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Character development of iago in othello
Character analysis of iago in othello essay
Character analysis of Iago of William Shakespeare's Othello
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Of all the characters presented in Shakespeare's literature, Iago is the most sinister one of the group. He is a ruthless sociopath, and no other character can even come close to how evil he has become. Most of the antagonists present in Shakespeare's plays have usable reasons for the dilemmas he has caused. Iago does what he did because he felt that is what must and had to be done, then for the most part he just has a burning animosity Othello, which in that case, uses everyone around Othello to destroy him. William Shakespeare’s antagonist, Iago, is a dynamic character whose villainous mastermind that strikes from the sidelines. Iago is the type of person who does not like to get his hands dirty, and would prefer to manipulate others in to doing his bidding. Iago is quite possibly one of the best examples of mischief in the literature. He is merely as manipulative, if not more as other "bad guys”. He uses not only lies but kind of twists the truth to get the results he wants in every situation. Benjamin Beier says “Iago also brings the interesting feature of truth into it all. From the very start of Othello, Iago is in the middle of his scheme to destroy Othello.” He leads everyone on using his likeable persona to fool everyone such as his wife Emilia, Cassio, …show more content…
In the beginning, he once stresses proofs of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. Iago carefully and masterfully tricks Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with Cassio. He influences the protagonist’s uncertainties and “trigger off an engulfing suspicion and jealousy of his wife's supposed disloyalty, which settles in him killing her” (Hamlin). He does this through a series of suggestions and hesitations that entice and implant images into Othello's head that lead him to his own demise. More importantly, Iago gives Othello the motive to murder his own innocent wife Desdemona, supporting Iago's huge appetite for
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
Iago was the villain men envied and woman wanted. Some theorist hypothesized that Iago in fact had no interest in the ladies but was more captivated by the men. Iago was likely the most vicious villains in Shakespeare. He played the two faced liar smiting and betraying his fellow characters. He plays three sides of a story, while at one point he is the best comrade a person could have, at another he is back stabbing and yet another throwing hints to the audience. Iago is, in my opinion, the main character creating the most depth and interest throughout the entire play.
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
Iago is Othello’s ensign, and Shakespeare’s greatest villain. His public face of bravery and honesty conceals a satanic delight in manipulation and destruction. Passed over for a promotion by his commander, he vows to destroy the moor. Iago feels that he was best suited to hold the position of lieutenant, as opposed to Cassio. From this Iago manufactures accusations of adultery these accusations are merely excuses to validate his actions and greed.
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.
The Motivations of Iago in Othello Have you ever met a devil who does evil for his own sake? Iago in William Shakespeare's Othello could seem like he has good motives, but I feel that he uses them as his excuses. The first thing that I did was uncover Iago's motives. Iago is the most controversial character in Othello. He is able to keep his true thoughts and motives from everyone.
Iago is not really evil or the vice character he is the misunderstood and wonderful character who can only be seen through a certain lens before it all goes back to black and white and good and evil fights one another for the main stage again. Shakespeare pulled many themes into this story but in all truth I believe that Iago is true main character, not Othello or Cassio, but Iago with all of his problems and vices, he is the truest expression of being human. Works Cited Rosenberg, Marvin. “In Defense of Iago.” Shakespeare Quarterly.
Iago is the main drive for almost everything in the story. There are times where it does not even seem that Othello is the main character in the story. Iago’s role in the story is to destroy Othello and he does a very good job of convincing the reader that he despises Othello. His monologues go repetitively about how terrible of a man Othello is. The reason why Iago is furious at Othello is that it is rumored that he slept with his wife. Everybody has felt that sting of betrayal and jealousy, but there are some people that do not think before they act and are so bent on making sure people get what they deserve or wanting bad things to happen to the people that have hurt them. These individuals get lost and that is what Iago is an example of that personal event. His monologues range from utterly despicable to some of the most well thought out plans that no one would have ever thought of. The great thing about Iago is he is not a standard villain. Most villains are dumb and always fail in their plans. Iago is completely different from the generic villain; he is smart and plans his moves
There are several reasons that make Iago such a terrifying villain. Shakespeare gave certain qualities to his creation that made Iago more than just an evil character. These qualities transform Iago into the truly insidious character seen in the play. From the beginning of Othello to the time that Iago is revealed as the culprit, everyone trusts Iago and looks to him for advice. This gives Iago the means and opportunity to pull off his villainy.
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
From these eleven soliloquies the audience is pulled back and forth concerning their opinions of Iago’s character. He plays on the audiences pity, however also shows them his darker side. In the end, the audience is left with no doubt that Iago is nothing but evil and manipulative. I suppose one could say Iago was the true definition of a sociopath and cared for no one but himself. Not once did he show remorse or care for any other character in the play. The entire time he thought of schemes to get other characters to commit murder and be murdered in order to acquire his goal of gaining Othello’s title. His use of darkness and light, and deeper motives combine with his exterior ones exposed in his soliloquies, truly made him a hard character to analyze and predict, but allowed the audience to certainly place him as the detestable antagonist at the end.
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, 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.
Iago is the villain behind the life destroying occurrences in Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo, and his wife, Emilia’s, lives. Iago destroys many lives in Othello, the main person that had his life destroyed is Othello himself. Iago is the main puppet master behind Othello’s growing mistrust of Desdemona. He even manipulates seemingly innocent interactions between Cassio and Desdemona in the play Othello.