Composition of the play

Between the years of 1604 and 1608, Shakespeare wrote six plays, including Othello. It is important to note that this followed the death of Queen Elizabeth I, who was unmarried and had no children to pass on the throne to. Four of the six plays Shakespeare wrote in these years were tragedies like Othello, and though each tragic hero (i.e. protagonist) dies, they fall victim to very different circumstances. In our case, Othello is a victim of immense slander and seeds of insecurity that flourish through circumstantial and flimsy evidence pertaining to his ‘weakness’ – his profound love for Desdemona, and his burgeoning insecurity regarding whether or not he is truly deserving of her.