---

First Senator

["First" isn't a title or a part of First Senator's name, it's just how he's designated in a scene in which other senators are present.]

---

"There is no composition in these news / That gives them credit" exclaims the Duke, and First Senator replies, "Indeed, they are disproportion'd" (1.3.1-2). They are trying to make sense of the various reports about the Turkish threat to Cyprus. Moments later, Othello and Brabantio enter, and Brabantio charges Othello with using drugs or magic on Desdemona. First Senator, an intelligent and fair-minded person, asks Othello the crucial question, "Did you by indirect and forced courses / Subdue and poison this young maid's affections? / Or came it by request and such fair question / As soul to soul affordeth?" (1.3.111-114). [Scene Summary]

---