The Theme Of Revenge In Shakespeare's Othello

Amidst the global warming crisis in the Arctic and subsequent lack of food, there have been reports of polar bears eating their own children due to the lack of food. While gruesome, being threatened causes one to take drastic actions to protect oneself. If bears can lose their most maternal instincts for self-protection, how easy is betrayal among friendships? As seen in William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago’s deliberate and carefully thought out betrayal demonstrates the theme that one often loses sight of humanity in a quest for revenge. Shakespeare’s utilization of characterization through personal thoughts illuminates the willingness of Iago to betray during his quest for revenge. While blissfully deceiving Roderigo, Iago’s reveals his

As Iago tries to make sense of Roderigo’s yearning to kill himself, Iago describes how “our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3.307). Despite his fanatic quest for revenge, Iago takes the time to reasonably convince Roderigo to stay alive, in order to carry out his personal mission. Additionally, the metaphor can also serve as the basis for Iago’s reasoning as he assumes the role of the “gardener” tending to the problem he sees with Cassio winning the lieutenant position. By manipulating others, he simply trims up and cleans the weeds, or betrays all his friends, in order to make the “garden” the way he wants it. Throughout the play, Shakespeare builds up the suspense of Iago’s betrayal, and in the final act, Iago depicts this as having “rubbed this young quat almost to the sense” (5.1.15). The “quat,” or pimple, describes how Iago saw Roderigo like a piece to his puzzle. While this betrayal is hard to fathom when considering humanity, the use of metaphors helps simplify Iago’s true feelings into a simple comparison. With the comparison, it becomes evident how carefully Iago planned his betrayal and how Iago really does not consider humanity when he makes his decisions. While there would be hesitation to leading a person on while planning to break them down, the

The key to Iago’s deception is his ability to convince others that he is on their side. This first comes up when Iago gets Roderigo to “put money enough in [his] purse” to pay Iago for his services (1.3.316). Iago then tells the audience that he would “be time expend with such a snipe but for my sport and profit” (1.3.318-323). This sets the stage for the rest of Iago’s betrayal where he constantly tries to make himself the protagonist while being the antagonist behind the scenes. Furthermore, through Iago’s feeling that he needs to cover himself from seeming like the villain, it becomes clear that he thought out all the possible implications his act could bring upon him, which is ironic considering how little he cares for his action’s implication on others. Through the juxtaposition, Shakespeare demonstrates how Iago loses sight of humanity while still having enough reason to carry out his carefully planned betrayal. In continuation with the pattern of differentiating between thoughts and actions, Shakespeare again utilizes this juxtaposition when Iago convinces Cassio that he is “in the right,” while wondering to himself, “what’s he then that says I play the villain? When this advice is free I give and honest” (2.3.245-247). The juxtaposition