Michael Cassio
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Michael Cassio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello.
In the play, he 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 wicked Iago, uses him in his scheme to destroy his general; Iago insinuates throughout that Cassio is having an affair with Othello's wife, Desdemona. Iago eventually uses Cassio to stoke Othello's jealousy into homicidal rage.
In Act II of the play, Cassio's life is nearly ruined by Iago's cunning and his own foolishness. Iago tricks Cassio into getting drunk and then incites his friend Roderigo to start a brawl with Cassio. The Cypriot governor Montano tries to end the fight by stepping between the two men, and Cassio, now incontinent from drunkenness, strikes out at him. As a result, Cassio loses his lieutenancy.
Later in the play, Iago convinces Roderigo to assassinate Cassio, and together they arrange an ambush. Roderigo attacks Cassio by surprise but his coat of armor saves him from injury. Cassio retaliates and mortally wounds Roderigo but is himself stabbed from behind by Iago. His leg is wounded, but he survives. Once Othello realises Iago's deception, he asks Cassio for his forgiveness, which is immediately granted.
In productions of Othello, Cassio is normally acted by a good-looking man, as the audience comes to adore him for his noble intentions. He is a good man whose life is nearly destroyed by evil, and it is his good nature which the audience loves.
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