Who’s Who in Othello

Othello—a Moor in service to the state of Venice—he is in command of the Venetian military. He is a man of honor who has known only the life of a soldier and general.

Desdemona—Othello’s wife and Brabantio’s daughter. She secretly weds Othello at the beginning of the play.

Brabantio—Desdemona’s father

Cassio—Othello’s lieutenant (second in command)—suave, handsome

Bianca—Cassio’s girlfriend—Cassio sees her as a flirtation and entertainment

Iago—Othello’s ancient or third in command—perhaps the best bad guy in all of literature

Emelia—Iago’s wife. Faithful servant and friend to Desdemona

Roderigo—He has the leaping hots for Desdemona—Iago has promised him that he (Iago) will get him (Roderigo) into Desdemona’s arms. To do this, Roderigo has been giving Iago large sums of money supposedly to be used by Iago to buy Desdemona gifts in his (Roderigo’s) name.

The play opens in Venice in the late evening. Othello and Desdemona have just been secretly married. Iago and Roderigo know of this and attempt to disrupt things by creating a disturbance outside of Brabantio’s home. Their goal is to goad Brabantio into discovering that his daughter Desdemona is gone. In the meantime, the Venetian leaders are meeting because Cyprus is under imminent threat from their enemy, the Turks.