Othello – Cast of Characters
Othello – “The Moor of Venice” [Laurence Fishburne]
Othello is a great warrior, a mercenary who is currently working for the city-state of Venice (the Italian city with all the canals). We can tell he’s not from Venice, because he’s a Moor (a black man, originally from Africa, often Muslim. The Moors were especially influential in Spain from 711 to 1492).
Desdemona (Othello’s wife) [Irene Jacob]
Desdemona is a nice Venetian girl (the actress is Swiss, as is her accent – but don’t worry about that. There’s a history of color-blind casting in Shakespeare plays: the race of the actor doesn’t matter (except when it comes to Othello). Her father, Brabantio, had invited the great war hero into his palazzo, where Othello regaled his audiences with tales of his derring-do and many hardships. As Othello tells it: “She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd,/ And I loved her that she did pity them”.
Brabantio (Desdemona’s father) [Pierre Vaneck]
When he finds out that his daughter has eloped with Othello, he is outraged. (Having celebrity black man in your home as a guest is very different from having a black man marry your daughter, apparently.) At the end of Act I he pronounces an effective curse upon the couple: “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/ She has deceived her father, and may thee.”
Michael Cassio (Othello’s first lieutenant) [Nathaniel Parker]
Cassio was recently promoted to this position, much to the chagrin of Iago. He’s an excellent and loyal soldier, but he has one weakness, later exploited by Iago: he can’t handle his liquor.
Iago (another of Othello’s lieutenants) [Kenneth Branagh]
“I hate the moor,” Iago tells us frankly. It seems that Iago was expecting the promotion that went to Cassio. Or possibly he, too, is a racist. He mentions the rumor that Othello slept with Emilia, Iago’s wife (but the screenplay tends to downplay that as a motive). And there’s one other possible complicating factor that the director of the film hints at.
Whatever the reason, Iago has decided to ruin the moor, and is willing to take down others to do it. Shakespeare has made Iago an unrepentant villain, who feels fully justified in his evil machinations. And, he’s really good at being bad.
Roderigo [Michael Maloney]
The film employs some imagery taken from the game of chess. Roderigo, who loves Desdemona to distraction, is a pawn used by Iago to achieve his insidious ends.
Emilia [Anna Patrick]
Iago’swife, and Desdemona’s lady-in-waiting. Her proximity to both Iago and Desdemona results in a key ingredient in Iago’s plot – an embroidered handkerchief.
Bianca [Indre Ova]
A local Cypriot girl (most of the action take place on the island of Cyprus) with whom Michael Cassio has a fling.