Othello (character) Othello (character) Othello () is a character in Shakespeare's "Othello" (c. 1601–1604). The character's origin is traced to the tale "Un Capitano Moro" in "Gli Hecatommithi" by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor. Othello is a brave and competent soldier of advanced years and Moorish background in the service of the Venetian Republic. He elopes with Desdemona, the beautiful daughter of a respected Venetian senator. After being deployed to Cyprus, Othello is manipulated by his Ancient (pronounced Ensign) Iago into believing Desdemona is an adulteress. Othello murders her and, upon discovering Iago's deceit,
Desdemona been numerous screen modernisations and adaptions of the play. During 1999 Edinburgh Film Festival, Adil Hussain, cast as Othello, fell in love with Kristen Jain, who was playing Desdemona. He ended up tightly hugging her, much to her & audience shock, instead of "killing" her as per the script and thus forcing the curtains to be brought down immediately. They eventually got married, 8 years later, in 2007. In "O" (2001), Julia Stiles played a character based on Desdemona in a version of "Othello" set in a contemporary high school. A 2001 British made-for-television film featuring Keeley Hawes as Desdemona