When it comes to tragedy, it's hard to beat Othello. Othello is a general with a beautiful new wife, a brilliant military career, a recent victory in war, and heaps of praise and accolades scattered at his feet. Iago, one of his lieutenants, doesn't like him. Iago spends the entirety of the play scheming to make it seem like Othello's wife is cheating on him, and then convinces Othello to kill his wife and the man being framed. It's hard to watch the other characters play along with Iago's plans when we know he's an evil bastard, but he pulls the strings until Othello loses everything and kills himself in grief.

Unlike most of Shakespeare's tragedies, Othello's misfortune isn't entirely his own fault. He's strung along by Iago's schemes, drawing him further and further into the lies that tear him apart. While there are a few points where it feels that Othello should know better or should be less suspicious, most of the interactions involve the reader feebly screaming at Othello to stop listening to Iago because we know he's an evil bastard but no one else does.

Iago is easily one of Shakespeare's most cunning villains. You can actually see him manipulating characters and events both in the scenes and behind them, and his brief monologues and asides give him an additional layer of assholery that really drives home how much you hate him. He's perfectly willing to drag innocent people into his scheme, recruiting friends to work as assassins and his wife to work as a spy, all without knowing just how horrid Iago's schemes are. His motivations aren't even very good - he seems jealous of Othello and wants his position, but for the most part he just seems to not like him. Othello's tragedy is really that he knew such an awful person but knew not his nature.

There isn't really a slow point in the play. From start to finish, Iago's plans progress steadily and come to a head in an emotional climax that you just don't want to see happen. People are betrayed, manipulated, assaulted, murdered, and more so that Iago can see Othello suffer. And in the end, justice is weak and there is no punishment the reader feels is enough for all Iago has done.

Basically, please read this play, it's amazing.