1) Cassio is from Florence. The army in question is the Venetian Army. So, like Othello, Cassio is an outsider in one sense. This may explain why he was willing to give in to the soldiers and drink.
2) I was surprised at how often it is mentioned that Cassio helped Othello get together with Desdemona. Cassio and Iago have far more time together on stage than Cassio and Othello but it is becoming clear that Cassio and Othello are very tight... and Cassio and Iago are probably relatively new friends.
3) I always like to see what the single word is that it used most often to describe my character. With Cassio, that word is "Good." Five different characters call him "good" and some call him this multiple times. I think it is significant when a playwright uses the same word over and over to describe a character. For Iago, the word used over and over is "honest," which is great because he is anything but!
4) There is multiple mention of the love between Othello and Cassio. Not a romantic love but love is used to describe how close they are.
5) Cassio clearly is a charmer and is good with women. It is said over and over. It's fitting that he's Italian. I definitely know an Italian or two who, if you didn't know them, would appear to be flirting with every woman, and this could come across threatening or shady. However, once I got to know them, I realized that they were good people and that they were much more innocent than I first thought. Cassio may be in that boat. Who was that cook on Top Chef? Fabio? haha
6) Something is up with Cassio's hands. There are a few moments in this play where Cassio's hands, and what he is doing with his hands, are significant. I even found this old picture...
So there may be something there... something about his hands... how he uses his hands... how he holds things... Desdemona's hand... her handerchief... etc...7) It is interesting that twice Cassio has the opportunity to speak for himself about the drunk incident to Othello and can't do it .
8) Looking at the list from yesterday... a few words that stick out... good, gentle, friend, honest, proper, disciplined, humbled, penitent... I mean, that is a great character description that Shakespeare has given us about Cassio!
9) Iago calls Cassio "a great Arithmatician." I wonder if that is a good jumping off point for some movement choices. Are his movements sharp and clean like math... not curvy but crisp and angular.... something to think about.
So the real lesson here is, there are often many clues in the text for building a character, and these clues should be the foundation of building the character!
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