Character Analysis

1. Character Name(s): Michael Cassio 2. Character Traits: Loyalty Cassio is a very loyal man, who seems to serve his king well. Cassio, being Othellos chief lieutenant, shows affection for Othello and looks up to him as a very wise and respectful man. His care and concern for his king is shown when he ends up temporarily losing Othello in the treacherous seas. Thanks, you the valiant of this warlike isle, That so approve the oor! O, let the heavens "ive him defence against the elements, #or $ have lost us him on a dangerous sea.% &'.(.)*+),.y observing his responses of concern for Othello, it is fair to say that he is a very loyal man, and the type of person that would never break a promise or betray a friend. $n the passage above, he wishes the heavens to give him defense against the elements. This is a clear an e/ample of Cassios loyalty, because he wishes for his king to be safe and sound against the danger of the seas. Cassio remains loyal throughout the rest of the play. Gentleness 0ot only is Cassio a loyal man, but he is also a gentleman. 1part from his very polite manners and loyalty towards his king, Cassio also knows how to be gentle with people and treat them well. 2elcome, mistress. 3et it not gall your patience, good $ago, That $ e/tend my manners4 5tis my breeding That gives me this bold show of courtesy. Kissing her (2.1.96-99) Cassio greets 6milia with a kiss, symboli7ing his politeness and gentle 8ualities. He is a very calm and responsible character. 9ue to his natural 8ualities of a gentleman, Cassio is also used

in $agos plans to trick Othello that 9esdemona is cheating with Cassio. $ago discovers that since Cassio is such a positively remarked and attractive male character, it would make sense to above anyone else, that ladies would cheat with him, in this case 9esdemona. 1bove, Cassio also mentions that he must e/tend% his manners. This shows his emphasis on being polite and kind. $n the book, Cassio shows no signs of anger or aggressiveness towards anyone as well. 1ll his responses to even the worst things that occurred to him, for e/ample when $ago stabbed him, dont deal with foul language and over e/aggeration. Cassio remains a gentleman from beginning to end of the play. Properness :robably as e/pected, Cassio also e/ists as a very proper man as well. $t is evident that Cassio is a well educated man with the best of manners. He greets people in a friendly way and cares for them as much as possible. $t is also very interesting that Cassio prefers more conventional ways of spending his leisure time rather than drinking. 0ot to+night, good $ago; $ have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking; $ could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment.% &'.*.*(+*)-

Cassio also seems to en<oy music and the sight of beautiful women. This implies that he is an artistic man as well, which adds to his image as a very proper and elegant man. any modern day performances depict Cassio as a young and 8uite handsome man. His image as the perfect man,% can be derived from his e/8uisite 8ualities. His favorable characteristics make him a very easy character to like. $n conclusion, the way Cassio looks, behaves, and almost everything else about him make him one of the most proper e/amples of a true man.

Vulnerability =urprisingly, Cassio is also a very vulnerable character. 9ue to his unwillingness to become disrespectful, Cassio can be mostly recogni7ed for the time he loses his captaincy after being tricked into drinking by $ago. This proves Cassios vulnerability, for his lack of decisiveness leads him to drink and eventually get into a brawl with >oderigo. 6ventually out of being drunk, Cassio stabs ontano, the governor, when he tries to take the fight into a sudden

halt. $t is no mystery why Cassio feels such massive guilt after being revealed as the criminal4 especially to the one man he praises so much; Othello. $f we were to look at Cassios vulnerability in the long run, the one massive sign of it would be his involvement in $agos plans. Cassio is tricked by $ago, framed by $ago, and even wounded by $ago. =ince $ago possesses a very brilliant and cunning mind, he takes Cassios young age and ine/perience to his advantage. These are also some of the factors that contribute to his vulnerability. The scene below is the brawl between >oderigo and Cassio after the latter becomes drunk. MONTANO Come, come, you5re drunk. CASSIO 9runk! They fight (2.3.152-153)

. Character Moti!ations an" #b$ecti!es: Cassio does not play a ma<or part in the play of Othello. $nstead, he often appears in the play as the one who is being used and not the character who is making ma<or decisions. 0onetheless, throughout the play Cassio does hold inside minor motivations and rather small ob<ectives compared to the likes of Othello and $ago. His motivations?ob<ectives fluctuate as his role in the play shifts from prosperous loyal follower4 to practical bate for a trap. (. .efore taking part in $agos plans on the island of Cyprus, Cassio plays the simple role of Othellos chief lieutenant. His duty in this position remains his main priority and ob<ective, to serve Othello and protect him. His loyalty cannot be hidden, as he constantly seeks to do whatever is best to keep his king out of harms way. His motivation is evident in the following passage; @O, let the heavens "ive him defence against the elements, #or $ have lost us him on a dangerous sea.% &'.(.))+),'. 1s the play starts to reach its clima/, $ago takes his plans into action and carries them out as each day passes by. Cassio has a ma<or role alteration as well as a ma<or motivation alteration. 0ow, as the reader knows, Cassio enters Cyprus as bait for

$agos plans to drive 9esdemona and Othello apart. 6ventually $agos plans take an effect on Cassio. ost importantly, the most notable change in Cassios role and ontano as position happens after he becomes drunk and wounds the governor, shown in this passage; MONTANO Come, come, you5re drunk. CASSIO 9runk! They fight (2.3.152-153) 1s a result, Cassio loses his position as chief lieutenant and loses Othellos respect. $n the end, $agos plans become successful. eanwhile, Cassio e/periences his motivation alteration. 1fter losing his beloved position, Cassios new main ob<ective becomes to motivate and persuade Othello that he to appoint him as chief lieutenant once again. He even attempts to impress him outside his bedroom window with a clown and many other random performances. His new motivation and ob<ective can be seen here;

That, $ being absent and my place supplied, y general will forget my love and service. DESDEMONA 9o not doubt that4 before 6milia here $ give thee warrant of thy place; assure thee, $f $ do vow a friendship, $5ll perform it To the last article; my lord shall never rest4 $5ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience4 His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift4 $5ll intermingle every thing he does 2ith Cassio5s suit; therefore be merry, Cassio4 #or thy solicitor shall rather die Than give thy cause away.% &*.*.(A+'B-

Cassios ob<ectives are clear, as he tries to make 9esdemona feel pity for him. .y doing this, he indirectly tells her to make Othello reconsider his decisions considering Cassios place under him. 1s shown above, one of Cassios many attempts are taken into consideration. %. Lan&ua&e: .ounteous madam, 2hatever shall become of ichael Cassio, He5s never any thing but your true servant.% &*.*.B+(CThis selection best describes Cassios manner of speech. #irst of all, Cassio is very flirtatious with his words. He speaks to women by praising them &in this case 9esdemona-, normally in attempts to persuade her to do something, in this case, persuade Othello to reconsider his position as chief lieutenant. The use of bounteous,% and true servant,% are e/amples of his flirtatious way of speaking. =econd, Cassio is very focused with his self image and peoples thoughts about him. This is evident by the way he mentions his name. He talks like this in order to emphasi7e his importance to 9esdemona. This adds to the first important fact about his way of speech, because it makes women feel pity or sorry for him. 'or" (nalysis Bounteous (ADJ) (. .ounteous madam, 2hatever shall become of ichael Cassio, He5s never any thing but your true servant.% &*.*.B+(C'. :art of =peech; 1d<ective *. "iving or inclined to give generously.% &9irect 8uotation from 9ictionary.com). 6tymology; 3atin D. :refi/; bounty E generous gift ,. =entence; :lease, bounteous sir, do you have spare change for the poorF

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D. Kisual; 1re there any intriguing visuals of your character out there on the webF $nclude one or two pictures ? clips. ake sure you indicate the source of your picture ? clip.

,. :od cast; $n a one to two minute pod cast, e/plain what is most important to know about this character. Mse the information you have collected above, using 8uotes to support what you say. Create pod cast in "arage .and 6/port to iTunes as an Mpload to your wiki page :* file