The main antagonist in Shakespeare's Othello, Iago is the trusted advisor of Othello, having fought at his side for several years. Believing that Othello unfairly promoted Michael Cassio to lieutenant instead of himself, Iago plots to manipulate Othello into demoting Cassio, effectively bringing about the downfall of Othello, as well. Iago convinces Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with Cassio. After Othello kills Desdemona, Iago's wife, Emilia, reveals Iago's deception to Othello.

Daughter of Edward Hyde, member of the English gentry, and first wife of King James II. Hyde and James conceived a child out of wedlock in 1659 and married in 1660. The couple developed a reputation for their overt public displays of affection. Hyde bore eight of James's children, only two of whom survived past early childhood, future queens Mary II and Anne.

Scottish moral philosopher who further developed the ideas of Shaftesbury.

Occasional writer on religious subjects.

English critic, essayist, journalist, poet, and co-founder of The Examiner, a radical intellectual journal advocating for Catholic emancipation, the abolition of the slave trade, and parliamentary reform. Hunt was the first publisher of John Keats, Percy Shelley, Alfred Tennyson, and Robert Browning. In his Examiner, Hunt famously defended Romantic poets against Blackwood Magazine's denunciation of "Cockney poetry." Hunt's most notable works include "Abou Beh Adhem" and "Jenny Kissed Me."

Noted as a philosopher and historian, Hume was among those who exerted the most powerful and lasting influences on eighteenth-century thought. His best-known publications include A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Essays, Moral and Political (1741), Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding (1748), An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, 4 volumes (1753), and The History of Great Britain (1754-1762).

English author, dramatist, actor, theatre manager, and friend of William Shenstone.

Playwright, poet, librettist, historian, translator, editor, and critic; Hughes's plays include Amalasont, Queen of the Goths (possibly c. 1697-1700), Calypso and Telemachus (1712), Apollo and Daphne (1716), and The Siege of Damascus (1720).

Scholar, skeptical philosopher, and bishop of Avranches.

Character in Samuel Richardson's Clarissa (1747-9).