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Othello character essay on iago
Othello analysis
Othello character essay on iago
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Iago, the Villian “Othello, the Moor of Venice” by William Shakespeare is an iconic play that seems to hold its relevancy, no matter how many years go by. The personalities of Othello, Cassio, and Desdemona stand the test of time, and can be seen in people still today. These are regular people who love, get hurt, and can be overcome with jealousy. However, Iago is a man that is impulsive, vindictive, and lacks empathy, making him evil in the purest form. Although Iago may seem overcome with jealousy, his narcissism prevents him from feeling anything causing him to lash out and destroy others. Iago twists other people’s emotions, and manipulates them into having them do what he wants. Unfortunately, people with Iago’s qualities are still seen …show more content…
This makes Iago extremely upset although he does not seem to care very deeply for his wife, Emilia. Iago seems to take Emilia for granted by consistently talking down to her and disrespecting her. No matter what Emilia does to try to win Iago’s affection, it is not ever good enough for Iago. This is due to Iago’s lack of empathy and inability to connect with other people emotionally. It is sad for Emilia to be married to such a man that makes her constantly feel as if she is not good enough. People have felt disrespected in relationships for decades, but it is this plus all the other evil things Iago does that makes him such a terrible …show more content…
This is because no matter how many years go by he represents human nature. Iago is the epitome of the bad guy, but qualities that he has are still very much alive in people today. Much has changed since Shakespeare wrote “Othello” and it seems hard to believe that anything in Shakespeare’s time can still be relevant today. That could not be further from the truth because Iago lashes out on people and hurts them. It would be hard to find someone that has not been affected by a person with qualities like Iago’s. With so many inconsiderate people in today’s world it is no wonder that people still relate to Othello and Iago. Shakespeare did not just write about what was going on in his time period, but about the human qualities that never seem to
In Othello, Iago is Shakespeare’s most malicious character and serves as a vehicle to these two themes. Iago despises Othello; he has a strong will to destroy Othello’s life, yet the motive behind his plan goes unexplained. Iago is a great manipulator of the tongue and lies to everyone in order to advance his plan; however, every character in the play considers Iago an honest character, and Othello even associates Iago with light and eyesight. Othello continuously asks Iago to explain or make something clearer. Until the very end, Iago appears to be honest and helpful to the other characters, but underneath this seemingly harmless façade, Iago is a demon with the strongest will; he will stop at nothing until he ruins Othello’s life. Iago uses a positive appearance to enact his
Since the dawn of time, people have always manipulated others for their self-absorbed needs. Some did it to gain wealth, fame, or power and some for the sake of doing it. In William Shakespeare’s play, “Othello”, a character named Iago manipulates the people surrounding him for his twisted purposes of gaining higher status and for entertainment. He tries to convince Othello that his wife is cheating behind his back; he brands Cassio as the cheater, fools Roderigo into believing him, which leads to his death and finally, kills his own wife, Emilia. Iago’s motive for controlling these people is to plot out revenge for the enjoyment of doing so, making him a schadenfreude, and also to gain higher status.
In Othello, Iago uses his fine reputation as an “honest man” and Othello’s insecurities to manipulate him and carry out his master plan of destroying Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona. Iago’s insight towards the other characters’ weaknesses enables him to let them know exactly what they want to hear, which helps him gain their trust. He plays upon the insecurities of others to maneuver them into carrying out the actions he needs done in order to fulfill his own desires. In looking at Othello, we will consider the Othello’s blind acceptance of “the truth” as it is presented to him and find that when we blindly take another’s “truth” and accept it as our own, we merely become tools utilized by the person who gave us that supposed truth and give up the power of being ourselves—we fail to assert a self.
Literary techniques develop the play Othello in a complex way, though it was written in the 16th century; many elements Shakespeare uses in this play are used in present day. Othello’s not your ordinary play you’re used to seeing in present day for various reasons, even the opening act starts off in the middle of a conversation between Rodrigo and Iago which is unorthodox because many plays spend time developing certain characters. Everything from this play can be looked, examined and picked upon, including the setting, characters dialogue, and foreshadowing in some instances, even representation managed to make their way into the play. Shakespeare manages to develop various characters from the play in a successful manner but two characters certainly standout Iago, who is said to be the antagonist and the main character of the play in a careful manner Othello, whom the play is named after is an extremely odd character.
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.
Fred West addresses the fact of Iago misrepresentation, “It is not sufficient to simply drape Iago in allegorical trappings and proclaim him Mister Evil or a Machiavel or a Vice. Such a limited view of Iago is an injustice to the complexity of his character, since Shakespeare’s studies in personality are acclaimed by psychologists for their accuracy and profundity” (27). West seems to be reminding us that just seeing Iago as the representation of evil within the play of “Othello” is the wrong way to paint him. Iago is a man wronged by Othello in the fact that he was not chosen to be Othello’s lieutenant, which is what put the dastardly idea into Iago’s head to trick them all and bring them to their knees. As Iago tells Roderigo within the first act and scene of “Othello”,
In this tragedy, Othello, Shakespeare, has created a villain who behaves in this manner. Iago’s hatred, method of revenge, and vengeful hatred are the reasons for the lives lost in this play and the reasons that led to Iago’s downfall. 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).
Shakespeare's Othello is not simply a play which embodies the conflict between insider and outsider. The paradigm of otherness presented in this play is more complicated than the conclusion, "Othello is different; therefore, he is bad." Othello's character is to be revered. He is a champion among warriors; an advisor among councilmen; a Moor among Venetians. Yes, Othello is a Moor, but within the initial configuration of the play, this fact is almost irrelevant. His difference is not constructed as “otherness.” Othello, by his nature, is not an “otherized” character. Besides being the dark-skinned Moor, Othello varies in no real way from the other characters in the play. Further, Othello and Iago can be seen as two sides of the same destructive coin. With Iago as a foil and subversive adversary, Othello is not faulted for the indiscretions he commits. It is the invention and projection of otherness by various characters in the play, especially Iago, which set the stage for the tragedy of dissimilarity which is to ensue.
“I am not what I am,” proclaims one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most enigmatic villains, Iago, in the tragedy Othello. Iago’s journey for revenge enables him to become capable of immoral acts, and whilst his malevolence excites us, we are no more intrigued by his attributes than we are of the play’s tragic hero, Othellos’. Rather, both characters’ confrontation with jealousy and their subsequent moral demise as a result of failing to control such an emotion provides the true excitement for audiences. Iago’s spiteful manipulation of Othello makes him a multifaceted character — whose corrupt attributes make the audience examine their own morality. However, the same can be said of Othello; his failure to withstand Iago’s ‘pouring of pestilence’
A.C. Bradley describes Othello as "by far the most romantic figure among Shakespeare's heroes"(Shakespearean Tragedy, 1). This is an unusual description of a man who murders his own wife. However, Othello's feelings of hate for Desdemona started as an overwhelming love for her when their relationship began. This transformation from love to hate also inflicted the characters Iago and Roderigo and like Othello their hatred resulted in the murder of innocent people. Roderigo's love for Desdemona was transformed into hate towards any man that he thought was loved by her. Iago's love for his job and his wife, Emilia changed into a destructive hatred of Cassio and Othello. As a result of their hatred Cassio, Emilia, and at the end themselves were killed. The connection between love and hate in William Shakespeare's "Othello" is the ugly feeling of jealousy that caused such transformations. Jealousy can be described as a fear of losing something or someone that is valuable (Godfrey 2). As minor as this feeling appears to be by that definition, it can take on varying degrees of damaging behavior. Othello, Roderigo, and Iago became paralyzed by jealousy. Their thoughts, actions, and behaviors were ruled by it. Jealousy caused their inability to the act rationally. They became paranoid and unable to love. This paper will examine the jealousy that caused love to turn into hate for Roderigo, Othello, and Iago.
In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the power that Iago has over Emilia in their relationship helps manifest the unfairness of gender roles thus, leading to a distortion of the worth of women. The power that Iago has over Emilia hurts Emilia’s self-confidence. The distortion of the worth of women ultimately leads to misunderstandings in Emilia’s view of relationships.
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.
In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Othello, the power of jealousy rips relationships apart and destroys the peace amongst a once pleasant society. The principle character for the aggravation of the other characters is Iago. Iago is angry at Othello for not appointing him as his lieutenant and refuses to let it go. For selfish reasons, Iago plots an evil schemes of revenge towards Othello by making him, and everyone necessary to bring Othello down.
When it comes to it, Iago was a brilliant character, and a clever calculating villain. People believed Iago to be trustworthy, when in fact he wasn’t. Through this gullibility it allows him to manipulate them all. He was the main reason that this play was so interesting to me. He is the master manipulator and he was able to plant these seeds of lies into each characters head, without them realizing that he was the bad guy. In my opinion Iago is one of Shakespeare’s best characters. Othello was a great play!
Othello is one of the typical Shakespearean plays in that it deals with the tragic hero. Othello is convinced that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with Cassio. Beginning with the aperture lines of the play, Othello remains at a distance from much of the action that concerns and affects him. Roderigo and Iago refer equivocally to a “he” or “him” for much of the first scene. When they commence to designate whom they are verbalizing about, especially once they stand beneath Brabanzio’s window, they do so with racial epithets, not designations. These include “the Moor” , “the thick-lips” , “an old ebony ram”, and “a Barbary horse” (Cite). Although Othello appears at the commencement of the second scene, we do not hear him called by his name until well into Act I, scene 3. Later, Othello’s will be the last of the three ships to arrive at Cyprus in Act II, scene 1; Othello will stand apart while Cassio and Iago suppositious discuss Desdemona in Act IV, scene 1; Othello will postulate that Cassio is dead without being present when the fight takes place in Act V, scene 1. Othello’s status as an outsider may be the reason he is such easy prey for Iago.