Othello is one of the five best-known and most studied of Shakespeare's tragedies, along with Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. But what is striking about Shakespeare's alteration of Cinthio's macabre tale of murder and villainy is the shift in emphasis to William Shakespeare's five-act tragedy of Othello, written - published in an edition in -quarto from a transcription of an author's manuscript.Synopsis: In Venice, at the beginning of Othello, the soldier Iago announces his hatred for his commander, Othello, a Moor. Othello promoted Cassio, not Iago, as his lieutenant. Iago rudely informs Brabantio, Desdemona's father, that Othello and Desdemona have run away. Before the Venetian Senate, Brabantio accuses Othello of, The author of Othello, William Shakespeare, was the most famous playwright of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This affected the themes and setting of the play. Thus, knowing the historical context of Othello is essential to understanding the tragedy, as you will see here. According to other articles in the study guide, in Othello there are women and men, and this is how they correspond to each other: Othello - Upper class Desdemona, Iago - Middle class Emilia, Cassio - Lower class Bianca. The two main women, Desdemona. Essay. Views. 1244. There is no denying that Othello is one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays. Written, it spanned a total of "Othello" film adaptations, including a version directed by Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson's O is heavily based on Shakespeare's original but set in a modern context.