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What is othello involved in in the play
Discuss the character of othello
Discuss the character of othello
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In the reading Othello by William Shakespeare there are many different types of people.There is loving, caring, concerned, racist, angry, and many more. the main one that settles in this reading would be anger. The anger is coming from a man named Iago. Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that helps him in the long run. He is the main reason of why this reading’s out come is a tragedy. The role he plays in my eyes is just a selfish man who doesn't care about anyone but himself and will only do things that will benefit him. Iago is smart. He is an expert judge of people and their characters and uses this to his advantage. For example, he knows Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and figures that he would do anything to have …show more content…
There are a few reasons for why Iago is such a villain! One he is a jealous man. One reason for this is because Iago and Cassio were Othello's lieutenants. The problem with this is Othello promoted Cassio and not Iago. This happening Iago wants to get rid of cassio some way or make his life very rough until he can rid of him. He would make his life rough by “attacking” his wife Desdemona. He wasn’t literally attacking her, he was just using her as much as she could. He would do this by constantly telling lies to Othello saying that his lovely Desdemona is not loyal and is basically cheating on him. Othello still didn’t believe anything Iago was saying therefore Iago had to up his game. He had a deceitful idea, and it had to do with a handkerchief. The significance of this handkerchief is, it was …show more content…
Cassio had no idea where this handkerchief came from there for he took it with him out of the house. He didn’t know whose it was so he just kept it on him. Othello then saw it and freaked out because he gave that same exact handkerchief to Desdemona! After finding this Othello wanted Desdemona and Cassio dead. He talked to iago about killing Cassio and Iago agreed. Instead of him doing the killing Iago ordered Rodrigo to kill Cassio. As far as Roderigo and Iago knew Cassio was dead so Iago killed Roderigo because he knew everything and Iago didn’t want anything coming back on him. But little did Iago know cassio was not quite dead. Iago’s plan to ruin Desdemona, Cassio, and Othello’s life was falling in plan. The reason for this was Othello then killed his wife… He killed poor innocent Desdemona by suffocating her with a pillow then strangling her! He then goes and talks to Iago because he finds out that Desdemona was innocent and didn't deserve to die. He stabs Iago but does not kill him! Iago lives then after he Stabs Iago Othello then kills
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 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 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.
So the only true character Iago truly despises is Cassio. Iago dislikes Othello, but ultimately would rather be his buddy than his enemy. Iago sees Othello as a good guy, but simply sees Othello’s pick of Cassio as just a lapse in judgement. So Iago takes it upon himself to change what he sees as wrong. The only problem is the way he goes about it.
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”,
Iago essentially ruined Othello’s life and caused it to come to an end. Throughout the story, Othello repeats how Iago is honorable and a trustworthy friend (Act II, scene iii, lines ): this couldn’t be further from the truth. Iago constantly goes behind Othello’s back and plots against him. Whether it be from convincing Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful (Act III, scene iii, lines 1816-1896), making him think a truly trustworthy person in Cassio was just the opposite because of his drinking (Act II, scene iii, lines 1315-1400), or taking the symbol of love, the handkerchief, between Desdemona and Othello and making it a symbol of hatred and unfaithfulness (Act III, scene iv, lines 1973-2007), he ruined the life of the Moor and, subsequently, ended it. Iago may have been fueled by a secret love to Desdemona, anger at his lack of promotion, or the thought of his wife cheating on him. Whatever his motives were, it can be said that he had no honor and only wanted revenge on those who had supposedly wronged
Throughout history, there have been many human beings whom have been seen as either a hero or a villain. In their childhood, these people must had obstacles that were in their way, causing each individual to either work harder or give up. People, however; must understand that each individual has a potential in achieving their goals, but if one is mistreated or deceived due to jealousy, resentment, hatred, or ambition, it can lead to many catastrophic events. People who have pride and arrogance do not want to have equals, rather they want to see their victims suffer. These people have no difficulty in achieving their goals due to the fact that their victims have too innocent a nature to suspect the nefarious motives of their enemies. 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 of the lives lost in this play and the reasons that lead to Iago’s downfall.
What makes a good villain? What qualities make one villain stand out from another? Is it their demeanor, ruthlessness, or the methods that they employ to accomplish their tasks? In any case, a great villain must leave the reader with a respect for their methods and a question about their motives. In Shakespeare's Othello, there is one character in Iago that fulfills all of these qualifications. Iago is a wonderful villain because he gains other's trust, relentlessly takes advantage of his peers' flaws, and unapologetically causes the deaths of his counterparts in order to achieve his goals.
Iago is a man who has been molded by his experiences. Shakespearean characters traditionally act merely as stock characters; they fulfill a role that is necessary to the story and they are merely characters created in the vacuum of that play. The action of the play and the circumstances surrounding the story dictate how characters act and respond to events. Interesting to Othello, each character is guided by their experiences outside of the play. What happened to them before the play started guides how they act within the play. This is especially true of Iago, who has been guided by his experiences outside the context of the story itself. The insecurities that plague him, the machinations he utilizes to manipulate other characters, the drive for control, all have been caused by his experiences outside of the play. And in fact, these experiences created his superobjective: to prove his worth in the world by regaining control of circumstances that he feels are working against him.
... Iago can be perceived as either evil or brilliant in his plans to be deemed lieutenant. As the villain in?Othello?, Iago has two main actions: to plot and to deceive. Iago is mad that Cassio was chosen to be lieutenant instead of himself.
The actions of Iago in the William Shakespeare play Othello were unanimously the actions of a man with little remorse or compassion toward the parties involved. There have been many debates over the years as to what drove a man to take such actions upon the people close to him, some believe it was the jealousy he felt towards Cassio after he was given a military rank which Iago was looked over for, other readers have felt that Iago was insane and didn't fully realize his actions or the consequences of them. There is a reason that is far more believable given the path Iago followed during the play; Iago was a person who gained pleasure from the pain and emotional stress of others, although displaying sociopathic behaviour he knew what he was doing and did it as a source of personal amusement, simply put Iago was what today we call a jerk.
In Shakespeare's Othello, the character Iago, Othello's lieutenant, is the cause of all the tragedy which comes to pass as the play progresses. Iago is the antagonist of the play, but rather than being the direct opponent to the tragic hero, Iago is a manipulator, opposing Othello not directly but through other characters whom he tricks into acting for him. In the first scene of the play, Iago gives the audience warning that he is not all that he seems when he says, "I am not what I am." (I,i,65) He is first seen in this scene appearing to help Roderigo, a suitor to Desdemona, who has run off with Othello, the Moorish general of the Venician army. Iago hates Othello for another reason. Instead of choosing him to be his lieutenant, Othello chose Cassio, another foreigner, and relegated Iago to the position of his ancient. When Roderigo asks why Iago continues to serve Othello, in spite of how the general has treated him, Iago replies, "I follow him to serve my turn upon him." (I,i,42) He goes on to give an example of how he intends to serve him, by acting like the perfect servant, while secretly enriching himself, and later says, "In following him, I follow but myself." (I,i,58) From this, one might think that he is still fairly straightforward in his plans, that he merely intends to betray Othello at some later date. However, in the third scene, he shows the audience his ability to manipulate people, when he convinces Roderigo to follow him to Cyprus and to bring all of his money, presumably to win back Desdemona. After Roderigo has left to do what Iago has suggested, Iago says, "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse." (I,iii,37 y9) Later, in Act IV, we find that Roderigo has been giving jewels to Iago to give to Desdemona, which Iago, it is implied, has sold for his own uses. Thus, it is seen that Iago is merely using Roderigo to further his own ends, just as he said he was only serving Othello to serve himself. Also at the end of the third scene, Iago sets forth his plan to take Cassio's position, by telling Othello that his lieutenant ". . . is too familiar with his wife." (I,iii,402) It also comes out in this speech that he suspects Othello of committing adultery with his wife.
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.
In Othello, by William Shakespeare, one of the most intriguing characters is Iago. At first glance he seems to be pure evil, but I think his actions are much more complex. Through thought-out words and actions Iago is able to manipulate others to do things that benefit him and move him closer to his goals. This character is consumed with envy and deceit that leads to theft and killing. Iago is the main driving force in this play, pushing Othello and the other characters towards their tragic endings.