Similarities Between Othello A Hero And Iago

“Deep down, we are more excited by the attributes of the villain than those of the hero.”

As part of human nature, people are drawn to and curious about their surroundings, those in it and the tragedies that play out in day to day life. We are curious and more intrigued about a terrorist attack than the birth of a child at times. This is what makes an audience more excited about the attributes of William Shakespeare’s “Othello” villain, Iago (and not so interested in Othello) as the attributes of a villain and how they go about their destructive path makes the character far more compelling than the hero. However, no one would want to agree that destruction is in ways more engaging to than construction, hence why we feel this excitement deep

It is also that a hero and a villain are no friends of each other, but rather enemies, and despise each other to the bone. Shakespeare however, took these stereotypes and their attributes, and twisted them to create a play that would provide doubt and confusion within the audience’s mind, making them challenge their ideas of what a villain and a hero should be like. While Othello is portrayed as hero and Iago the villain, what makes Othello the hero and Iago villain, and yet these two are close friends?

The heroic protagonist, Othello, mostly fits the mould of how a hero should talk and act. His charming and good-hearted manner is what gives the audience the impression that Othello is indeed the hero of the story. But is it from face value that makes him a hero? Or is he a hero deep down

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