The heroism of OthelloShakespeare's tragedy Othello gives the audience remarkable heroism, not only on the part of the hero and heroine but also of unexpected characters. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains how the consensus of the play's characters testifies to the general's heroism:The testimony of all the principal characters of the play is decisive. Brabantio loved him; Lodovico speaks of him as the "noble Moro" "once so good"; Cassius, who has good reason to hate him, calls him "dear general" and pronounces his epitaph: "he was great at heart." The Duke claims to be more blond than black. Montano is pleased to learn of Othello's appointment as governor. But the most telling testimony to Othello's character comes from the one man who hates him. Iago confesses that the state "Cannot safely cast him" because "They have not another of his breath." (29) A character's attitude towards the most fearsome enemy – death itself – is undoubtedly a criterion for judging a heroic type from a non-heroic one. Helen Gardner in "Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune" considers Iago's wife Emilia a true heroine of the play because of her fearless view of death itself: Emilia's silence while her mistress lived is fully explainable in character terms. She shares with her husband the trick of generalizing and is used to domestic scenes. Jealous people, you know, are never jealous for the cause, but jealous because they are jealous. If it wasn't the handkerchief it would be something else. Why disobey your husband and risk his fury? It wouldn't do any good. This is how men are. But the dead Desdemona sweeps away all these generalities and all caution. At this sight, Emilia, although "the world is a huge thing", discovers that there is something she will not do about it. With his heroic contempt for death he provides the only "proof" of Desdemona's innocence: the testimony of faith. (145)At the beginning of the play Iago convinces Desdemona's rejected suitor, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona's father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two wake up the senator by shouting loudly about his daughter's escape with Othello.