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Iago and othello comparison
Desdemona as a victim to othello
Iago character study
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In Shakespeare’s play “The Tragedy of Othello,” Shakespeare is saying that as people we should always look for the light in people rather than the hidden intent. This is evident throughout the whole play with Iago, Othello, and Desdemona. Iago and Othello demonstrate what happens in you are constantly looking for the dark in someone while Desdemona shows what happens when you look for the light. Iago is the antagonist in the play and became this way because he looked too far into the actions of his wife and only saw the dark in her. In Act II Scene I, Iago reveals that he believes that Othello slept with his wife. Iago stated “ Till I am even’d with him wife for wife,” he never states a reason for thinking this. He overlooked all the good things Emilia did and only saw what he thought she did. If he had not done this he would have never wanted revenge on Othello and therefore would not have ended up going insane. Iago also believed his wife was dishonest with …show more content…
Othello’s doubt in Desdemona’s honesty and belief in Iago lead him to his downfall. Is Act II scene III, Othello states “I think my wife be honest and think she is not; I think that thou are just and think thou art not.” In this sentence, Othello is saying that he wants to believe his wife is honest, but his skepticism is not letting him believe that. If Othello could have overcome this poison planted in his brain by Iago, he could have saved himself from the downfall. Shakespeare seems to be saying with this scene that if one is only looking at actions by one side, of course, it will seem how it looks. If Othello had looked at Desdemona’s constant bugging of Othello over Cassio from her side, he would have seen that it was out of general love for a person and nothing more. Instead, he focused on the worst possible outcome of the situation which made him hurt himself the most and eventually the ones he
In Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago Is shown to be the villain. With the cunning use of his brilliance and manipulation, he is able to orchestrate an entire plot to take his revenge on Othello the center of all his ill tempered aggression. By lying to characters like Roderigo and many others, including his wife, in order to
In the eyes of the audience, the power of misdirection serves as one of the many factors involving Iago’s success. Watching the characters in Othello endure the incredibly destructive and influential choices he makes provides a glimpse into the depth of his abilities. However, although it is quite entertaining to view the dramatic misfortunes with each character, the audience is just as misguided in a certain way. The deceptive nature of the play presents the idea of looking behind face value. The fact that the title is the name of the main character exemplifies this idea in an incredibly subtle way even before the reader begins the play itself. Shakespeare’s intent was not necessarily to create a story about a man with an adulterous wife but
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
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.
The Reason why Iago develop such as evil plan is because Iago suspect that Othello is having an affair with his wife Emilia. He cited when he said "And it is thought abroad that 'twist my sheets he's done my office." The irony behind this line is that he then says, "I know not if't be true, but I, for mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety." That mean, He is not sure that Othello is having an affair with his wife but he will pay anyhow, this show that Iago is so blind with his jealousy that he will do anything on his reach to make Othello for such act no sure committed.
Nick Potter states: “Othello is a tragedy of incomprehension, not at the level of intrigue but at the deepest level of human dealings. No one in Othello comes to understand himself or anyone else.” Within Shakespeare’s Othello, no character fully understands themselves of one another. This is especially true in human dealings, where the intentions of characters and how others interpret them are often misaligned. Conflict, and eventually, tragedy arises in Othello due to the incomprehension between characters, as well as within the characters themselves. From the reader’s perspective, it is tragic to understand the reality behind all the incomprehension, since the characters are oblivious to what the readers are aware of.
Iago’s persistence and villainous intentions made Othello become jealous of Cassio and break down his emotions towards Desdemona and want to kill her with fierce rage. Othello would not do such a crime if he knew it was a lie because Othello loves Desdemona and would die for her. Othello was madly in love with Desdemona and they were compassionate for each other, but he was misguided and confused with jealousy and hatred which steered him off course to his sinister fate. Othello cannot be justified as a bad person because of one incident, especially after all the great things he’s done and achieved for the city. Iago is the real antagonist and has become the bad man of the play as his roles are to protect the crown in which was Othello and stay loyal to fellow soldiers but throughout the play he was the complete opposite with characteristics such as being a liar, un loyal to every character in the play.
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.
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”, Despise me if I do not. Three great ones of the city,/ In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,... ... middle of paper ... ... n the end of the play.
William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy about revenge through jealousy and deception. Throughout the play, Iago is constantly pitting characters against each other in order to satiate his anger from being denied the promotion to lieutenant that Cassio was granted. As a catalyst for all the conflicts that arise during the play, Iago merely uncovers the underlying insecurities characters such as Othello, a notable war general in Venice, are struggling with. Animal imagery as well as the use of light and dark to differentiate between race is very prominent and is used to drive a wedge between the newlyweds, Othello and Desdemona. Although Othello is a highly accomplished and well respected war hero, the notion that Venetians, including Desdemona, are a superior race, prevents him from ever feeling truly secure in his marriage, ultimately leading to the demise of several people close to him, and finally himself.
Iago is one of the most complex characters in William Shakespeare’s Othello. To most of the characters, he is “Honest Iago” (Shakespeare, 5.2.73). however, the audience knows that Iago is the furthest thing from honest. Iago is a devil bent on destroying the lives of everyone around him. At the beginning of the play, the audience learns that Iago is determined to ruin Othello’s marriage to Desdemona. He has appointed a new lieutenant, Michael Cassio. This angers Iago because he feels that he has much more military experience and should be the lieutenant. Iago has also heard rumours that both Othello and Cassio have slept with his wife Emilia. He concocts a malicious plan to ruin the lives of all who have wronged him, and consequently establishing
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the main character Othello is typically victimized and portrayed as a mere scapegoat of the villainous Iago’s devious plans. However, Othello is not completely void of responsibility for the death of his wife. Othello, the tragic hero, is just as responsible as Iago for his premeditated murder of Desdemona due to his own internal flaws. Specifically, flaws such as his vivid imagination and his self over-idealization are brought to the surface by Iago, which consequently allows Iago to easily manipulate Othello.
Shakespeare’s play Othello is based on tragedy of Othello’s jealousy, which ironically leads Othello to kill Desdemona, his beloved (wife). Evil Iago is above all Shakespeare’s villains. Iago is a person with evil emotions, and as a result he deceives everybody, he also is exceptionally influential character who has taken in everyone, above all his own wife Emilia. His public face of bravery and honesty conceals a satanic delight in manipulation and destruction, and he will stop at nothing. Iago’s opinion on women is that he detests women in all kinds and shapes, and finds faults even when they have little or no faults.
Shakespeare develops the character Iago into an instigator and evil man. Iago attempts and succeeds to convince Othello that his wife has had an affair with his friend Cassio. We see Iago beginning his plans at the very start of the play. “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at, I am not what I am.”(Oth 1:1:64-65) He immediately tries to start trouble with Brabantio and Othello over the marriage to Desdemona. Iago want to get in Othello’s way because he was passed over for general and Cassio was chosen instead. We see from the start how he plots against Othello and he involves several characters in his plans. “And what’s he then that says I play the villain? When this advice is free. I give and honest, probal to thinking, and indeed the course to win the Moor again? For tis easy Th’ inclining Desdemona to subdue in any honest suit; she’s framed as fruitful…”(2:3:295-300).
Iago can be viewed as the narrator of this play. He is left alone on stage several times trough out the play to more or less speak to the audience. One such instance is the last part of the first act where Iago devisee’s his plan of attack on every character in the play. At this point the only reason we have seen for his anger is that he has not been appointed Othello’s lieutenant, despite his recommendations. “But for my sport and profit, I hate the moor…”(1.3.365). It is obvious that Iago is the villain in the play. But this line is very important. Iago hates Othello it seems because of his unapointed position. This line asks us, the audience, a good question: does Iago hate Othello enough to go trough all the trouble creating enemies of the entire cast? There could have been much simpler ways to get at Othello without dragging everyone else into the picture. Also after Rodrigo lost his luetiency it would have been simple for Iago to fill the newly vacant position. I believe, as the line says, Iago hates Othello only for amusement. “But for my sport and profit…” (1.3.365) Iago engages in the act of hating not because he has a disregard for Othello. Iago engages in the act of hating only to hate, whether it be Othello or his own mother. Iago hates for his own “sport and profit.” thus understand this concept of Iago puts a whole new spin on the evil which consumes him.