Othello Characters

Othello Characters guide

Duke of Venice: Introduced to us in Act I, Scene III, he sends Othello with his wife Desdemona to Cypress to thwart a suspected Turkish invasion there. The Duke hopes Othello's leadership of his Venetian forces will see the Venetian's triumphant. When Brabantio tries to have Othello punished for allegedly seducing his daughter Desdemona with witchcraft, the Duke displays his wisdom, learning the truth by allowing Brabantio, Othello and Desdemona to tell their sides of the story. He later wisely tells Brabantio to accept Othello and Desdemona's marriage, arguing Brabantio will gain a "son" in the process. Responsible for Cassio being made Governor of Cypress (replacing Othello), in Act IV, Scene I and for Othello being recalled from Cypress.

Brabantio: Desdemona's father and a senator in Venice, he is initially outraged in Act I, Scene I when Iago and Roderigo unfairly report that his fair daughter has been seduced by Othello who must have been using "magic" to persuade her to be intimate with him. In Act I, Scene III, Brabantio tries to petition the Duke to punish Othello, but this fails when it is learned that Desdemona fell in love with Othello by her own free will. Told by the Duke to accept Othello and Desdemona's marriage, Brabantio resists, never liking Othello despite his reputation as a soldier, which is how Othello is readily accepted and respected by the Duke and others...

Cassio: Othello's friend, Cassio was made Othello's lieutenant rather than Iago who expected the appointment. Disrespectfully described by Iago as lacking real "battlefield" experience, Cassio is instead a schooled soldier, not one who learned his craft on the front-line as Iago has. Deeply admiring of Othello's wife Desdemona, it is this admiration that Iago uses to suggest he is having an affair with Desdemona, leading to her death and indirectly that of Emilia and Othello as well.


Iago: Othello's ancient, a position below lieutenant. Perhaps Shakespeare's most evil figure, not for his treachery which is arguably surpassed by Macbeth (who kills his king in his sleep while staying at his castle as a trusting guest), but for the manner in which he effortlessly manipulates all those around him to do his bidding (kill Cassio, destroy Othello, discredit Desdemona's virtue) by taking advantage of their trust and using his victim's own motivations (Roderigo's desire for Desdemona, Cassio's desire to be reinstated) and weaknesses (Othello's pride, Cassio's impaired judgment whilst drunk), to achieve his ends.

Though Iago does kill when he stabs and murders Roderigo, he created most of his devastation through the use of others who unwittingly follow their own agenda which Iago subverts to achieve a web of events which succeeds in making Cassio first lose his position as Othello's lieutenant, then petition Desdemona to be reinstated which allows Iago to suggest Desdemona's adultery and later to motivate Roderigo to kill him (Cassio).

Iago is pragmatic. We see this in the manner in which he uses opportunity to aid his plan to hurt Cassio and Othello. When Iago realizes Cassio's admiration of Desdemona, he immediately formulates a plan to use this to make Othello suspect adultery.

Though Iago appears to have the goal of misery for Othello and Cassio, he does not appear to have a specific detailed plan, he continually refers to using insights he makes about Cassio, Othello, Roderigo and Desdemona to further his plan in his asides in the play.

Iago's pragmatism is also evident in his use of Roderigo. He uses this well-healed (wealthy) Venetian for money by promising to forward gifts on to Desdemona he instead uses for his own ends.

Roderigo: A wealthy Venetian gentleman, Roderigo pays Iago to keep him informed of Desdemona's activities since he hopes to one day marry her. Trusting of Iago, he nonetheless questions Iago repetitively on his loyalty to him in Act I, and later on what has happened to gifts given to him to pass on to Desdemona.


Desdemona: Daughter to Brabantio and wife to Othello, Desdemona is continuously distrusted by those who should love and trust her most. First in Act I, her father Brabantio refuses to believe she could love Othello without Othello using witchcraft.

Later Othello, her husband ignores her pleas of innocence to the accusation of infidelity by Othello. Loving and loyal right to the end, she refuses to tell Emilia that Othello killed her since she does not want her love to suffer even when he killed her...

Well meaning, she helps Cassio by trying to speak of his demotion to Othello but this earns her Othello's wrath since he sees it as proof that she is having an affair with Cassio because she is concerned for his welfare.

Naive to some extent, she finds it impossible to believe a woman could be unfaithful, Emilia contrasting with her belief that such people do exist since in the right circumstances she herself, would commit adultery.

Emilia: Wife to Iago and not particularly loved by Iago, Emilia could be argued to be a major seed in Iago's downfall. Though introduced in Act II, Scene I (Lines 96-108) in less than respectful tones by Iago, Emilia is trusted as a friend by Desdemona. Nonetheless she is loyal to Iago, giving Desdemona's handkerchief to Iago instead of back to Desdemona.

Bianca: Mistress to Cassio, Bianca plays a limited but significant role in this play. As Cassio's neglected girlfriend, she is given Desdemona's handkerchief to copy by Cassio, only later to return it angrily back to Cassio, which a hiding Othello takes as proof that Cassio has Desdemona's handkerchief proving that Desdemona was unfaithful to him.

Stone Cold Summary & Character Description

Stone Cold
By Robert Swindells

Plot Summary

Link becomes homeless after a fight with his mother's boyfriend Vince. Thinking he is no longer safe in Bradford, he goes to London. He soon finds a room, but a fortnight's rent costs him two-thirds of his money. He looks for a job but no one will take him on as he has no experience and has only five GCSEs. Soon the landlord kicks him out and he is officially homeless. Now Link cannot get a job since he has no address and he cannot get an address since he has no job. Link is very afraid alone on the streets, but after a while he meets Ginger who is also homeless. Ginger teaches Link how to survive on the street and how to beg.

Meanwhile Shelter (real name unknown) is planning a mass murder of all the homeless people in London. Shelter served in the Army for twenty-nine years. He was discharged on medical grounds, but he claims to be as fit as a butcher's dog. Bewildered by his discharge, and without occupation, he takes his frustrations out on the homeless who make the streets look "manky". Shelter plans very meticulously. He starts small and tries not to create a pattern in his killings so he cannot be tracked down. By buying a flat and a cat he manages to lure many of the homeless to their deaths. By the time he encounters Link, Shelter has killed seven people. Seven homeless people.

Link and Ginger ask him for any spare change, but he replies "Change! I'd change you, me lad, if I had you in khaki for 6 weeks!". As they walk away they laugh at a remembered joke, yet Shelter thinks they are laughing at him. They become his targets – named Laughing Boy One (Ginger) and Laughing Boy Two (Link).

As Ginger is going to meet some friends, Shelter persuades him to come to his flat, saying that Link is there, lying down after an accident. Once there, Shelter kills Ginger. After some time, Link accepts that Ginger has vanished and that he is on his own again. Shortly after this, Link meets Gail, the best-looking dosser he has ever seen. Gail follows Link, asking him questions.

Link notices that something is "off" about Gail, but he does not know what. While Gail leaves him to make a phone call, Shelter invites Link into his flat and tries to kill him. Gail manages to save Link's life by calling the police, who catch Shelter in the act of attempted murder. At the end Link hears that Gail is a reporter who is undercover as a homeless person. Gail gives Link some money, but he considers throwing it away. Moreover Link thinks that it is unfair that Shelter gets a roof over his head and a hot meal and Link gets nothing – living in the cold, hungry. By contrast, he is on his own again. Gail's real name is Louise Bain.

Characters:

Link
Link/Dave is the main character of the novel. He was born on March 20 1977. Link is not his real name, but it is what he says when anyone asks. He got his name from a sign which read "Thameslink" upon arriving in London from Bradford. Link refers to his origin as "up north" to avoid revealing his birth place.

After a few bad days of being homeless he meets Ginger, a streetwise person who has been homeless for quite some time. But Link does not trust him entirely, because every time, when Ginger leaves him, Link feels scared and guesses that Ginger goes to his real mates.

Shelter
Shelter is a former sergeant-major who is on a mission to kill all of the homeless people of London, because they he considers they 'make the place look untidy.' He means too that there is nobody who does anything against them. On the contrary, politicians, social workers and even the church support them, undermining the country by encouraging "winos and crims".

Furthermore, Shelter does not understand why he could not stay in the army and serve the country, when all this garbage are allowed to stay on the streets. Shelter plans meticulously and practises his facial expressions so he can act empathetic and lure the down-and-outs into his house. He solves his biggest problem - the disposing of the bodies - by keeping them under the floorboards. Later in the book he refers to the victims as 'the Camden Horizontals'; this is the army he wants to create with "volunteers" only.
Shelter is the main antagonist of the book.

Ginger
Ginger is a streetwise homeless person who becomes Link's friend after meeting in a deep doorway. He has been homeless for quite some time, and he tells Link that smoking helps dull the pain of hunger. He and Link become best friends.

Gail
Gail is a reporter investigating homelessness. She meets Link later in the story after Ginger goes missing. She reveals her secret of being a reporter gradually by making 'urgent' and frequent phone calls, having a lot of money and asking a lot of questions. After Shelter is arrested by the police, she tells Link of her true identity. Gail disappoints and shortchanges him.

Others
Other people in this book are the homeless victims of Shelter, who lures them to his dry warm flat, where he kills them.

Othello Plot Summary

Othello

By William Shaskespeare

Summary

Othello is a highly esteemed general in the service of Venice. Iago is Othello's ambitious friend and ensign. However, he promotes the Florentine Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant and Iago is deadly jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign against the hero.

Othello elopes with Desdemona, daughter of Senator Brabantio and Iago enlists Roderigo, a former suitor of Desdemona, to slander him to Brabantio. Desdemona's father then complains to the Duke of Venice, claiming the vile, black man, used spells and charms to win Desdemona's favour.

Turkey threatens Cyprus and the Senate charges Othello to defend Cyprus to become the new governor. The Duke of Venice listens to Brabantio's charges against him but after hearing Othello speak of his love for Desdemona the duke finds in his favour.

Othello is totally unaware that the treacherous Iago was behind all the charges and orders Iago to accompany his wife to Cypress. Roderigo egged on by Iago, also accompanies them convinced that Desdemona will tire of her lover. Not content with slandering him, Iago also persuades Roderigo that Cassio must be discredited to prevent any possibility of Desdemonia turning to Cassio.

In Cyprus, Iago gets Cassio drunk, then has Roderigo start an argument with him. Montano, the outgoing governor of Cyprus, intervenes, and Cassio wounds him. Othello arrives on the scene and Iago convinces him that Cassio is to blame and he disowns Cassio. Iago then persuades Cassio that he can get back into Othello's favour if he gets Desdemona to intercede on his behalf.

Desdemona pleads on behalf of Cassio making her lover suspicious and extremely jealous. A handkerchief belonging to Desdemona comes into Iago's possession via his wife Emilia, which he plants in Cassio's room. Iago tells him and when Desdemona is unable to produce the handkerchief her lover is convinced that she and the younger and more handsome Cassio are having an affair. He is consumed with anger and jealousy and confides in Iago that he plans to poison Desdemona - Iago suggests that he strangle her instead in the bed that she 'contaminated' with Cassio.Letters are the received from the Duke of Venice recalling Othelo and naming Cassio the new governor. Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio for him, but he fails only managing to wound him. Cassio strikes back and wounds Roderigo. Iago rushes past unseen and wounds Cassio in the leg. Othelo arrives at this point and watches from a distance and believes that Iago, his good and honest friend, has killed Cassio. Iago finally kills Rodrigo.

Othello returns to the castle to kill his wife. Othelo, who still loves his wife, kisses her awake and after more accusations and denials from Desdemona he finally smothers her to deathEmilia tells Othelo the truth about the scheming Iago and the wounded Cassio corroborates her story. Othello wounds Iago, then kills himself. Iago kills Emilia. After Iago is led away, in chains, Cassio becomes governor of Cyprus