Reputation and honor are two different things. They often are the difference between appearance and reality. Reputation is other people's opinions of you, while honor is a high respect. In the play, Othello, a character named Iago has a great reputation; however, he has no real honor. He is able to manipulate and shame other people without hurting his own reputation. In the play there are many examples of when he appears to be something, but really he is being the opposite.He talks badly about Othello to Roderigo and then talks badly of Roderigo to Othello.He also acts as Cassio’s friend and tells him to talk to Desdemona. In addition, he lies to Desdemona when she comes to him for help with her husband. Iago was able to manipulate each one of these people and in the end ruin his honor. In the beginning of the play Iago first shows his dishonesty and untrustworthiness when he talks badly of Roderigo and Othello behind their backs. At first he is ranting about Othello to Roderigo, telling him how he -hated Othello and how “the moor” didn’t deserve to have such a good life (Act I, scene i, lines 8-34). Him and Roderigo go to Othello’s father in law’s …show more content…
It has been made from his fake personality towards other people. In reality he is not a honorable person at all. He doesn’t help others, he talks badly of them, and tries to ruin their reputations. The only person who knows some of the true Iago is his wife, Emilia, and he never lets her speak about it. All of his actions say that his honor is fake. He has earned his “honor” from his reputation, but neither are truthful. Iago is the person that everyone likes, but when once they know who he is that change their mind. His pare in the play emphasizes how different appearances and reality can be. Iago appears to be one thing, but in reality he is not who he seems to be. Iago doesn’t deserve his reputation and he has stole the reputations of others; he is not an honorable
Othello is such a gullible character with so much trust in the wrong people. He trusts Iago before he trusts his own wife, Desdemona; he let Iago get into his mind. Iago arises any doubt Othello has for anyone he ever trusted making them all seem untrustworthy. More then anything Iago uses pathos to appeal to emotion. “ But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am” (Othello, Shakespeare, Act I Scene I Line 65-66). Iago talks about being open and honest; although this is not true it makes the other characters feel secure. Othello is a strong character, but Iago is his downfall. Blinded by jealousy and questions Othello will no longer trust Desdemona nor Cassio, because of this he will meet his
Iago has everyone fooled into believing that he is a noble honest man. Without this
In the light of the various descriptions of an unstable person, Iago is a psychopath with his manipulative choice of words. He tells people things that they want to hear and he says it in a manner that makes him appear exceptional. “ I humbly do beseech you of your pardon, For too much loving you.” (3.3.106) In act three, Iago pretends to be Othello’s confidant, and he wants Othello to suspect his wife is having an affair. Iago has a pseudo relationship with Othello the entire duration of the play.
As early as the first scene of the play Iago shows us strong motives for his actions. In this first scene we see Othello, a general of Venice, has made Cassio his new lieutant. Iago feels he truly deserves his promotion as he says "I know my price, I am worth more no worse a place."(l.i.12) Iago over here is confused why Othello has made such a stupid decision. Iago is a man with a tremendous ego who knows, sometimes overestimates, his worth. Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman, understands Iago when Iago said that he is "affined to love the Moor."(l.i.41-42) What Iago really means is "I follow him to serve my term upon him."(l.i.45) Iago wants to use Othello for his personal goals. We also must put ourselves into Iago's shoes. He is a man whose self-esteem and professional carrier have just been torn apart. Iago makes his actions of revenge toward Othello almost immediately by informing Brabantio, a Venetian senator and father of Desdemona, that "an old black ram (Othello) is tupping (his) white ewe (Desdemona)."(l.i.97)
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it?
As Iago's role in the play begins to define itself, the plays main theme, which is jealousy, also begins to develop. Iago's role is unclear to the reader in the first scene. He appears to be an honest, trustworthy soldier who was angry because he was overlooked for a promotion. However, the reader later finds out that he is a "malignant and destructive plotter" and would do anything to destroy Othello and anyone close to him (Epstein 381). The fact that he is an evil character remains undetected by the rest of the characters in the play. "The other characters actually call Iago honest fifteen times throughout the entire play" (Campbell 156). Iago is jealous and resentful of Othello in everyway and uses this festering hatred to infect and destroy Othello. He filled Othello's mind with thoughts of deceit and betrayal until his unwarranted jealousy towards his beautiful, trusting, and innocent wife blinded Othello himself.
Othello: The Destruction of Honor In The Tragedy of Othello, William Shakespeare tells the tale of the “noble Moor” whose honor and innocence bring about his downfall. Shakespeare writes of the power of jealousy, and the art of masterful deception and trickery. The story primarily takes place in Cyprus, during a war between the people of Venice and the invading Turks. In this play Shakespeare shows the feelings of Othello’s embittered right-hand man of, Iago, who feels he is passed over for a promotion and swears his revenge. He proceeds to manipulate his friends, enemies, and family into doing his bidding without any of them ever realizing his ultimate goal.
Iago is a twenty- eight years old Caucasian married man and he is soldier in the Venetian army. Iago is viewed as modest, honest, and a good friend to people in public. People refer to him as “honest Iago” which lead them to trust him. Iago plans to destroy Othello by manipulating him to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him with his promoted lieutenant Cassio, a position Iago wanted to have. Although the scandal that Iago came up with is a complete lie, Othello ends up believing him. Iago uses his ability to talk to people in order to accomplish his plan of destroying Othello because he wasn’t granted the position of the Venice army. (Sorto 1)
Characters in the play fail to comprehend Iago’s true nature until it is too late. Those interacting with Iago fall into the belief that Iago is loyal to his superiors, when Iago is actually focused on bringing them (Cassio and Othello) down. Iago constructs a false impression of his loyalty to Othello through ...
Iago would most commonly be referred to as dishonest, however beyond that he is also downright amoral and uses other’s weaknesses to manipulate them into doing what he pleases. From the very beginning we see how Iago manipulates Roderigo by pretending he is looking out for his best interests in the matter of Othello’s elopement with Desdemona. He makes Barbantio angry with Othello and Desdemona by telling him about their elopement then lying about the consummation of their relationship. He then leaves Roderigo to take responsibility for his (Iago’s) actions. In the meantime he goes off to inform Othello that Roderigo is accountable for telling Barbantio about the relationship and saying horrible things about Othello. Iago later brings Roderigo back into his quest for revenge when he tries to get Cassio fired from the position that Iago originally wished to obtain. Although Cassio knows it is against his better judgement to drink, Iago manipulates him into getting drunk then stages a fight between Roderigo and Cassio. He even goes as far as to try to make Cassio look bad by telling Montano that he gets drunk regularly. Upon Iago’s explanation of the situation Othello promptly fires Cassio from his position and Iago becomes more respected in Othello’s eyes. Roderigo is a prime example of how Iago uses people to fulfil his desires. Iago convinces Roderigo that he could win Desdemona’s love away from Othello and the only man that stands in the way is Cassio. In this way when he plans to humiliate Cassio it seems as if he is doing it to help out Roderigo when, in actuality, he is seeking revenge on Cassio for taking his position.
Iago's reputation played a key role in the play. Everyone thought of Iago as an honest man. "O, that's an honest fellow", "You advise me well... goodnight honest Iago." Iago convinces everyone that he is noble and honest man and he uses this to his advantage. "When devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows." Without this cover he would never have been able to get Othello to believe that Desdemona would cheat on him. Just for suggesting that Desdemona would cheat on him (Othello), he probably would have killed Iago were it not for his reputation. Nobody suspects that Iago is a deceitful man and would plot to destroy Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio in such a cunning way. Iago uses his reputation to manipulate Othello and set his plan in motion and complete it. Without Iago's honest reputation would never had allowed him smear Cassio and cause the death of Desdemona and ultimately Othello as well.
Reputation is defined as the way people perceive others based on facts, previous experiences, and opinions. Reputation was very important during Shakespearean times because it determined a person’s job, social status, and role in society. In the play, Othello, reputation is a critical theme that greatly impacts the story. The main use of reputation is by Iago who uses the fact that people know him as “honest Iago” to manipulate the characters. Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello believe Iago’s lies because he has such a positive reputation. Iago threatened Othello’s reputation by saying that Desdemona and Cassio had an affair. Othello wanted to do everything in his power to maintain his strong reputation even if that meant killing his wife. The story relies on reputation because it is the driving force that makes Iago want revenge and it is the reason why Cassio and Othello believe Iago. Although Iago’s reputation is detrimental to his plan and the downfall of Othello, the importance that Othello and Cassio place on their reputations is what caused the tragedy of Othello.
Iago used reputation to his advantage in order to fulfill his plan to get revenge on Othello and Cassio. He uses each characters reputation to bring out their weaknesses, which he uses to his advantage. This includes his own. Over and over, Othello calls Iago, “Honest Iago.” Because his reputation is known for being honest, he tells Othello lie after lie because he knows Othello will believe him. This in turn helps him fulfill his plan because Othello falls right into his trap. Othello believes Iago when he says that Desdemona is cheating on him. He believes when Iago tells him how Cassio had a dream about Desdemona, and he believes Iago when he says that Desdemona gave Cassio the handkerchief. Another example of Iago using reputation to his advantage is with Desdemona. She is known for being sweet and innocent, and he exploits that with Cassio and Othello. When Cassio is desperate to get his job as lieutenant back, Iago simply tells him to get help from Desdemona because, “Our generals wife is now the general” (II.III.314-315). What this is saying is that because Desdemona and Othello are now married, she can control him, because it is his job to please her as she wishes. When Cassi...
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Without a doubt, one of the main themes that runs throughout William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello, is that of honesty. In the play, the most interesting character is Iago, who is commonly called and known as "Honest Iago." However, this could not be farther from the truth. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits and moves him closer to his own goals. He is smart and an expert at judging the characters of others. Because of this, Iago pushes everyone to their tragic end.