| Othello | a Moorish general in the Venetian army; married to Desdemona |
| Desdemona | a Venetian lady; Brabantio’s daughter; married to Othello |
| Brabantio | a Venetian senator; Desdemona’s father |
| Iago | Othello’s standard-bearer; manipulative towards everybody and destructive to their relationships |
| Emilia | Iago’s wife; Desdemona’s attendant; |
| Cassio | Othello’s lieutenant |
| Roderigo | a Venetian gentleman |
| Lodovico | Venetian gentlemen, kinsmen to Brabantio |
| Gratiano | Venetian gentlemen, kinsmen to Brabantio |
| Montano | an official in Cyprus |
| Bianca | a woman in Cyprus in love with Cassio |
| Act I | – Iago and Roderigo tell Brabantio that Desdemona ran off with Othello- Brabantio sends off a search party for Othello- Othello is accused by Brabantio of using magic to get Desdemona to marry him- Othello is sent off to Cyprus- Desdemona is left with Iago while Othello is gone- Iago persuades Roderigo to sell his lands and pursue Desdemona to Cyprus |
| Act II | – Iago persuades Roderigo that Desdemona is in love with Cassio and that he should help get Cassio dismissed from the lieutenancy- Iago gets Cassio drunk- Cassio gets into a fight with Roderigo, then Montano (wounds)- Othello fires Cassio- Iago tells Othello that Desdemona supports Cassio because Cassio is her lover |
| Act III | – Iago is trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio- Desdemona drops the handkerchief- Emilia picks the handkerchief and gives it to Iago, since he has been requesting it- Iago lies and says that Cassio has been talking in his sleep about making love to Desdemona and how he has wiped his beard with the handkerchief- Othello vows to kill Desdemona- Iago agrees to killing Cassio- Othello makes Iago his lieutenant- Othello accuses Desdemona of cheating on him with the “proof” that her handkerchief is missing and is with Cassio- Bianca visits Cassio- Cassio finds the handkerchief and orders Bianca to make a copy of the embroidery |
| Act IV | – Othello hits Desdemona- Othello calls Desdemona a w h o r e- Roderigo asks for his money back from Iago, but Iago brings up that Desdemona will leave with Othello if he doesn’t bribe her with his money- Iago suggests that Roderigo can avoid this by killing Cassio- Emilia rants about how women have the right to cheat on their husbands since they have the same desires as each other |
| Act V | – Roderigo attacks Cassio- Cassio stabs Roderigo- Iago blames Bianca and calls her a w h o r e- Othello murders Desdemona and admits it to Emilia when she arrives- Iago admits to accusing Desdemona- Emilia tells the truth about the handkerchief- Othello tries to kill Iago- Iago kills Emilia- Othello kills himself- Iago is taken away to be tortured and killed- Lodovico makes Cassio governor |
| Who died and how? | – Roderigo; stabbed by Cassio- Desdemona; strangled by Othello- Brabantio; died of grief- Emilia; stabbed by Iago- Othello; suicide |
“Othello” by William Shakespeare
July 5, 2019