<DIV><B><P><EM>Othello</EM> is a major shakespearean text, studied<B>widely and often adapted for film and TV and is<B>especially challenging for a multicultural society.<B><EM>Othello</EM> lends itself to criticism through discussion of<B>the major characters although this study also focuses<B>on recent criticism's analysis of the characters as<B>"signifiers". The study of the key characters takes<B>the discussion of the text immediately into the<B>central issues of "otherness", gender, race and<B>power.</P></DIV>