Michael Cassio (or, Cassio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader." In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant under Othello's command who becomes one of Iago's several victims in a plot to ruin Othello.
Othello has its source in the 1565 tale, "Un Capitano Moor" from Gli...
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Michael Cassio (or, Cassio) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader." In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant under Othello's command who becomes one of Iago's several victims in a plot to ruin Othello.
Othello has its source in the 1565 tale, "Un Capitano Moor" from Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, it is probable that Shakespeare knew both the Italian original and Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. Cassio is based upon Cinthio's squadron leader.
Cassio 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 evil Iago, uses...
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