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Othello characterisation
Main Characters
Othello
Even though Othello is the main character, not all the action revolves around him
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Othello’s weaknesses according to Othello are his age (because he’s old) and the colour
of his skin (black)
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To a certain extent he was accepted by society because he was made army general
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This is shown by the fact that Othello and Desdemona got
married in secret
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“Nature so could ere” - For Brabantio it was impossible that Desdemona fell in love with
Othello, because according to him Desdemona should be afraid to look at him due to his
looks
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Othello is also described as a beast
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We see the total opposite of a
beast - we see a calm, confidenta and rational man
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‘rude am I in speech’ - Othello says this because he was a moor, and used to war
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He
actually speaks very well, just like a venetian
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Iago is the symbol of evil, and as the play moves along, he starts getting closer
to Iago, and as a result his beastly side starts coming out
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Some critics believe that it’s not all Iago’s fault
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Jealousy was his
weakness
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Jealousy is Othello’s jealous flaw
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Because people in the army had a set of rules which
everyone abided by, hence Iago was one of the very few exceptions
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He starts off
as goos, and ends up succumbing the wrongdoing, evil
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The fact that
Iago persuaded him so quickly, when telling him that Desdemona is cheating on Othello
shows us how weak in character he really is
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He says he’d rather be an animal than have a cheating
wife
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This echoes his emotional state - he feels very
confused emotionally, echoed by his confused speech
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He is deceitful but he acts
his part with every other character very well, such that everyone believes him to be honest
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He won’t let anyone stand in his way, even if it’s a good person such as Desdemona
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He needs Roderigo’s money
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For the promotion that he didn’t give to
him 2
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But there’s a third implied reason racism
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This is implied
by the way he talks about Othello and all the racial slurs
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We don’t know if there was
another, truer reason why he did all of that than the reasons above
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Critics believe all this was just Iago’s revenge because he believed he was worth to be
much more than just a flag-bearer
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Desdemona
She’s very loyal
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She’s loyal to the word she gave him
when she married him till the very end
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A very unconventional, confident woman
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She knew what she wanted
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(Or else, it was
naïveté)
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Desdemona’s love is compared to Jesus’s Christ’s otherworldly love
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Associated with purity, with the colour white
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The action revolves around her almost all the time, so even though she doesn’t have many
lines, and is often absent, she is still considered as a main character
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She didn’t really know her husband
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She didn’t, for example, know about his jealousy
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She is the dramatic foil of Iago
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In Cyprus Desdemona finds herself in an alien country, threatened by all sides by the
prospect of disorder (whereas Venice symbolises order)
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Even with her last breath,
she decides to cover up for him
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Female Minor characters
Emilia
Like Desdemona, she commits a small act of deception
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She, like the other female characters, is unconventional
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She stands up to both Iago
and Othello
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We know this because she repeats, in disbelief,
‘My husband?’ when Othello tells her he killed Desdemona because Iago told him she was
unfaithful
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The bond between her and Desdemona is almost like that of mother and daughter
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When she uncovers her husband’s crime, Iago stabs her
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Bianca
She is also unconventional, she is a prostitute that is in love with a client
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She also does stand up to Cassio at one point - when she comes to
return the handkerchief and that she will have nothing to do with it
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She is a whore whilst Desdemona can’t even say the word
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When
Cassio becomes governor, she is discarded by him
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She is more honest than Emilia in reality

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