suspect you = I have the right to judge you.
3. Bourgeois egocentrism: I care more about my dignity than her life
Othello killing his wife is the pinnacle of reactionary thought in the play. It must be said plainly:
Othello is not “misunderstanding” her death but placing “my face” above “her life.”
His so-called “confrontation” is actually a “trial.”
The so-called “evidence” is actually “whatever I want to believe.”
The “suicide” is actually:
- Killing his wife first
- Then framing himself as a “tragic hero” with suicide
- Making the audience pity him
- Forgetting that the real victim is the woman strangled
This is the most common technique in bourgeois literature:
Portraying the perpetrator as a “suffering person” and the victim as a “tragic prop.”
Desdemona, at her death, did nothing wrong.
Her only “mistake” was that in this society, she is not an individual but just a “wife.”
4. Iago is not “born evil”; he is the most opportunistic person in bourgeois society
To criticize egocentrism and extreme individualism, Iago is the most typical example.
His logic is very simple:
- Whoever blocks my promotion, I destroy
- I don’t need the truth; I only need others to believe me
- I don’t need to do it myself; I let others do it
- I use everyone’s weaknesses as tools
How does he manipulate Othello?
Using Othello’s “women as private property, face-saving” ideology.
How does he manipulate Roderigo?
Using Roderigo’s “resent when can’t get, destroy when can’t have” mindset.
How does he manipulate Cassio?
Using Cassio’s desire to restore his rank and “use connections.”
How does he manipulate Emilia?
Using her oppressed position in marriage and her habit of obedience.So Iago is not an external demon; he is the “capable person” of this society.
And Shakespeare depicts him as “smart” to send a message to bourgeois audiences:See, even the worst people can be clever and win.
This is reactionary: it makes people think that “scheming and manipulating” are skills.
5. Roderigo and Bianca: bourgeois society divides women into “marriageable” and “usable”
Roderigo chases Desdemona out of “wanting to marry.”
Cassio seeks Bianca as “a plaything.”
Iago treats Bianca as a “scapegoat.”Behind this is the dirtiest bourgeois rule:
- The family needs a “decent wife” to maintain face
- Outside, there can be “mistresses” for entertainment
- When trouble occurs, the “mistress” is the first to be sacrificed
So Bianca is always portrayed as “suspicious,” “gossiping,” and “liable to implicate others.” This is not character trait but class prejudice:
Men’s desires are normal; women’s existence is a stain.
6. The “state conclusion”: kill, restore order, and pass on positions
Your ending clearly illustrates the point:
- Roderigo is condemned
- Othello dies
- Iago is taken away
- Cassio succeeds
- Everything returns to normal
What does this play really want the audience to believe?
Individual problems are personal; the state machinery is just; order can restore itself.
But in reality:
This tragedy is precisely “order itself” that breeds it—
treating women as private property, valuing reputation over life, believing suspicion as truth, and pursuing promotion and wealth as the highest goal.In the end, the state does not reflect on these issues; it just takes people away and replaces positions.
This is the bourgeois “solution”:
No root change, only replacing heads.
7. Overall conclusion: this play teaches the audience to do evil, not to struggle
Summarizing the above into three harsh judgments:
- It depicts love as possession, marriage as domination, and women as private property.
- It makes men’s face more important than women’s lives, portraying murder as “heroic.”
- It depicts scheming, manipulation, stepping over others, and suspicion as normal social behavior, encouraging acceptance of this dirty world.
So it is not a “tragedy”; it is a cesspool of the bourgeoisie:
After watching, the audience does not hate the system but sighs “Ah, human nature is unpredictable.”
This is the most reactionary part—turning class oppression into “emotional issues.”
From today’s perspective, this play is extremely reactionary, as can be seen from the character of Othello. Othello is a Moorish general, the leader of mercenaries, serving in the Republic of Venice. Among the bourgeoisie, in Shakespeare, at that time, this could be seen as a positive image. It can be regarded as a positive plot because it reflects the so-called bourgeois humanitarianism, opposing racial discrimination. But what does the bourgeoisie use to oppose racial discrimination? Individualism. Therefore, Othello also embodies the most serious individualist思想. He is an extreme male chauvinist, a crazy womanizer. He eats soft rice and hard, as a Moor, using PUA methods to make the wealthy heiress Desdemona fall in love with him. Desdemona abandons her wealthy family for him, resolutely disobeys her feudal father’s orders, and finally marries this Moorish general Othello. However, Shakespeare, through Othello, reflects his reactionary bourgeois patriarchal思想. Othello only treats Desdemona as his property, as a woman to satisfy his vanity and sexual desires. The symbol of his ownership of Desdemona is a handkerchief. When Iago uses conspiracy and trickery to get the handkerchief into the hands of another man, Cassio, Othello immediately judges that his wife has been unfaithful, and then cruelly kills her. Through Othello’s plot, Shakespeare’s reactionary bourgeois male chauvinist思想 is revealed: women depend on men, are men’s property, and men can dispose of them at will. It also reflects Shakespeare’s bourgeois view of love: love is a利益 exchange that can be bought and sold at any time and can break at any time; once doubts arise about this exchange, murder and deviation may occur. In this play, the fate of each character also reflects Shakespeare’s reactionary bourgeois思想: Desdemona pursues her自由恋爱, but ends up being fiercely criticized and suppressed by feudal patriarchal authority, betrayed and murdered by her husband. This tells people that women are not worthy of independent consciousness; making their own choices will cost them their lives. Even Othello, who is portrayed as a positive character in the play, is ultimately manipulated by conspiracy due to his “lack of brains” and commits suicide. The greatest villain in the play, Iago, is treacherous and cunning, using various schemes to sow discord, ultimately killing all his rivals and even the women he cannot get. In the end, this extreme individualist and egoist does not explain or reflect on his crimes, and is not punished, but returns safely to Venice. From this, it can be seen that Shakespeare’s ideology is completely consistent with that of another Italian humanist—Machiavelli. The bourgeoisie says, as long as it benefits, as long as it is utilitarian, there is no need for morality, only calculation. Honest people will suffer losses and be deceived, while treacherous and cunning people can rise step by step. This play about Othello is not about 16th-century Venice; it clearly depicts 21st-century China, the dark and ugly capitalist China!