| Othello | a noble black Moor; married to Desdemona; greatest army general in Venice; intelligent, courageous, and honorable yet quick to make decisions |
| Brabantio | Desdemona’s father; racist; despises Othello; dies |
| Iago | Ensign, an Ancient; schemes against Othello because Othello did not promote him to lieutenant; he is evil and a liar who takes pleasure in bringing down Othello |
| Cassio | Othello’s lieutenant who is manipulated by Iago; his promotion causes Iago’s jealousy; his alleged affair with Desdemona causes Othello’s jealousy |
| Desdemona | wife of Othello; most innocent character of the play; killed by her husband |
| Montano | Othello’s predecessor as governor in Cypress; is stabbed by a drunken Cassio in a fight |
| Roderigo | wealthy Venetian; he is in love with Desdemona and is manipulated by Iago |
| Gratiano | Brabantio’s brother who, with Lodovico, sees an injured Cassio in the street |
| Emilia | wife of Iago; she discovers Iago’s plot against Othello and Desdemona |
| Bianca | Cassio’s mistress; jealous over the handkerchief he asks her to copy the pattern of |
| Duke of Venice | sends a letter to Othello in Cyprus telling him Cassio will be the new governor. |
| Lodovicio | kinsmen to Brabantio/Desdemona; does not approve of Othello’s public treatment of Desdemona (striking her); with Gratiano, finds Cassio injured in the street |
| Venice | Where the play begins; the home of the main characters in the play |
| Cyprus | where the setting shifts to in Act II; Othello becomes governor of this island |
| Turks | their fleet is destroyed in a storm; the enemy of the Venetians in the play |
| 1603 | Date when Othello was first written |
Othello Review: Characters/Settings
July 31, 2019