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What is the role of iago in the book othello
Analysis of The Tragedy Othello
Analysis of Othello
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In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, the Moor, Othello has just been mislead by the deceitful Iago that Desdemona, Othello’s wife, may be cheating on him. Iago attempts to convince Othello that it is Desdemona’s nature to betray him, just as she did to her father. Othello acts as if this news does not bother him, and he does not believe it. Although, once Iago exits the stage the audience hears Othello’s true thoughts in this soliloquy.
In this passage, Othello speaks highly of Iago. He asserts, “This fellow’s of exceeding honesty/and knows all quantities, with a learnèd spirit,/of human dealings.” This exhibits Othello’s trust in Iago. Othello feels as if Iago is an insider to the women of Venice, and trusts his opinions, and advice.
However, this is very ironic, because Iago is a manipulative liar, who is tricking Othello into believing his wife is cheating on him. It is revealed in this passage that Othello is believing what Iago is telling him. Othello states, “I had rather be a toad/and live upon the vapor of a dungeon,/than keep a corner in the thing I love/for others' uses.”. Othello does not actually want to be toad living in a dungeon because Desdemona betrayed him, but he uses this hyperbole to emphasize his bitterness and sadness. Shakespeare uses verse in this passage, because this is a serious moment where Othello is speaking to the audience. Shakespeare created a bleak tone in this part of the play to emphasize the seriousness of what Othello was saying. This is the first time in the play Othello admits to being concerned with Desdemona cheating on him. Othello says, “Yet ’tis the plague to great ones,/prerogatived are they less than the base./'Tis destiny unshunnable, like death./Even then this forkèd plague is fated to us/when we do quicken.” By this he means it is unavoidable that great men’s wives will betray them, such as Desdemona betraying him. This foreshadows Othello killing Desdemona, so she can not betray anymore men. From this point on in the play Othello’s jealousy increases, which leads to tragic events.
Iago's honest betrayal has left Othello pondering over Desdemona's faithfulness. Believing the words of his most honest ancient, Othello gullibly succumbs to his insinuations of his wife, Desdemona, as being unfaithful. Through Othello's soliloquy, he is not the self-confident General formerly portrayed as. Instead, his indecision over his wife's infidelity has caused him to explore his flaws as a human being, showing signs of appearance versus reality.
As Othello's most trusted friend Iago has the upper hand when it comes to influencing Othello. When Othello passes Iago up for the position of lieutenant he claims to be angry; he is ready to seek revenge. Othello and Iago have been through countless battles and Othello feels as if he can trust “Honest” Iago. When there is a problem Iago is there to lend a helping hand. Iago uses his trusted advice to manipulate the mind of Othello and other main characters. He even calls himself honest, “As honest as I am” Iago uses these words to convince his credibility (Othello, Shakespeare, Act II Scene I Line
In William Shaspeare play Othello, Iago make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He does by taking advantage of any situation to make of Othello doubt. Iago make Othello thing a lot of crazy thing on his head, Othello got so jelous leading him to kill his own wife, Desdemona, satisfying iago obseccion for revenge.
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.
The more Othello realizes how much would value his future with Desdemona, the more betrayed he feels. Othello begins to think that his entire investment in Desdemona is for naught, transforming Othello’s passion into spite. Iago exploits the underside of deep devotion - jealously. The emotions Othello feels - attachment, jealously, and hate - drives him mad, obscuring the logic of the situation - that Iago is only spreading fantasized rumors about Cassio and Desdemona. Instead of confronting Cassio, Othello accepts Desdemona’s treason as truth. Iago may have mastered Othello’s emotions, but Othello allows his emotions to consume him. People need to confront their feelings and not lose track of logic. Otherwise, even something as sincere as Othello’s fondness for Desdemona can turn one into a
At first Othello is confident about his belief that Desdemona would never lie or cheat. This allows him to appear composed when the topic is even brought up. When Brabantio says, “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee” (1.3.288-289), he says, “My life upon her faith” (1.3.290). Othello believes that Desdemona would never lie to him, even though she had lied to her father. Also, he did not act or appear mad when Brabantio says this. As a result, Iago is able to use this confidence of Desdemona not cheating on him against him. At first Iago just gets the idea in his head. He then tries to “Fetch me the handkerchief—my mind misgives” (3.4.80). Othello admits that he is doubting her loyalty. Iago told Othello that she had given the handkerchief to Cassio. At first Othello did not believe him until he realizes she truly does not have it. Once he believed this Iago was able to continue with his lie. He told Othello she has slept with him numerous times. He also tells him that he should kill her due to everything she has done. To this Othello replies, “Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight; for she shall not live. No, my heart is turned to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand” (Shakespeare 4.1.183-185). Othello admits that he believes she should be killed. Iago then induced him that he should be the one to kill her. Othello
Lines 440-441: “ He hath a person and a smooth dispose/ To be suspected, framed to make women false.”
The fact that Othello is wavering between believing Iago and trusting his wife is reflected in the imagery Shakespeare uses in the soliloquy. The first image that is used is that of a falcon. Lines 301-304 read: “If I do prove her haggard, / Though that her jesses were my dear heartstrings, / I’d whistle her off and let her down the wind to prey at fortune.” This shows that Othello is still unsure about Desdemona, and claims that though he is in love with Desdemona, he would drop her if he found out she was cheating. This is quite a strong willed statement, but it is diminished by lines 319-320, which follow the entrance of Desdemona and Emilia into the chamber. Othello says, “If she be false, heaven mocks itself! / I’ll not believe ‘t.” This is an example of how turbulent Othello’s state of mind is. The steadfast determination expressed using the falcon image sort of “melts” when he sees Desdemona, and he immediately professes denial that she could be untrue to him. Yet, just ten lines earlier (l. 308), Othello says, “She’s gone! I am abused!” and proceeds to lament the very institution of marriage: “O cure of marriage, ? That we can call these delicate creatures ours / And not their appetites!” Shakespeare’s placing of these three different conclusions Othello has drawn in such close proximity is an example of antithesis, and a testament to the changing and chaotic state of mind of Othello.
In many relationships, there is suspicion or distrust, but it rarely leads to such murder, hate, and suicide so contemptible as in William Shakespeare’s Othello. In the play, three innocent characters spiral downward to their deaths as the sinister Iago unravels his scheme for revenge. These three are Othello the Moor, Cassio, and Desdemona who is Othello’s faithful wife. Desdemona receives the sour end of the bargain as she has never done anything to upset Iago, but rather she is killed for loving Othello and for being a friend toward Cassio. However, her love for Othello stays strong, though she realizes she is quickly falling out of his favor, soon to meet the death of their love.
This describes Othello releasing his intensifying ideation in which he believes Desdemona has cheated on him with his friend, Cassio, even though she has not. Overall, whether it was his fake, manipulative relationship with Iago or his mistakenly unloyal and paranoid relationship with Desdemona, Othello’s diagnosis is most likely driven by the thought of losing interpersonal relationships with the characters in the play.
In The Tragedy of Othello, William Shakespeare tells the tale of the “noble Moor” whose honor and innocence bring about his downfall. Shakespeare writes of the power of jealousy, and the art of masterful deception and trickery. The story primarily takes place in Cyprus, during a war between the people of Venice and the invading Turks. In this play Shakespeare shows the feelings of Othello’s embittered right-hand man of, Iago, who feels he is passed over for a promotion and swears his revenge. He proceeds to manipulate his friends, enemies, and family into doing his bidding without any of them ever realizing his ultimate goal. He makes Othello believe that his new wife, the innocent Desdemona, is committing adultery with his newly promoted officer Michael Cassio. After this seed of jealousy has been planted, Othello’s mind takes its course in determining the true outcome, with a little more nudging from Iago. The course of action he proceeds to follow is one that not only ends his own life, but also the life of his wife and others. In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, Othello is a man who is still truly honorable, despite the course of action he takes to resolve his perceived problem.
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
Once the thought was repeated enough to Othello that his sweet wife Desdemona had cheated on him, Othello took this to be the truth entirely and there was no looking back for this tragic hero.... ... middle of paper ... ... She shows Iago that he can push others to use their inherent evils to destroy themselves, but that he cannot destroy what is inherently good in them.
Soliloquies play a vital role in William Shakespeare’s works. One of the most important examples of soliloquy use by a character was provided by Iago throughout the play, Othello. A soliloquy is side speech given by a character that is directed to the audience; it most often used to reveal emotions or thoughts of a character in a play. Iago’s use of soliloquies are very unique and stand out from any other character. They constantly change the audience's opinion of him. Each of Iago’s eleven soliloquies reveals his true evil or gains him pity from the audience. This trend makes Iago’s character unpredictable and hard to analyze.
Throughout the drama, Othello let Iago control him as if he was a puppet under his master’s hands. When Iago first brought up the idea that Desdemona and Cassio might be having an affair, Othello did not believe him, he had faith in his wife. After many lies that Iago planted in Othello’s ears, Othello started to believe him and he dropped most of the faith that he had in Desdemona. Iago told Othello that in his sleep, Cassio said “Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love”. Cursed fate that gave thee the Moor” (III.iii.416-417).