Characterization of Othello by Shakespeare

Othello  He is the main character and Desdemona's husband. His excellent career gives
him high status in Venice, but his differences from the people he lives and works with
separate him from them. He is a military man who has a reputation for bravery in conflict
and sound judgment in questions of national security. Othello falls in love with and marries
Desdemona, but Iago deceives Othello into thinking that his wife has been unfaithful with
his lieutenant, Cassio, during the fight against the Turks. Iago plays on Othello's social and
psychological insecurities until Othello accepts his fabrications and tenuous circumstantial
proof. In her bed, he suffocates Desdemona out of jealous rage before realizing too late that
he was mistaken and had slain the lady who had steadfastly loved him. In desperation, he
commits suicide.
Othello’s quotes
“She loved me for the dangers I had passed,
And I loved her that she did pity them.”
(Act 1, scene 3)

(about Desdemona)
“Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore
Should I repent me.”
(Act 5, scene 2)

“Haply, for I am black

And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have, or for I am declined
Into the vale of years.”
(Act 3, scene 3)

“I kissed thee ere I killed thee: no way but this,

Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.”
(Act 5, scene 2)

Desdemona a beautiful Venetian lady and Brabantio's daughter. She manages her life
wisely and displays bravery, love, and loyalty by going into danger with her husband. She
refuses to marry any of the rich Venetian men. Instead, she becomes Othello’s wife. Even
though he is a nobleman, he is a Moor, an outsider. She rebels against her father and does
not marry a white man of choice. To add more, she rebels against the Venetian society,
where interracial marriages were frowned upon. She accompanies Othello to Cyprus on the
fight against the Turks but finds him becoming aloof and making strange charges against
her. She has a strong conviction that he will recognize her loyalty to him, but when she
learns that he is planning to murder her, all she can feel is despair and anguish. She makes a
final love confession to him.
 Desdemona’s quotes
“My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
To you I am bound for life and education:
My life and education both do learn me
How to respect you. You are the lord of duty,
I am hitherto your daughter.”
(Act 1 Scene 3)
“That I did love the Moor to live with him
My downright violence and storm of fortunes
May trumpet to the world.
[…]
So that, dear lords, if I be left behind,
A moth of peace, and he go to the war,
The rites for which I love him are bereft me
And I a heavy interim shall support
By his dear absence. Let me go with him.”
(Act 1, scene 3)
“Beshrew me much, Emilia,
I was, unhandsome warrior as I am,
Arraigning his unkindness with my soul,
But now I find I had suborned the witness,
And he’s indicted falsely.”
(Act 3 scene 4)
“Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight.”
(Act 5 scene 2)
Iago  Older (captain) Othello served in the Venetian military. He had hoped for
promotion, but Othello gave Cassio the job instead, and Iago now seeks retribution against
both of them. He uses Roderigo as a money source and an unintentional participant in his
scheme to assassinate Othello. When Iago is ultimately confronted and accused of being
evil, he refuses to speak, to apologize, or to give an explanation, leaving his punishment still
shrouded in mystery.
Iago’s quotes
“I hate the Moor,
And it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets
‘Has done my office. I know not if ‘t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety.”
(Act 1, scene 3)

“I’ll […] make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me
For making him egregiously an ass.
And practising upon his peace and quiet
Even to madness.”
(Act 2, scene 2)

(to Othello)
“Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger,
But, oh, what damnèd minutes tells he o’er
Who dotes, yet doubts— suspects, yet soundly loves!
(Act 3, scene 3)

Brabantio  A Venetian Senator, Desdemona’s father. He is angry at his daughter’s choice

of husband but can do nothing once the marriage has taken place, and the Venetian Senate
has accepted it. He warns Othello that Desdemona is a clever deceiver.

Barbantio’s quotes
“O heaven! How got she out? O treason of the blood!
Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds
By what you see them act. Is there not charms
By which the property of youth and maidhood
May be abused?”
(Act 1, scene 2)

(to Othello about Desdemona)

“Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see.
She has deceived her father, and may thee.”
(Act 1, scene 3)

Roderigo  A Venetian nobleman in love with Desdemona. He has more money than sense
and pays Iago to court Desdemona on his behalf. Iago, playing on Roderigo’s hopes and
gullibility, continues to help himself to Roderigo’s money, and Roderigo never gets his
heart’s desire. Iago involves Roderigo in an attack on Cassio, for which Roderigo pays with
his life, as Iago kills him to ensure his silence.

Roderigo’s quotes
“I do follow here in the chase, not like a hound that
hunts, but one that fills up the cry. My money is
almost spent; I have been to-night exceedingly well
cudgelled; and I think the issue will be, I shall
have so much experience for my pains, and so, with
no money at all and a little more wit, return again to Venice.”
(Act 2, scene 3)

“Every day thou daffest me with some device, Iago;

and rather, as it seems to me now, keepest from me
all conveniency than suppliest me with the least
advantage of hope. I will indeed no longer endure
it, nor am I yet persuaded to put up in peace what
already I have foolishly suffered.”
(Act 2, scene 3)

Cassio Othello’s lieutenant in the Venetian defense forces. Cassio accompanied Othello
as his friend when he was courting Desdemona. He is popular, he speaks well, and he is
lively and trusting. Cassio in Othello is young, handsome, and charismatic. However, he has
his flaws. He is lightweight and a ladies’ man. The lieutenant shows respect for Desdemona,
yet he has some bias against women. Cassio believes that there are only two types of
women: whores and virgins. That explains why Othello's wife is treated with friendliness. He
still had a penchant for making fun of Bianca, the courtesan girl who was madly in love with
him. Iago sees right through it and decides to use it for his benefit.

When Cassio gets drunk and loses his lieutenant position, he turns to Iago for help and
support. The ensign advises him to talk to Desdemona to persuade her husband to give
Cassio his job back. The young man worries about his reputation, and he blindly trusts Iago.
His flirtatious charisma and friendly manner of communicating with women caused him
some trouble. It becomes easier for Iago to persuade Othello that Cassio slept with
Desdemona.

Cassio’s quotes

“Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost

my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of
myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation,
Iago, my reputation!”
(Act 2, scene 3)

“’Tis my breeding
That gives me this bold show of courtesy.”

(Act 2 Scene 1)

“Go to, woman,

Throw your vile guesses in the devil’s teeth
From whence you have them.”

(Act 3 Scene 4)

(about Bianca)
“This is the monkey’s own giving out: she is
persuaded I will marry her, out of her own love and
flattery, not out of my promise.”
(Act 4, scene 1)
Emilia Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant. She highly respects Othello’s wife and has
complicated relationships with her husband. She is a smart, sweet, and loyal woman.
Though she betrays Desdemona at first, she redeems herself.
Emilia and Iago’s relationship is not something to describe as “perfect.” The ensign
would constantly embarrass and disrespect his wife. He would make terrible remarks about
her lacking intelligence. She stole the handkerchief in hopes that he would appreciate her at
least a little bit. And yet, he didn’t.
Desdemona died as a result of one poor decision on Emilia's part. She reacted angrily
to Othello as soon as she realized he had killed his wife. She boldly pledges to bring the man
to justice despite the fact that he has just demonstrated his capacity for murder. Then, she
realizes that Iago was crucial to Desdemona's demise. She is adamant about exposing her
husband's nefarious schemes to everyone. She ignores his threats to keep quiet despite his
warnings. Iago desperately stabs his wife. Although she couldn't reverse Desdemona's
death, she might expose the truth and pass away in the shadow of her mistress.

Emilia’s quotes
“But I do think it is their husbands’ faults
If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties,
And pour our treasures into foreign laps,
Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,
[…]
Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see and smell
And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
As husbands have.”
(Act 4, scene 3)
“I am glad I have found this napkin.
This was her first remembrance from the Moor.
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Wooed me to steal it. But she so loves the token
(For he conjured her she should ever keep it)
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll have the work ta’en out
And give ‘t Iago. What he will do with it
Heaven knows, not I.
I nothing but to please his fantasy.”
(Act 3 Scene 3)

“They are not ever jealous for the cause

But jealous for they’re jealous.”
(Act 3 Scene 4)

(to Iago)
“I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak:
My mistress here lies murder’d in her bed.”
(Act 5, scene 2)
(to Othello about Iago)
“Disprove this villain, if thou be’st a man:
He says thou told’st him that his wife was false:
I know thou didst not, thou’rt not such a villain:
Speak, for my heart is full.”
(Act 5, scene 2)

The Duke of Venice The leader of the governing body of the city state of Venice. The
Duke appoints Othello to lead the forces defending Venice against the Turkish attack on
Cyprus; he also urges Brabantio to accept his daughter’s marriage.

The Duke’s quotes

“Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you

Against the general enemy Ottoman.”
(Act 1 Scene 3)

“I think this tale would win my daughter, too.

Good Brabantio,
Take up this mangled matter at the best.
Men do their broken weapons rather use
Than their bare hands.”
(Act 1 Scene 3)