Act III- 1

Some of the characters in Shakespeare's play Othello the Moor of Venice seem rather unimportant. My favorite of these, for example is the clown. This "clown" as it says at the very beginning in the information is Othello's servant. This character brings a bit of humor into the play. In act III, he only appears in scenes 1 and 4. When he does, he seems to aggrivate those around him by his use of humor in serious situations. " 'Dost thou hear, my honest friend?' 'No, I hear not your honest friend, I hear you.' " (Shakespeare, 1403, Act III. i. 19-20). This quote shows that the clown thinks he is hilarious but Cassio does not find it at all appealing. Cassio even gives the clown money to go do his job. The clown also appears in scene 4. After Desdemona asks where Cassio lies (as in where does he sleep), the clown says, " I dare not say he lies anywhere...He's a soldier, and for one to say a soldier lies is stabbing" (Shakespeare, 1419, Act III.iv.1-4).  Here, the clown is just trying to mess around with Desdemona. His dialogoue, though, does not seem to serve any purpose.

Another character that comes into play in Act III is Bianca. She is the mistriss of Cassio. Since she hasn't been involved in the plot of the play yet, it seems as if she isn't all that important. However, after a small event that involved Bianca, I believe she will be caught up in the middle of a terrible situation. "Sweet Bianca (Giving her Desdemona's hankerchief)" (Shakespeare, 1425, Act III.iv.173-174). By giving her this hankerchief which caused much fuss between Othello and Desdemona, Bianca was put right in the middle of a dramatic situation.