Othello has delighted and disturbed theatre audiences for four centuries and remains one of the most frequently performed and widely studied of Shakespeare's plays. This broad-ranging guide introduces: the play's contexts, including an overview, chronology and reprinted contemporary documents critical responses, through a brief critical history and reprinted critical texts with explanatory headnotes the play in performance, through a selection of clearly introduced readings. Andrew Hadfield then examines key passages of the play in detail. Each passage is reprinted in full, with a headnote and annotations explaining Shakespeare's language and relevant critical issues. Cross-references throughout link together the contextual materials, critical responses and the play's text.