One possible interpretation of this play is that it seems to endorse the racist stereotype that all black men are primitive, animalistic, and unintelligent. This was a stereotype prevalent during the early seventeenth century in England, and which, unfortunately, still persists to some degree in some parts of the world today. At the beginning of the play, Iago talks about Othello as "the Moor" and a "Barbary horse." He tells Desdemona's father, Brabantio, that Othello has been "making the beast with two backs" with his daughter, meaning that Othello and Desdemona have been having sex. Brabantio suspects that Othello must have wooed his daughter with "foul charms" or "drugs or minerals." He cannot conceive that a white woman would otherwise find love in, as he puts it, "the sooty bosom / Of such a thing as [Othello]."
When Othello first appears in the play, he seems to speak and behave in such as way as to expose the aforementioned stereotype as nothing more than ignorant and racist. He speaks eloquently and poetically. In fact, the critic G. Wilson Knight coined the term, "The Othello Music," to describe Othello's speech. Othello also seems to be calm, composed, and rational in the face of Brabantio's threats and accusations. He tells Brabantio's men to "Keep up their bright swords," and he advises Brabantio that he "shall more command with years / Than with . . . weapons."
However, by the end of the play, thanks in large part to Iago's machiavellian scheming, Othello is reduced to the racist stereotype he seemed for a time to defy. He becomes animalistic, aggressive, and irrational. He "foams at mouth and by and by / Breaks out to savage madness." He kills Desdemona for a crime she did not commit and for no better proof than a missing handkerchief. As the writer Fintan O'Toole says in his book Shakespeare is Hard, But so is Life, Othello "is driven demented by a handkerchief. He is not tragic, merely pathetic."
Therefore, the demise of Othello and the tragic death of the innocent Desdemona seems to confirm the racist stereotype that we began with. The message that a contemporary audience might have taken from this play—and that perhaps Shakespeare intended—is that black men are essentially and inescapably animalistic, aggressive, and irrational. They may at times seem otherwise, but ultimately, so the play suggests, they can not escape their true nature. This message would have been met with approval from many in Shakespeare's time, which further lends credence to the idea that Shakespeare did indeed intend this to be the central message of the play.
An important moral of the story is the enormously destructive power of jealousy—the green eyed monster itself. Thanks to Iago's cunning insinuations, Othello gets it into his head that Desdemona has been cheating on him with Cassio. She hasn't, of course, but Iago is such a skilled manipulator that he's effortlessly able to play on the Moor's myriad insecurities to convince him of his wife's alleged infidelity.
Yet Iago himself is a victim of the green-eyed monster. He's insanely jealous of Othello for having achieved the kind of social prominence in Venice to which he believes himself entitled by his long-standing military service. By the same token, he cordially loathes Cassio for being promoted ahead of him despite Cassio's lack of experience as a soldier. There's more than a touch of class envy about Iago; he resents his lowly status in life, and in his vile machinations he is attempting to get back at aristocratic society for not giving him his due. Iago is so jealous of the Venetian elite that he's prepared to turn the natural order of society upside down in order to gain revenge. Jealousy doesn't just destroy individuals; it can destroy the very foundations of society too.
I'm a bit unsure as to exactly what "ultimate message" means. I think it is asking the standard "what is the moral of the story" question, so that is how I'll answer. Different readers might take slightly different lessons from this particular Shakespeare play, but I think one major message is the importance of not believing in and acting upon unconfirmed rumors. This entire play is propelled forward by the rumors and lies that Iago spreads around to various people about marital infidelities. Amazingly, many of the characters take Iago at his word and don't confront the person that supposedly wronged them. Sure, Othello does confront Desdemona about her infidelity, but it's fairly clear to readers that he's not really willing to hear her side of the story. He fully believes the rumors that he has been told.
I cry you mercy, then,
I took you for that cunning whore of Venice
That married with Othello.—You, mistress,
That have the office opposite to Saint Peter
And keep the gate of hell!
Because of his belief in these unsubstantiated rumors, Othello makes a snap judgment about his wife. He quickly decides to kill her, and she is dead before he learns the truth. He kills himself out of guilt and grief.
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