Michael Cassio

All you want to know about Michael Cassio

Michael Cassio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello.

Contents

Source

The plot for Othello was developed from the story "Un Capitano Moro" ("The Moorish Captain") from Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi (A Hundred Tales, 1565). No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime. Verbal echoes in Othello are closer to the Italian original rather than to Gabriel Chappuy's French translation of 1584. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508.[1]

Role in Othello

In the play, he is a Florentine gentleman soldier, a man of high manners and theoretical learning, and one of Othello's chief lieutenants. The play's villain, the wicked Iago, uses him in his scheme to destroy his general; Iago insinuates throughout that Cassio is having an affair with Othello's wife, Desdemona. Iago eventually uses Cassio to stoke Othello's jealousy into homicidal rage.

In Act II of the play, Cassio's life is nearly ruined by Iago's cunning and his own foolishness. Iago tricks Cassio into getting drunk and then incites his friend Roderigo to start a brawl with Cassio. The Cypriot governor Montano tries to end the fight by stepping between the two men, and Cassio, now incontinent from drunkenness, strikes out at him. As a result, Cassio loses his lieutenancy.

Later in the play, Iago convinces Roderigo to assassinate Cassio, and together they arrange an ambush. Roderigo attacks Cassio by surprise but his coat of armor saves him from injury. Cassio retaliates and mortally wounds Roderigo but is himself stabbed from behind by Iago. His leg is wounded, but he survives. Once Othello realises Iago's deception, he asks Cassio for his forgiveness, which is immediately granted.

Analysis

Performance history

In productions of Othello, Cassio is normally acted by a good-looking man, as the audience comes to adore him for his noble intentions. He is a good man whose life is nearly destroyed by evil, and it is his good nature which the audience loves. He has also been portrayed by Hayden Adams, who also acted in Kissing Jessica Stein.

References

  1. ^ Shakespeare, William. Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Bantam Books, 1988.
v • d • e
A series on Shakespeare's Othello
Characters Othello • Desdemona • Iago • Emilia • Cassio • Bianca • Roderigo • Brabantio • Other Characters
Source Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's

"Un Capitano Moro" ("The Moorish Captain")

from Gli Hecatommithi (A Hundred Tales)
Opera and Ballet Adaptations Otello (1816, opera) • Otello (1887, opera)

The Moor's Pavane (1949, ballet) • Bandanna (1999, opera)
Screen Adaptations Othello (1952) • Othello (1965) • Othello (1995)
All Night Long (1961) • Otello (1986) • Othello (2001)

Eloise (2002) • Omkara (2006) • O (2007) • Jarum Halus (2008)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cassio"

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