Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's 1604 play '' Othello''. Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian, is manipulated into funding the
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Iago'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 assassinate 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.
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.Shakespeare, William. ''Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth''. Bantam Books, 1988.
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
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, 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.
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
version of ''Othello'', Roderigo née Rajan ’Rajju’ Tiwari was played by Deepak Dobriyal.
References
Further reading
* MacLiammóir, Micheál. ''Put Money in Thy Purse: the Diary of the Film of Othello''. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London (1952); Virgin Books (1994), . MacLiammóir's 1952 memoir about the filming of Orson Welles' ''Othello''.