'I am not what I am.' Celebrated Moorish general Othello and Desdemona are bound by a secret love. When Othello is sent to war, his ensign Iago manipulates the truth to turn love into doubt and honor into ruin. Based on enduring themes of prejudice, betrayal and the destructive power of manipulation, Shakespeare's Othello is a tragic study of unraveling trust and the cost of love in a jealous world.