Iago as the Puppetmaster in Othello by William Shakespeare

1187 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in the play of macbeth.pdf

Iago as the Puppetmaster in Othello by William Shakespeare

A puppet master is in complete control over his puppet. But only after years of studying and observation does this special interaction of complete control occur. The master soon speaks for the puppet, acts for the puppet, and feels for the puppet. A similar manipulative situation arises between Iago and Othello in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago's clever application of parallelism, rhyme, and metaphor play a key role in his devilish scheme. He wishes to manipulate Othello's emotions; thus creating a condition satiated in malice and jealousy within the Moor.

Iago's fiery rhetoric embellishes the reality of his groundless hatred. The sly Iago represents the very irony that encircles Othello. Appearing as an ally, Iago's vengeful nature transforms him into the ultimate foe of Othello. Iago's anger is initiated by not being chosen as Othello's military lieutenant. This fuels his deceitful calling of Brabantio, Desdemona's father. "You have lost half your soul. Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise!" (I.i.96-98). Iago awakens Brabantio with this metaphor of the ram and the ewe, referring to Othello and Desdemona, in order to enrage him. Othello represents the "black ram," exhibiting a connotatively negative sense as opposed to the pure "white ewe," Brabantio's daughter. This metaphor instills anger in Brabantio, not because Othello is involved, but because his daughter is losing her purity. The repetition of "now" and "arise" in Iago's cry add urgency to the matter and further alarm Brabantio. As Iago commences his scheme against Othello, he seeks the assistance of Roderigo, who is deeply in love with Desdemona. The ti...

... middle of paper ...

... resulting in him taking his own life over the body of his wife, his friend, his love.

Othello's Iago and Othello enter the battlefields of passion as they emotionally claw their ways through their sinister days. Iago embodies the cunning and deceptive warrior strategically mapping out his enemy, Othello, the powerful one-man army built for strength. The cunning warrior slyly waits for the opportunity to attack. He looks for that brief moment the gargantuan beast lets down his guard. With a final blow the beast is dead; for he was unaware that danger was always lurking behind him. Iago enters the emotions of Othello through his venomous words. Iago, as the deceitful warrior, delivers the final blow upon Othello through his dialect, which severs him both psychologically and physically, from his true emotions with the iniquitous knife of malice and jealousy.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Hero's Journey Othello

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    Iago and Othello plan to murder Desdemona and Cassio. Instead, Iago once again betrays his word and sets Othello up for failure and the evil that lurks within this stage devours Othello. The mighty dragon which the hero must slay at the end of the journey proves to be Iago himself all along which kills Othello ending his journey before he can even finish it. Manipulation is Iago’s ultimate power, “he frequently takes the audience or reader into his confidence, manipulates his prey, and watches his deceptions wreak havoc”

    Read More

  • Comparing Will In Shakespeare's Othello And Henry IV

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Presentation Of Iago In Othello

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    Iago has been regarded as : “Shakespeare’s greatest villain”; shown by his ability to be both admired and despised for his manipulative and obsessive nature towards Othello and his relationship with Desdemona. In Act One, Iago can be seen to be admired for his work within the Venetian army and his want to warn Brabantio about the ‘evil’ Othello’s plans to ‘bewitch’ young Desdemona: “The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so....” Here, Iago is speaking within a soliloquy and is warning the audience that Othello has cruel intentions. Within the Jacobean era, the time of which the play was performed, attitudes towards black people were very negative and therefore, a white man would play the character

    Read More

  • Othello Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Language and imagination are among the most dangerous weapons Iago has at his disposal in Othello. Jealous and angered by Othello’s - his commanding officer - passing over him for a promotion, Iago develops a fierce, antagonistic perspective the aforementioned character; this sentiment quickly corrupts his volition, and he subsequently concocts a plot bent on destroying Othello. He renders this revenge scheme credible by concealing his true feelings behind a facade of loyalty and trustworthiness, and fabricating a fictitious story concerning the infidelity of Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Until the play concludes, Iago utilizes purposeful rhetoric to drive his agenda, and also a mastery of deception to mislead the minds of his targets.

    Read More

  • Iago’s Manipulation in Act One of Shakespeare's Othello

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    The audience at this point know nothing of Othello that is gained by their own opinion, instead we are lead to believe from Iago’s race related description that Othello is a threatening and evil moor, whose beastial sexual appetite, conveyed by Iago’s cries to Brabantio, telling him that ‘an old black ram is tupping’ his ‘white ewe’ (1.1.89), is something of a rapist. Iago’s coarse animal related language conveys Iago’s feelings against Othello’s marriage in a much more pronounced way. The image of an ‘old black ram’ gives the audience nothing but negative images of Othello, especially when this ‘old black ram’ is being associated with the innocence of a ‘white ewe’. Iago then associates Othello with the image of ‘the devil’ (1.1.92) because of Othello’s colour, Iago warns Brabantio that he has ‘lost half [his] soul’ now that Desdemona is married to Othello. Iago here emphasises the biracial nature of the marriage, already showing his ability to manipulate people, in this case he is manipulating Brabantio, to believe in Iago’s own opinions and in theory to eliminate all thoughts that Brabantio might of had of his own about the marriage.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Iago and Lucifer

    2324 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Othello - The Motivations of Iago in Othello

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    Iago makes his actions of revenge toward Othello almost immediately by informing Brabantio, a Venetian senator and father of Desdemona, that "an old black ram (Othello) is tupping (his) white ewe (Desdemona). " (l.i.97) Iago's next motive becomes clear when he convinces Othello "that he (Cassio) is too familiar with his (Othello's) wife." (1,iii.4399) Iago's motive here is to break the bond between Othello and Desdemona.

    Read More

  • Iago's Manipulation

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Iago demonstrates a mastery of manipulation over people who had previously trusted and confided in him. His sudden turn from Othello’s loyal ensign to rage-filled villain seems indicative of a man who can no longer accept his position in life. Iago’s plotting of Othello’s demise starts as idle talk of a disgruntled 28 year-old career military man passed over for promotion. Iago believes that such a promotion may never come after Othello rejects his candidacy and makes it clear that he did not believe him suitable. He sees Othello is only concerned with personal and political gain with his choice of Cassio as lieutenant. When Iago teams with love-scorned and desperate Roderigo, he begins to construct Othello’s downfall. Iago is declaring an all-out covert war on Othello, Cassio, and anyone else who gets in his way. In Iago’s first speech in Act I Scene II, he proclaims hatred for Othello and lays out his plan for seeking vengeance. “After some time, to abuse Othello’s ears that he is too familiar with his wife (Shakespeare 1473).”

    Read More

  • Iago

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    Iago uses his strategically apt abilities to come up with a very intelligent system that will eventually destroy Othello. After Iago and Rodrigo find out about Othello and Desdemona’s marriage, Iago manipulates Rodrigo into making him angry, because Rodrigo has feelings for Desdemona. Iago and Roderigo go to Brabantio’s abode to enrage him by telling him about Othello and Desdemona: “Call up her ...

    Read More

  • Iago's Jealousy Character Analysis

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Villian Iago in Shakespeare´s Othello

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    Iago is willing to prattle on Othello and Desdemona for animosity. Iago's poisoned language builds up Brabantio's fearness of mixed race marriage and especially his pure daughter. Iago's manipulation of Roderigo and Brabantio sets up the battle between Othello and Brabantio. Later on in the play Iago still seeks help from Roderigo by forcing him to kill Cassio whom is drunk with just a few words. Montano which is the governor of Cyprus stepped in to resolve the problem between Cassio and Roderigo. Unfortunately Cassio stabs Montano since he lost control of himself from Iago's...

    Read More

  • Othello's Tragic Flaw

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    The evil side of Othello’s tragic flaw came from without, in the form of Iago. The internal flaw exists only in his heartrendingly unshakable goodness and honor. One of the first impressions gained of Othello is that he is a great war hero. Before much else is said of him, tales of his skill and valor in battle are illustrated and he is shown to be a great and famed warrior. He naturally possesses many attributes typically associated with soldiers.

    Read More

  • Iago as the Hero of Othello by Shakespeare

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    person who has bad things happen to him or her. Likewise, the antagonist is portrayed as evil and villainous, and seeks to destroy the moral protagonist. Many readers and critics perceive Iago as evil, manipulative, and antagonistic. He directly seeks to destroy Othello, Cassio, Roderigo, and any other good character, out of selfish and unprovoked rage. The critic, W.H. Auden, says this in reference to Iago, " Iago is a wicked man. The wicked man, the stage villain...the suffering he inflicts is real (48)." In the play Othello, Othello is viewed as the good, and intelligent character. He is loving wise, and the ideal soldier. The critic William Empson defines him as, "the personification of honour (44)." For these reasons, many readers side with Othello as being the heroic protagonist of the story. Othello is living a successful life, newly married, and prospering until Iago decides to step in. By looking at the play in another perspective, Iago, not Othello, can be viewed as a heroic and good character. Despite Othello's role in the play and portrayal by the critic, Iago's desire and motive to create a better life for himself, as well as his keen and cunning intellect, make him a heroic protagonistic character with whom the audience can sympathize.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Jealousy And Manipulation In Othello

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Othello, The Great Chain of being is seen through the antagonist Iago who extensively uses racial prejudice and animalistic language to dehumanise Othello as an animal or beast, purely because of his complexion. In the beginning of the play, Machiavellian Iago pursues to report and persuade Brabantio of Desdemona and Othello’s secret elopement in the middle of the night. Iago abruptly bellowed, “an old black ram….is tupping your ewe” (I.I.85-86). Metaphor has been used to add more offence to Iago’s directive insult of Othello by metaphorically, comparing him to a sexually, aggressive animal in a malevont phrase. The infusion of strong animalistic descriptive language and animal imagery is used to illustrate the hostility towards Othello’s ethnicity and both Desdemona’s and Othello’s interracial marriage to which causes the audience to instinctively analyse for the character’s weaknesses. Furthermore, Iago’s incorporation of animalistic terms allowed him to control his victims, to be more susceptible to his manipulation. In the later scenes, Iago’s manipulative character is further shown when he witnessed Cassio leaving Desdemona’s room without the acknowledgement of Othello, so he used this as an opportunity to report back to Othello by manipulating Desdemona having an affair with

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Othello A Hero And Iago

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the play, the audience is amazed by just how well Iago’s destructive plan worked. He changed Othello’s emotional state, from a man who holds himself well to a man driven to murder by jealousy, destroying not only the friendship between Othello and Cassio, but also Othello’s marriage to Desdemona. The audience again, may feel a varying degree of repulsion to Iago for the damage he had caused, but deep down the audience is satisfied with the mould of a villain matching Iago so well, and Iago bringing much more to the table. A reason behind the success of his plan, Iago is manipulative to everyone around him. Othello praises Iago as “a man he is of honesty and trust”, giving Iago the nickname, “Honest Iago”. He keeps his ‘friend’ Roderigo close, but his enemy closer, manipulating Othello to believe Desdemona did deceive him as “she did deceive her father marrying you.” His two-faced personality and ability to manipulate everyone around him allows his plan to be even with Othello “wife for wife” to work, while he fits the villainous mould well. He brings more to the table by hiding this behind a ‘heroic’ and ‘trustworthy’ mask, another factor that makes his attributes of a villain more

    Read More

More about Iago as the Puppetmaster in Othello by William Shakespeare

Open Document