Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare based on the short story "Moor of Venice" by Cinthio, believed to have been written in approximately 1603. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, his wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio, and his trusted advisor Iago. Attesting to its enduring popularity, the play appeared in 7 editions between 1622 and 1705. Because of its varied themes — racism, love, jealousy and betrayal — it remains relevant to the present day and is often performed in professional and community theatres alike. The play has also been the basis for numerous operatic, film and literary adaptations.
Othello has its source in Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale, "Un Capitano Moro" from Gli Hecatommithi (1565). No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, but verbal echoes in Othello are closer to the Italian original than to Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. "Disdemona" is the only named character in Cinthio's tale with his other characters identified only as "the Moor", "the squadron leader", "the ensign", and "the ensign's wife." Cinthio drew a moral (which he placed in the mouth of the lady) that European women are unwise to marry the temperamental males of other nations. Cinthio's Moor is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but it is believed the poet took inspiration as well from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 17th century. It has also been noted that the stories of both Othello and "Un Capitano Moro" resemble the earlier tale of "The Three Apples", one of the stories narrated by Scheherazade in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).
