Othello

Characters

Character Map

Who is who, and who belongs to whom. Click a name to open the character page.

Othello Othello is the Moorish general in the service of Venice, married to Desdemona, daughter of the senator Brabantio. A soldier since the age of seven, he was once enslaved and ransomed, and the republic calls on him in the middle of the night because it needs... Iago Othello's ensign, passed over for the lieutenancy in favor of Cassio, and the character who acts most in the play: almost everything the others do is a reaction to what he sets in motion. He is the villain who does all the damage without any supernatural... Desdemona Daughter of Brabantio, Venetian senator, and wife of Othello by her own choice, against her father and against the city. She is the character on whom critics most disagree, and the one the play kills without her grasping the accusation in time to defend... Cassio Michael Cassio, a Florentine, lieutenant of Othello and second in command. He is the declared motive of Iago's resentment, the involuntary instrument of the slander against Desdemona, and the only one of the plan's targets who survives, in command of Cyprus. Emilia Emilia is Iago's wife and Desdemona's lady's maid, whom she calls "madam" and "mistress." She accompanies the lady from Venice to Cyprus, brings her closer to Cassio when he asks for help, and in scene 3 of Act III finds the handkerchief Desdemona dropped and... Roderigo Roderigo is a wealthy and credulous Venetian, rejected as a suitor for Desdemona by Brabantio, who had already forbidden him to hang around the house. Iago lives off his purse, promises him Desdemona's hand and uses him as a pawn: first to wake the senator,... Brabantio Brabantio is a Venetian senator, father of Desdemona. He had already forbidden Roderigo to hang around the house, and is woken at night by Iago with the news that his daughter has run off with the Moor. He accuses Othello of witchcraft, loses in the Senate...

Other characters

Duke of Venice: head of Venice, meeting at night with the senators over the Turkish fleet. He hears Brabantio's accusation against Othello, says that to claim is not to prove, listens to the story of the courtship and sends Othello to Cyprus that very night. Act I, scene 3
Montano: governor of Cyprus before Othello's arrival. He looks at the storm and concludes that the Turkish fleet has been wrecked, is wounded by Cassio, drunk, in the brawl of the guard and, in Desdemona's bedchamber, disarms Othello and goes off after Iago. Act II, scene 1
Clown: comic figure who carries messages in Cyprus. In Act III he sends off Cassio's musicians with jokes, saying he speaks for the general, and then, sent by Desdemona to find Cassio, toys with the words "lying" and "lodged" so as not to say where he is. Act III, scene 1
Bianca: a woman of Cyprus who loves Cassio and demands from him the seven days of his absence. She receives Desdemona's handkerchief to copy the embroidery and throws it back in jealousy; after the attack in the street, Iago accuses her before Lodovico and Gratiano. Act III, scene 4
Lodovico: Venetian, cousin of Desdemona, envoy of the Duke to Cyprus with the letter that calls Othello back. He sees Othello strike her and, at the end, reads the letters found on Roderigo, takes the command from Othello and hands it to Cassio. Act IV, scene 1
Gratiano: Venetian, uncle of Desdemona, who arrives in Cyprus with Lodovico. He witnesses the attack on Cassio in the dark street and, in the bedchamber, before the body of his niece, says that her father died of grief over the marriage. Act V, scene 1