Intellectuals are people who believe that ideas are of more importance than values. That is to say, their own ideas and other people 's values. The definition of intelligence is generally a broad topic, but to interpret what kind of intelligence that is being used somewhat narrows the scope of the spectrum. Written in 1603, the play Othello by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that revolves around deceitfulness, jealousy, love, appearance vs reality, and prejudice. There are five main characters that have the wheel and steer the play: Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Cassio, and Brabantio. Iago who is a flag bearer was passed over a promotion to lieutenant by Cassio which stimulated hatred towards Othello and jealousy towards Cassio. Iago intelligence …show more content…
Iago when talking to Othello, would exaggerate the many of the scenes in order to convince him of the affair between Desdemona. "In sleep I heard him say, Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love; and then, sir, would he grip and wring my hand, cry, O sweet creature! then kiss me hard" (Act III, Scene III, Lines 419-422). He fuels up Othello 's emotional side which produces anger and jealousy through this disparaging details from Iago 's mouth. Iago is bright when eliminating the invisible hurdle before Othello 's willpower and is able to manipulate him easily through taping into his absurd reasoning. Othello 's reasoning is being played by Iago to make Othello believe that Cassio has something with Desdemona which in tales to further rouse emotions. Through Iago 's exaggeration he even gets Othello to believe him in a way that Othello is convinced and repeats back what he heard from Iago to Desdemona. Othello exaggerates Desdemona 's disloyalty out of all proportion as human possibility, comparing her sexual intercourse to the breeding of summer flies or foul toads. This gigantic scene seems to hand doubt on the platter, Othello seems to have stretched Desdemona’s transgression to make her the worst wife humanly possible. Perhaps any unfaithfulness is as painful to him, and his exaggerations only communicate the …show more content…
It wasn 't enough for Iago to stay neutral when trying to describe something for Othello, yet he uses sexual imagery to make it more painful for Othello. In Act Four, Scene One Iago summons sexual imagery between Cassio and Desdemona in Othello 's mind when he says " If they do nothing, tis a venial slip". When using his words, he portrays Desdemona in an incriminating way making Othello believe honest Iago that there is something between them. The reason why Iago could be using sexual imagery is because this can be the natural state of a madcap who his running around jealous. Another reason why Iago can be using sexual imagery is that Othello is a man that is not convinced on words alone but more along the lines of seeing is believing. Othello is a man that relies on empirical proof rather than hearing it from someone verbally. Probably knowing this, Iago might have foreseen this and knew that to make Othello tick he needed to but some sexual imagery to convince him about the affair. Not just sexual imagery that Iago uses but also beasty imagery to describe people to bring out the ugly side of them. His vulgar and potent language coerce Brabantio to ignore judgment and reasoning and charge Othello of bewitching his daughter by marrying Desdemona behind his back, even though he probably viewed Othello as a respectable general before this happened. Iago loves and is adamant when
I’ll make thee an example” Only because Desdemona has been awaken he will do harm. Desdemona is shown in many different ways in this scene; Iago’s many faces has different opinions of Desdemona; one of sexual desire, one of hate, one of friendlyness. Othello is deeply in love with her and sees nothing but joy and innocence. Cassio only sees goodness and compliments her in every possible way. Desdemona herself is a young woman but brave, strong and witty; her presence in Cyprus and leaving her father and marrying in secret all show her brave and less innocent side.
Othello has many positive traits, including being a great leader and loyal. He also has one negative trait that ultimately leads to his death; jealousy. Iago provokes deep, strong emotions in Othello, jealousy being the strongest. Jealousy is a nasty little emotion. It causes people to do terrible things because once it is on a person’s conscience, it stays for quite some time. Because of these effects, jealousy can impact some of the strongest people such as Othello. The love between Desdemona and Othello was portrayed so elevated and pure and was filled with religious words and phrases that just added to the strength and sanctity of their love. Othello has such a strong mind, but jealousy caused by the manipulation of Iago, negatively impacts him. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his friend Cassio. When Othello asks Iago for proof of Desdemona’s deceit, Iago describes scenes and events in which Othello has a reason to be jealous. In Act III, Scene I Iago is describing to Othello, Desdemona and Cassio’s imagined relationship, “It is impossible you should see this/ were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross as ignorance made drunk.” These images planted themselves inside Othello’s mind and haunted him until he did something about it. These images led to Othello believing Desdemona really did love
	Iago uses a different tactic to manipulate Brabantio. He changes Brabantio's way of looking at the marriage of his daughter Desdemona to Othello. He awakes Brabantio by saying "Awake! What, ho, Brabantio! Thieves! Thieves! Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags! Thieves! Thieves!" (I.i.76-78) By saying this, Iago shows a new perspective to Brabantio by insinuating that Othello has stolen his daughter. Iago reinforces this when he say's,
The more Othello realizes how much would value his future with Desdemona, the more betrayed he feels. Othello begins to think that his entire investment in Desdemona is for naught, transforming Othello’s passion into spite. Iago exploits the underside of deep devotion - jealously. The emotions Othello feels - attachment, jealously, and hate - drives him mad, obscuring the logic of the situation - that Iago is only spreading fantasized rumors about Cassio and Desdemona. Instead of confronting Cassio, Othello accepts Desdemona’s treason as truth. Iago may have mastered Othello’s emotions, but Othello allows his emotions to consume him. People need to confront their feelings and not lose track of logic. Otherwise, even something as sincere as Othello’s fondness for Desdemona can turn one into a
In William Shaspeare play Othello, Iago make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He does by taking advantage of any situation to make of Othello doubt. Iago make Othello thing a lot of crazy thing on his head, Othello got so jelous leading him to kill his own wife, Desdemona, satisfying iago obseccion for revenge.
At first Othello is confident about his belief that Desdemona would never lie or cheat. This allows him to appear composed when the topic is even brought up. When Brabantio says, “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee” (1.3.288-289), he says, “My life upon her faith” (1.3.290). Othello believes that Desdemona would never lie to him, even though she had lied to her father. Also, he did not act or appear mad when Brabantio says this. As a result, Iago is able to use this confidence of Desdemona not cheating on him against him. At first Iago just gets the idea in his head. He then tries to “Fetch me the handkerchief—my mind misgives” (3.4.80). Othello admits that he is doubting her loyalty. Iago told Othello that she had given the handkerchief to Cassio. At first Othello did not believe him until he realizes she truly does not have it. Once he believed this Iago was able to continue with his lie. He told Othello she has slept with him numerous times. He also tells him that he should kill her due to everything she has done. To this Othello replies, “Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight; for she shall not live. No, my heart is turned to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand” (Shakespeare 4.1.183-185). Othello admits that he believes she should be killed. Iago then induced him that he should be the one to kill her. Othello
Implicitly targeting Othello’s doubts about marrying Desdemona and insecurities about her actions with infidelity, Iago eventually impacts Othello enough that the General himself confides in Iago about his own wife. Earlier in the play, ‘honest Iago’ needs to first gain Othello’s confidence and he does so by expressing his loyalty to Cassio, “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth/ Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, while Othello is present in a conflict (2.3. 203-204). Then, later in the play Iago baits Othello by suggesting that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Immediately, Othello wants more information; however, Iago nervously responds with, “…vicious in my guess-/ As I confess…” and tries to calm Othello by saying, “My noble lord-” (3.3 46-47, 93). When voicing his devotion to Cassio, Iago immediately begins to play on his false reputation as ‘honest Iago’. He enables Othello, and his fellow characters, to think highly of him and to respect that even when his partner, Cassio, has not been following orders, Iago would even endure physical pain and have his “tongue cut from [his] mouth” and proves his locality (2.3. 203). This leads to when Iago responds to Othello’s queries, about
Debra Winger had stated once that “Most bad behaviour comes from insecurity”, this could not hold anymore truth in Shakespeare’s “Othello” as the story progresses only due to the insecurities of the characters. For starters, Othello is the protagonist so we get to see his internal conflicts about societal standards and judgement on display. Meanwhile, Iago’s vulnerabilities as a villain are only showed during his monologues as he is hinted to having a superiority complex against Othello, and a complete reverse of Iago, Cassio’s issues are visible from the readers perspective and the characters as his reputation is slandered and used against him. These are all prime examples of how insecurity was used as a primary plot device to advance the
Iago's honest betrayal has left Othello pondering over Desdemona's faithfulness. Believing the words of his most honest ancient, Othello gullibly succumbs to his insinuations of his wife, Desdemona, as being unfaithful. Through Othello's soliloquy, he is not the self-confident General formerly portrayed as. Instead, his indecision over his wife's infidelity has caused him to explore his flaws as a human being, showing signs of appearance versus reality.
Iago uses his ability to convince those around him and his hatred, for seemingly the majority, of the other characters to manipulate and accomplish his own ploys. In the beginning of the play, Iago confesses his hatred for Othello. This hatred compels Iago to manipulate others within the play. Iago wishes to cause the most mayhem that he can, and he uses every character to do so. In the play, Iago acts almost as a puppeteer to the other characters, pulling their strings and getting them to do as he wishes. With Othello, Iago tells him that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with Cassio. This manipulation is done due to the pure hate Iago has for Othello and the plan to get Roderigo together with Desdemona. Iago is also seemingly puppeteering Roderigo in hopes to get Cassio killed for both Roderigo to gain Desdemona and for Othello because of the alleged affair with Desdemona. Iago spares no expense when it comes to his plans in the play. As it states in Act 3 Scene 3 “I will in Cassio's lodging lose this napkin, / And let him find it. / Trifles light as air / Are to the jealous confirmations strong / As proofs of holy writ” (Shakespeare, Othello lines 1994-1997). In this excerpt, Iago takes Desdemona’s handkerchief in hopes to frame Cassio and prove the affair. This shows that Iago leaves out no details when manipulating the other characters which shows his true ingenuity and cunning ability when
All Iago had to do was hint at Desdemona being unfaithful and Othello’s becomes very bothered it and eventually starts believing it. The author of an essay does an analysis on Iago and says “He slowly poisons people’s thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. Iago even says himself that the advice he gives is free and honest and thus, people rarely stop to consider the possibility that Iago is fooling them.“ (Shakespeare’s Othello – Honest Iago). So Iago would hint at something going between Desdemona and Cassio so that Othello would become bothered and ask him what he means by that, it was like a game that Iago was playing, he would drop a little hint and then expect Othello to pick up on it and start questioning it and become more even suspicious. Brabantio tells Othello “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee” (I.ii.286-287), So In this scene Brabantio warns Othello that Desdemona has already fooled him and she might fool him too, so be careful, and it turns out, Othello believed in him after all and that’s part of the reason of why he thinks that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. It leads him to start questioning Desdemona in a very suspicious way. At one point he even hits her in front of a nobleman and that was very shocking to the nobleman because he believed him to be a very calm and collected gentleman but obviously he was a changed man. The nobleman even expresses his shock by saying that “My lord, this would not be believed in Venice, though I should swear I saw’t. ‘Tis very much make her amends; she weeps” (IV .i.217-219). This negative thinking and insecurity was one of the main reasons to Othello’s change in a negative way. A lot of this was Iago’s doing but it was also Othello’s fault to fall for Iago’s
Iago’s hatred of Othello and Cassio causes him to seek revenge and he is able to succeed because his victims are too innocent to suspect him. Iago is a Machiavellian Shakespearean character who cunningly convinces his victims of his full moral support and proves his innocence in a way that his victims do not suspect him. When Cassio finishes his conversation with Desdemona about how he will not have his job back, Iago unfolds his mischievous plan against Desdemona when he says that, “so will I turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all” (Shakespeare, 49). Iago plans to destroy Othello and Desdemona’s marriage by using Desdemona’s kindness toward Cassio against her and make her look unfaithful in front of her noble hu...
Throughout the drama, Othello let Iago control him as if he was a puppet under his master’s hands. When Iago first brought up the idea that Desdemona and Cassio might be having an affair, Othello did not believe him, he had faith in his wife. After many lies that Iago planted in Othello’s ears, Othello started to believe him and he dropped most of the faith that he had in Desdemona. Iago told Othello that in his sleep, Cassio said “Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love”. Cursed fate that gave thee the Moor” (III.iii.416-417).
Iago, the evil villain of Shakespeare's Othello, is more than just a villain. In many ways he is the most intelligent and appealing character in the play. Iago shows superiority over the rest of the characters in the play. He has the ability to manipulate the characters in the play, therefore controlling the play with every sequence of events. His intelligence shines through his ability to deceive, his ability to strategize, and his ability to twist the truth. Iago is appealing to the characters of the pay because he gives them what they want. Iago is appealing to the reader as well. His character is totally unconflicted about being evil, making him known to some authors as the villain of all villains. Iago is, in many ways, the most intelligent and appealing character in the play.
Othello believing Iago of Desdemona’s infidelity so quickly, shows his insecurities. In Act 3, Scene 3 Iago starts planting his plan on Othello to make him believe that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago brings up the fact that Desdemona is very young and many other young men would be happy to be married to her but she decides to marry Othello. When Iago says this Othello begins to wonder “Why did I marry” to himself (3. 3. 283). Othello’s insecurities begin to show when he starts wondering why did Desdemona really married him. Desdemona is young and beautiful so Othello doesn’t understand why she would choose him over a younger man. Othello’s insecurities about his own physical appearance bring suspicion about Desdemona. Later Othello says “Haply, for I am black” (3. 3. 303) suggesting Desdemona may have cheated because he is black. Othello saying this shows that he is self-conscious about being black. He believes that because he is black Desdemona would possibly cheat. Othello insecurities with himself cause him to lose control and fall into Iago’s plan. Othello turns from being successful to murderous due to his insecurities. His constant doubt that Desdemona could actually be in love with him controls his thoughts and he begins to believe that she is cheating. Othello’s insecurities consume him to the point that he makes the ultimate mistake of killing