Othello Three Apples", one of the stories narrated in the "One Thousand and One Nights" ("Arabian Nights"). Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale, with his few other characters identified only as the "Moor", the "Squadron Leader", the "Ensign", and the "Ensign's Wife" (corresponding to the play's Othello, Cassio, Iago and Emilia). Cinthio drew a moral (which he placed in the mouth of Desdemona) that it is unwise for European women to marry the temperamental men of other nations. Cinthio's tale has been described as a "partly racist warning" about the dangers of miscegenation. While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's
Othello in popular culture Othello in popular culture The figure of Othello from the tragic play by William Shakespeare has appeared in many examples of popular culture since being authored by Shakespeare in the early 16th century. The literary character of Othello and the plot of the play by Shakespeare has been a recurrent theme in painting for several centuries. Selected examples include 'The Plot' depicting Othello & Iago which was painted in Oil by Solomon Alexander Hart in 1855. He also painted a watercolour version held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. "Othello" was a series of 60 paintings executed in