Emilia (Othello) the ensign's wife is in the final sentence of the tale when, long after Desdemona's murder and once her husband is dead, she reveals what she knows of the past. Though Emilia is mentioned in 1.3 when Othello asks Iago to allow his wife to accompany Desdemona to Cyprus as her attendant, the character first appears on stage in 2.1 when she disembarks in Cyprus with Iago, Desdemona, and Roderigo. She banters briefly with her companions before leaving the stage, presumabably in Desdemona's entourage. Though not specifically mentioned, she probably appears as Desdemona's attendant at the beginning of 2.3, then
Othello is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but some researchers believe the poet also took inspiration from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England "circa" 1600. Another possible source was the "Description of Africa" by Leo Africanus. The book was an enormous success in Europe, and was translated into many other languages, remaining a definitive reference work for decades (and to some degree, centuries) afterwards. An English translation by John Pory appeared in 1600 under the title "A Geographical Historie of Africa, Written in Arabicke and Italian by Iohn Leo a More..." in which form Shakespeare may have seen