As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Originally published in 1930, William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" gives the account of one family's mission to bury their mother in a distant city. Addie Bundren claims her final resting place should be near her relatives in Jefferson, Mississippi as opposed to at home. Her request is indicative of the relationship she has with her immediate family.

As I Lay Dying is the story of The Bundren family: Anse, Addie, Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman. Addie, the matriarch, is dying, and Cash, the eldest son, is building her casket while she watches. Once Addie dies, the Bundrens make an arduous journey to Jefferson to bury her-a journey which is the key of the story.

.

We’re introduced to Anse, Addie’s stubborn but lazy husband who has promised he will bury her body in her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi. Cash is the eldest son, a skilled carpenter who obsessively builds Addie’s coffin rather than grieving openly. Darl is the odd one, very insightful and intelligent but ostracized by the rest of his family. Then there’s Jewel, Addie’s illegitimate son from a secret affair. Jewel is completely callous, despite being his mother’s favorite child. Dewey Dell is the only daughter, and she is hiding an out-of-wedlock pregnancy from the rest of her family. Last is Vardaman, the youngest child, who is confused by his mother’s death and offers a very unique and innocent perspective on the situation.

Neighbors and friends also comment throughout the novel as the Bundrens embark on a long journey to bury Addie. Always cursed by bad luck, the family encounters every obstacle imaginable across the state.

On the way to Jefferson, Addie's body decomposes in the extraordinarily hot weather and produces a foul smell. The weather conditions are atrocious; the constant rain has flooded out the main bridges. When the family tries to cross the most stable of the bridges, it collapses, sending the horses, Cash and the coffin into the rising water. Cash survives, but he suffers a broken leg that festers all the way to Jefferson.

Anse mortgages his farming tools and trades Jewel's horse for a new team of mules, so that the family can move forward. Jewel vanishes from the farm in which they are staying. As the Bundrens pass through Mottson, they pour cement around Cash's leg in a futile attempt to set and heal it, and Dewey Dell tries to get an abortion from a local pharmacist, with no luck. When the evening comes, they stay at the Gillespie barn.  One night, Vardaman sees Darl set fire to the barn, causing its imminent destruction. Jewel dashes into the barn to save his mother's coffin and several farm animals and burns his back while doing so.

The family sets out the next day for Jefferson and arrives prepared to bury Addie. A local pharmacy worker seduces Dewey Dell as she attempts to get an abortion, while Peabody (Doctor) tends to Cash's now-destroyed leg. The family discovers that Darl is the man responsible for setting fire to the Gillespie barn and realizes that Gillespie plans to sue them. Instead of sending him to jail, Anse arranges for Darl to be committed to a mental asylum. Darl laughs hysterically on the train to Jackson, his new home.

Anse visits a local house to borrow spades to bury his dead wife, and consequently spends time with another woman. After they bury Addie, Anse returns the spades and does not come back to the wagon until the following morning. When he returns, he is clean-shaven, has a mouthful of new teeth, a gramophone, and a new wife.

Additionally, Faulkner’s “stream of consciousness” technique allows readers to get inside each character’s head. This makes the story more realistic, but it also makes it harder to follow due to the many incoherent thoughts of the main characters and the rough Southern slang. That being said, “As I Lay Dying” is a book that will infuriate you, sadden you and confuse you, but it is also a book that you will never forget.

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. It is known by a variety of titles (the most common being Oedipus Rex), including Oedipus the King and Oedipus Tyrannus.

Oedipus, the ruler of Thebes, approaches a group of unhappy citizens, represented by a priest, and asks them what is wrong. They answer that the city is dying and that they are sick and poor. Oedipus sympathizes and tells them that, as their ruler, he is also troubled by the sickness of the city, and has already taken steps to see that something be done about it. The first step he has taken was to send Creon (brother of queen, Jocasta) to Apollo's shrine to see what the god recommends. As Creon appears, he tells them that the god, Apollo, said that there is bad blood in Thebes, and that until this blood is expelled Thebes will be a sick city.

This bad blood is the blood of the person who killed Laios (King of Thebes). When Oedipus asks why the case was not investigated,  the people answer that they were too busy trying to solve the Sphinx's riddle. Oedipus says that no matter what the cost is, he will get to the bottom of it because it harms Thebes, and because Laios was noble and loyal. The elders say that they do not have any knowledge of the murder, and suggest that Oedipus call Teiresias, a blind prophet, to help and advise him. Teiresias is the one who knows the truth.Oedipus says that he has already done this, and Teiresias arrives promptly. Although reluctant to speak, Oedipus forces Tiresias to reveal what he knows. Teiresias says that Oedipus is Thebes' pollution and that he killed his father and sleeps with his mother. Oedipus accuses Teiresias of lying on Creon's behalf so that Creon can kill Oedipus and take over the position of ruler of Thebes.

Creon enters and says that Oedipus is not making any sense-of course he did not collaborate with Teiresias, because he also owns a third of Thebes but chooses not to rule it, leaving Thebes to Oedipus, which shows that he is not interested in ruling at all. Jocasta enters and stops the two men from arguing. When Creon leaves, she asks Oedipus what happened and he explains the whole story to her. She tells him not to believe the words of the oracle, as an oracle once predicted that her son would kill his father and share her bed, and she believes this has never happened as they abondoned him as soon as his birth.

Although this story is supposed to calm Oedipus down, it only worries him more. He asks about the place and time of Laios' death

. Every answer adds to Oedipus' worry. Jocasta informs him that there was one survivor who was with Laios when he was attacked, so Oedipus calls for him. Jocasta also says that Laios had been killed by a group of people.

While waiting for the survivor, Oedipus tells Jocasta his life story, that a man had called him a bastard son, so he went to an oracle to inquire about it as no one would speak to him about it. The oracle, Delphi, told him that oneday he will killed his father and sleep with his mother. As a result, he left his hometown so that he would protect himself and his parents from this terrible prediction. On his journey to another town, he came to a three-pronged fork in the road, where a group of men attacked him. Oedipus killed all of them except for one.

At this time, a Corinthian enters and asks Oedipus to come back to Corinth (hometown of Oedipus) and rule since his father has died. Being afraid of his fate, Oedipus refuses, as he does not want to harm his mother. However, when Oedipus explains to the Corinthian his fate, the Corinthian says that Merope and Polybus were not Oedipus' real parents and that he had been adopted and had given Oedipus to them as a gift. When he asks where he was found, Oedipus is told that a herdsman had given him to the Corinthian in Mount Kithairon where he used to be a shepherd, and that his feet were tied together. When the survivor from Laios' killing enters, the Corinthian identifies him as the man who had given him Oedipus, and the herdsman admits that Jocasta had given him the baby to get rid of it, and that he had thought the Corinthian would take him far away, never to be seen again.

As a result of discovering all of the horrible prophecies have been fulfilled, Jocasta hangs herself thinking that she had betrayed her king, Laios. Oedipus discovers her body and takes her brooches off her dress and pierces his eyes until they bleed and he blinds himself. Then, he asks to be exiled from Thebes, which Creon grants, and he leaves to return to his starting place, Mount Kithairon. His daughters, Antigone and Ismene, are left in the hands of Creon, who proves to be a true friend of Oedipus.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is an early tragedy by William Shakespeare about two teenage 'star-cross'd lovers' whose 'untimely deaths' ultimately unite their feuding households. The play has been highly praised by literary critics for its language and dramatic effect. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Its influence is still seen today, with the two main characters being widely represented as archetypal young lovers.

Sampson and Gregory, servants to the Capulets, Abraham and Balthasar, servants to the Montague family start a street fight, which is joined by Benvolio (Montague) and Tybalt (Capulet). Escalus, the Prince of Verona who angrily learns of this fight, declares a death penalty for further feuding between the two families. Romeo we learn is lovesick; Rosaline, the object of his affections will not return his love. His friend Benvolio tells Romeo to look at other girls.

Meanwhile Capulet is keen for Paris to marry his daughter Juliet and plans a party to be held later that night. Romeo and friends decide to turn up uninvited, Romeo hoping to see Rosaline, whom he still pines for.Lady Capulet discusses the idea of marriage to Paris with Juliet. Juliet keeps her options open. The Nurse wishes Juliet every possible happiness.

At the Capulet's party, Romeo who is disguised by a masque (mask), falls in love with Juliet on sight. Capulet stops Tybalt from attacking Romeo at his party, telling him there will be other opportunities. Both Romeo and Juliet learn that they are each enemies of the other's family. A Prologue sung by a choir dramatizes the conflict both Romeo and Juliet feel between their love for one another and their loyalty to their respective families.

Ignoring the danger, Romeo scales the Capulet's wall to be near Juliet, the woman he cannot forget. Unnoticed in Juliet's orchard, Romeo learns of Juliet's love for him. After declaring their feelings for each other, the two decide to marry. Juliet will send Romeo a messenger in the morning to make plans for their wedding.

The very next day, we meet Romeo's friend, Friar Laurence. He wonders how Romeo can forget Rosaline so quickly but agrees to marry the two since he hopes this marriage will end the long running Montague / Capulet feud.

Romeo catches up with his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. Juliet's messenger, the Nurse, arrives and the wedding is set for later that day. The Nurse brings Romeo "cords" or ropes which will allow Romeo to climb into Juliet's bedchamber as her husband later that night. Romeo and Juliet then marries secretly without knowing their paents.

Benvolio and Mercutio (both Montagues) meet Tybalt (Capulet). Tybalt attempts to provoke Romeo into fighting. Mercutio fights Tybalt and is killed. Romeo then kills Tybalt. Escalus, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo from Verona threatening death if he ever return. Juliet learns of Romeo killing Tybalt and despite being torn between her loyalty for her family and Romeo, mourns her husband Romeo's banishment.

Romeo learns of the banishment order, realizing he will not be able to see Juliet again. Friar Laurence suggests Romeo go to Juliet's bed chamber to comfort his wife. Capulet, who does not know of Romeo and Juliet's marriage, decides that the marriage of Juliet to Paris must now proceed, bidding his wife to make Juliet aware of Paris' love for her. The day of the marriage has been decided; it will be Thursday.

We learn that Romeo has spent the night with his Juliet. Juliet who is now already secretly married to Romeo, learns that she is to marry Paris. She tries to fight her father's wishes, failing to dissuade him. Juliet decides to commit suicide if all else fails.

Paris reveals that the wedding will occur on Thursday. Juliet is cold to Paris. Friar Laurence tells Juliet to take a potion simulating death, allowing Romeo to take her away, unopposed to Mantua since everyone will think she is dead at the Capulet's ancient vault or burial ground.

Capulet makes plans for Juliet's wedding. Juliet, who has decided to drink Friar Laurence's potion, no longer opposes the wedding, delighting Capulet.Hearing this good news, Capulet, who is keen to have Juliet marry Paris decides to move the wedding forward. It will now be on Wednesday morning, not Thursday as previously planned.Juliet succeeds in sleeping alone which allows her to take the potion in privacy. Juliet worries about the Friar's intentions before the potion takes effect and she falls asleep.

Lady Capulet and the Nurse are busy making preparations for the wedding. It is 3 o'clock in the morning and now Capulet hearing music announcing Paris' arrival, tells the Nurse to wake Juliet. The Capulet's learn that their daughter Juliet is dead. The wedding preparations are changed to those of a funeral.

In Mantua, Romeo learns of Juliet's death, deciding to risk his own life by returning to Verona at once to see Juliet one last time. Romeo also buys some poison from a local Apothecary.

Friar John explains to Friar Laurence that his letter informing Romeo that Juliet is not dead, did not reach Romeo. Friar Laurence tries again to inform Romeo of his plan and heads off to the Capulet burial chamber where Juliet will soon awaken.

Paris mourns his bride that never was. Romeo arrives, opening Juliet's coffin to look at his love one last time. Paris fights Romeo whom he believes is desecrating Juliet's grave. Paris dies, Romeo placing him beside Juliet. Romeo takes his poison, kisses Juliet and dies. Friar Laurence arrives too late. Juliet, now awakens, asking for her Romeo. Friar Laurence leaves, leaving Juliet alone. Juliet kisses Romeo and stabs herself, dying. The Prince, Capulets, and Montagues arrive, Balthasar and Friar Laurence explaining all. Escalus scolds the two families who finally end their feud. The play ends with the Prince summarizing this tragic love story.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Mark Twain's second book, "Huckleberry Finn" came as something of a sequel to his ever-popular "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and it provides a similar mix of heady southern atmosphere, child-like larks, and fantastic prose.

Like his earlier book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is firmly moves around the atmosphere of social structure of eighteenth century life by the Mississippi river. A beautiful novel of fun and great beauty has been a must-read for adults and children for more than a century.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn return us to the town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, and its opening pages reacquaint us with the characters that we met in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn, who once a child of the river, found a robber’s loot, and now had quite a large amount of money held in trust at the bank. He has been adopted by an old widow, and has been forced to go to school, keep clean, and do all the things that a respectable boy should.

However, such a veneer of respectability does not last, when Huck's father Pap returns to town claiming custody over Huck. A drunk and a never-do-well, Pap often beats Huck and locks him in a cabin when he goes out drinking and so, in an attempt to escape, Huck fakes his own death using pig's blood and runs away to an island in the center of the river. After a few days of living rough he meets an escaped slave by the name of Jim and they join forces, living lives close to nature. However, the island could not hold them forever, and when Huck overhears that Jim's owners are planning to look for Jim on the island, they both escape traveling on a log raft down the river.

On their journey they have a number of runnings with various river folk including a gang of robbers whose loot they managed to steal, and a group of slave-hunters whom Huck lies to in order to save Jim. Finally, in the dark one night, a large steamer collides with the raft and, abandoning ship, Huck and Jim are parted. However, they are not parted for long, as Jim finds Huck and gets him out of a tight spot when he is caught up in a gun battle between two warring southern families.

Returning to the river, Huck and Jim get mixed up with two small-time con artists going by the names the Duke and the Dauphin, who get attempt a number of scams at the towns they come across along the river . However, this agreement comes to an end when the two men betray Jim. Huck swears to help him, and is helped in this endeavor by Tom (who coincidentally turns up when he goes to visit his aunt and uncle).

The escape goes badly however, when in the process of breaking Jim free, Tom is shot in the leg. Caring more for the boy than his own freedom, Jim gives himself up and is once more put in chains. However, when Tom awakes he explains that, in fact, Jim is a free man (having been freed months earlier in the will of his recently departed owner). On their return to St. Petersburg, Huck's father is revealed to have died, and Huck once more faces the prospect of being "sivilised" this time by Tom's Aunt Sally. He says no thank you, and heads off on his adventures once more.

 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a boy's own story told at a wonderful pace. It should be an instant recommendation in any list of great American literature.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved (1987) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison. A survey of writers and literary critics conducted by The New York Times found Beloved the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years; it garnered 15 of 125 votes.This book follows the story of Sethe who has endured horrible things and survived, but she misses Sweet Home. But, a teenager arrives calling herself Beloved and Sethe's life explodes.

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has endured horrible things and survived, but she misses Sweet Home. Sethe and her daughter Denver are   trying to rebuild their lives after having escaped from slavery. 124 Bluestone, the house they inhabit, is haunted which turns out to be the ghost of Sethe's murdered daughter, visits there with an alarming regularity. Because of this, Sethe's youngest daughter, Denver, has no friends and is extremely shy. Howard and Buglar, Sethe's sons, run away from home by the time they are thirteen because of the ghost's persistent torment. Shortly afterwards, Baby Suggs, the mother of Sethe's husband Halle, dies in her bed.

Paul D, one of the slaves from Sweet Home, arrives at 124. He tries to bring a sense of reality into the house. He also tries to make the family move forward in time and leave the past behind. In doing so, he forces out the ghost of Beloved. At first, he seems to be successful, because he leads the family to a carnival, out of the house for the first time in years. However, on their way back, they encounter a young woman sitting in front of the house. She has distinct features of a baby and calls herself Beloved. Denver recognizes right away that she must be a reincarnation of her sister Beloved. Paul D, suspicious of her, warns Sethe, but charmed by the young woman, Sethe ignores him. Paul D finds himself being gradually forced out of Sethe's home by a supernatural presence. When he is finally made to sleep in a shed outside, he is cornered by Beloved, who has put a spell on him for this purpose. She burrows into his mind and his heart, forcing him to have sex with her, while flooding his consciousness with horrific memories from his past. Paul D, overwhelmed with guilt after the incident, attempts to tell Sethe, but cannot and instead tells her he wants her pregnant. Sethe is humored and elated by his wishes, and Paul D finds the power to resist Beloved and her influence over him. However, when he tells his friends at work about his plans to start a new family, they react negatively and fearfully. Stamp Paid then reveals to Paul D the reason for the community's rejection of Sethe. When Paul D asks Sethe about it, she tells him what happened all those years ago. After escaping from Sweet Home and making it to her mother-in-law's home where her children are waiting, Sethe is found by her master, schoolteacher, who attempts to reclaim Sethe and her children. In a heightened panic, Sethe grabs her children, runs into the tool shed and tries to kill them all, succeeding only with her oldest daughter,Beloved. Sethe explains to Paul D her reasoning for doing it, stating that she was protecting her children. However, the revelation is too much for Paul D, who later leaves the house for good.

Sethe comes to believe that the girl, Beloved, is her daughter. Sethe murdered by slitting her throat with a handsaw when the child was only two years old. Upon this realization, Sethe begins to spend carelessly and spoil Beloved out of guilt. Beloved recognizes her mother's guilt and becomes angry and more demanding, throwing hellish tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Beloved's presence consumes Sethe's life to the point where she becomes depleted and even sacrifices her own need for eating, while Beloved grows bigger and bigger. In the climax of the novel Denver, the youngest daughter, reaches out and searches for help from the black community. People arrive at 124 to exorcize Beloved. However, while Sethe is confused and has a "rememory" of schoolteacher coming again, Beloved disappears.

At the outset, the reader is led to assume Beloved is a supernatural, incarnate form of Sethe's murdered daughter. Later, Stamp Paid reveals the story of "a girl locked up by a white man over by Deer Creek. Found him dead last summer and the girl gone. Maybe that's her". Both are supportable by the text. The possibility that Beloved is the murdered child is supported by the fact that she sings a song known only to Sethe and her children; elsewhere, she speaks of Sethe's earrings without having seen them.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. The book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela, encountering Native Americans, captives and mutineers before being rescued.

Crusoe sets sail from the Queen's Dock in Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who want him to stay at home and pursue a career, possibly in law. After a tumultuous journey that sees his ship wrecked in a storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey too ends in disaster as the ship is taken over by Salé pirates and Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. After two years of slavery, he manages to escape in a boat with a boy named Xury; later, Crusoe is rescued and befriended by the Captain of a Portuguese ship off the west coast of Africa. The ship is en route to Brazil. There, with the help of the captain, Crusoe becomes owner of a plantation.

Years later, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island (which he calls the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river. His companions all die, save himself, and three animals who survived the shipwreck, the captain's dog and two cats. Having overcome his despair, he fetches arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it breaks apart and sinks. He hunts, grows corn and rice, dries grapes to make raisins for the winter months. He learns to make pottery and raises goats. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but human society.

Years later, he discovers native cannibals who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing an abomination but later realizes that he has no right to do so as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners. When a prisoner manages to escape, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.

After another party of natives arrives to partake in a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday manage to kill most of the natives and save two of the prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe that there are other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan is devised wherein the Spaniard would return with Friday's father to the mainland and bring back the others, build a ship and sail to a Spanish port.

Before the Spaniards return, an English ship appears. Mutineers have taken control of the ship and intend to maroon their former captain on the island. Crusoe and the ship's captain strike a deal in which he helps the captain and the loyal sailors retake the ship from the mutineers, whereupon they intend to leave the worst of the mutineers on the island. Before they leave for England, Crusoe shows the former mutineers how he lived on the island and states that there will be more men coming.

On December 19, 1686, Crusoe boards the ship to return to England. There, he finds his family is deceased except for two sisters. His widow friend has kept Crusoe’s money safe, and after traveling to Lisbon, Crusoe learns from the Portuguese captain that his plantations in Brazil have been highly profitable. He arranges to sell his Brazilian lands. Wary of sea travel, Crusoe attempts to return to England by land but is threatened by bad weather and wild animals in northern Spain. Finally arriving back in England, Crusoe receives word that the sale of his plantations has been completed and that he has made a considerable fortune. After donating a portion to the widow and his sisters, Crusoe is restless and considers returning to Brazil, but he is dissuaded by the thought that he would have to become Catholic. He marries, and his wife dies. Crusoe finally departs for the East Indies as a trader in 1694. He revisits his island, finding that the Spaniards are governing it well and that it has become a prosperous colony.

Othello by William Shakespeare

Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign Iago.

Othello is a highly esteemed general in the service of Venice. Iago is Othello's ambitious friend and ensign. However, he promotes the Florentine Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant and Iago is deadly jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign against the hero.

Othello elopes with Desdemona, daughter of Senator Brabantio and Iago enlists Roderigo, a former suitor of Desdemona, to slander him to Brabantio. Desdemona's father then complains to the Duke of Venice, claiming the vile, black man, used spells and charms to win Desdemona's favour.

Turkey threatens Cyprus and the Senate charges Othello to defend Cyprus to become the new governor. The Duke of Venice listens to Brabantio's charges against him but after hearing Othello speak of his love for Desdemona the duke finds in his favour.

Othello is totally unaware that the treacherous Iago was behind all the charges and orders Iago to accompany his wife to Cypress. Roderigo egged on by Iago, also accompanies them convinced that Desdemona will tire of her lover. Not content with slandering him, Iago also persuades Roderigo that Cassio must be discredited to prevent any possibility of Desdemonia turning to Cassio.

In Cyprus, Iago gets Cassio drunk, then has Roderigo start an argument with him. Montano, the outgoing governor of Cyprus, intervenes, and Cassio wounds him. Othello arrives on the scene and Iago convinces him that Cassio is to blame and he disowns Cassio. Iago then persuades Cassio that he can get back into Othello's favour if he gets Desdemona to intercede on his behalf.

Desdemona pleads on behalf of Cassio making her lover suspicious and extremely jealous. A handkerchief belonging to Desdemona comes into Iago's possession via his wife Emilia, which he plants in Cassio's room. Iago tells him and when Desdemona is unable to produce the handkerchief, Othello is convinced that she and Cassio are having an affair. He is consumed with anger and jealousy and confides in Iago that he plans to poison Desdemona.

Letters are  received from the Duke of Venice recalling Othello and naming Cassio the new governor. Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio for him, but he fails only managing to wound him. Cassio strikes back and wounds Roderigo. Iago rushes past unseen and wounds Cassio in the leg. Othello arrives at this point and watches from a distance and believes that Iago, his good and honest friend, has killed Cassio. Iago finally kills Roderigo.

Othello returns to the castle to kill his wife. Othelo, who still loves his wife, kisses her awake and after more accusations and denials from Desdemona he finally smothers her to death. Iago and others enter, and Emilia defends Desdemona's innocence, recognizing that Iago is behind the tragedy. Othello sees the truth and tries to kill Iago. Iago kills Emilia and flees. Othello condemns himself and commits suicide. Iago is seized and taken away.