Roderigo is a fictional character in Shakespeare's 1604 play Othello. Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian, is manipulated into funding the antagonistIago's plot against Othello in the hopeless belief that Iago will aid him in courting Othello's wife Desdemona. In the later acts, Iago recruits Roderigo to assasinate Othello's former lieutenant Michael Cassio, though he is killed by Iago when he fails in his attempt to do so.
Despite Shakespeare heavily basing Othello on Cinthio's Italian language tale Un Capitano Moro, Roderigo has no counterpart in the original text, unlike other characters, suggesting that Shakespeare created the character himself.[1]
Sources
While Shakespeare based Othello on a number of sources, the play was primarily based on the 1565 tale The Story of a Moorish Captain in Italian by Cinthio.[2]
Role in Othello
Roderigo is introduced in the play's opening in Act One, Scene One, where, alongside Iago, he alerts Desdemona's father Brabantio that his daughter is eloping with Othello, a fact that Iago knows will cause him great annoyance. After breaking off from Iago, who hid in the earlier scene from Brabantio's sight, he joins Brabantio and his men in their journey to Sagittary in Act One, Scene Two, in hopes of finding Othello and Desdemona.
In Act Two, Roderigo joins Iago in his journey to Cyprus, where the Venetians are expecting a Turk invasion, in hopes of being able to woo Desdemona. When the Turks drown in the ocean, Iago convinces Roderigo to invoke a brawl with Cassio, whom Iago has convinced to get drunk, leading to Cassio wounding the Cypriot governor Montano. Othello demotes Cassio as punishment, but Desdemona remains in love with Othello, which sends Roderigo into a suicidal despair. Iago manages to convince him to stick with their plan by promising that, if Roderigo "puts money in his purse", they will be able to destroy Othello, giving him the perfect chance to win Desdemona over. A heartened Roderigo promises to sell all of his lands.
He does not appear again until Act Four, Scene Two where he is enrolled in Iago's plot to murder Cassio, a desire he has had since the start of the play. In Act Five, Scene One, Roderigo is wounded in his botched assassination attempt of Cassio: he becomes the first to realise Iago's true plans. He is then fatally stabbed by Iago, cursing him before his departure.[2]
Performances
Modern renditions of the play generally portray Roderigo as a naive fool lusting for love, who falls victims to Iago's cunning eloquence[3]
^ abShakespeare, William. Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Bantam Books, 1988.
^Honingmann, E. A. J.. Othello. The Arden Shakespeare, 2002.
Further reading
MacLiammóir, Micheál. Put Money in Thy Purse: the Diary of the Film of Othello. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London (1952); Virgin Books (1994), ISBN0-86369-729-1. MacLiammóir's 1952 memoir about the filming of Orson Welles' Othello.
