Desdemona's cousin in Shakespeare's Othello , and Othello's uncle by marriage. He is shocked and mystified at Othello's physical abuse of Desdemona - he does not understand the reason for it - and he is the last character to speak at the end of the play.In the Laurence Olivier Othello (1965), he appears in a scene that Shakespeare did not originally write him into - the Senate scene early in the film, during which Othello and Desdemona both justify their marriage to the Senate. He appears to be on very friendly terms with Othello.