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Analysis of macbeth
Antisocial personality disorder case studies
Analysis of macbeth
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In this imperfect world, there are wide varieties of people. There are many who are great at biology while some are great at art, but everyone is unique in themselves. Also, there are some who suffer from personality disorders, and these people seem to be unpredictable. The disorders may vary from a patient-to-patient; some might have very bad tempers while others could be super sadistic. After analyzing the play Othello by Shakespeare, we see a wide variety of information about each character, especially Iago. From the start, Iago seems to be a man who wants to take revenge on his leader, Othello, because Othello didn't promote Iago to any higher position, but instead gave the Lieutenant position to Cassio. The feeling of revenge towards Othello was so much, that Iago was blinded by it. While it seems on the surface that Iago was motivated solely by revenge, a closer look reveals that Iago suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder. 1. As per the DSM (type out the full title here; then in parentheses after the full title, you can put DSM) , one of the characteristics of the person suffering from the Antisocial Personality …show more content…
Individuals with antisocial personality disorder frequently lack empathy and tend to be callous, cynical, and contemptuous of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others. They may have an inflated and arrogant self-appraisal (e.g., feel that ordinary work is beneath them or lack a realistic concern about their current problems or their future) and may be excessively opinionated, self-assured, or cocky. They may display a glib, superficial charm and can be quite voluble and verbally facile. NEED TO PUT THIS IN YOUR OWN WORDS WHILE STILL CITING IT; OR, YOU NEED A BALANCE OF EVIDENCE AND YOUR OWN SUMMARY WITH A
The first being antisocial personality, people with this disorder are not able to recognize right or wrong. Individuals with this disorder do not care for anyone and will do anything to reach their desired outcome. They feel no
Driven by an overbearing lust for evil that only a pure psychopath can have, Iago is not only one of literature’s worst villain’s, but he also is a heinous psychopath, whom possesses absolutely no capacity for human kindness or virtue. While Iago claims to be motivated by obtaining revenge of Othello and by jealousy of Michael Cassio, his actions suggest that of a diagnosis of psychopathic personality disorder, as his motivations contradict each other, and are not sufficient to constitute the level of destruction he employs. According to the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of mental disorders, an individual can be diagnosed as a psychopath if they show a minimum of five out of eight of the following symptoms: 1) deceitful, conning, and manipulative behaviors, 2) absence of psychotic and neurotic symptoms, 3) lack of remorse, 4) lack of empathy, 5) inflated and arrogant self-appraisal, 6) pathological lying, 7) need for constant stimulation, and 8) glibness and superficial charm. Throughout the play, Othello, Iago displays all of these symptoms, and therefore is a psychopath. He especially manipulates and cons others, has a grandiose self-perception, and lacks empathy and remorse. He also needs constant stimulation.
The fascinating intelligence of Shakespeare begins with Othello, unlike other tragedies that begin with ancillary figures that point out the character that will turn out to be at the center of the tragedy, with his genius creation of truly evil Iago instead of Othello. Shakespeare gave Iago the honor of being a main character, an antagonist too, in one of his blood-soaked tragedies and made him survive the experience. Iago, the genius villain whose intrigues and deception brought the downfall of the main hero Othello, is considered in today’s society a true Sociopath. Sociopathy-as noted by Preston McAfee-is a personality disorder defined by certain characteristics such as manipulations, lack of empathy, sense of entitlement, and a grandiose sense of his own importance. Those traits were manifestly shown by Iago in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello.
At the same time, he condoles his victims, showing true empathy. Iago struggles with what seems to be multiple personality disorders. He is constantly flopping between several different viewpoints. To the faces of his fellow characters, he seems to show support and act as a loyal friend. On the other hand, he is very two faced, speaking with himself about the awful things he has done or plans to do to the people around him.
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 the light of the various descriptions of an unstable person, Iago is a psychopath with his manipulative choice of words. He tells people things that they want to hear and he says it in a manner that makes him appear exceptional. “ I humbly do beseech you of your pardon, For too much loving you.” (3.3.106) In act three, Iago pretends to be Othello’s confidant, and he wants Othello to suspect his wife is having an affair. Iago has a pseudo relationship with Othello the entire duration of the play.
Some of the criteria that a sociopath is required to meet are the outright display of more than three symptoms of antisocial personality
People with borderline personality disorder have constantly shifting self-images which can lead to fading moral values. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, “There are sudden and dramatic shifts in self image, characterized by shifting goals, values, and vocational aspirations” (664). This can be seen in Othello because everyone considered him to be an amazing general with the highest of moral values. However, after the events that transpired during the play, he was left as nothing more but a shell than his former self. He had become so consumed with getting revenge that his personality warped around his poisonous goals. The play says, “Thou dost stone my heart, / and makes me call what I intend to do / a
It is recommend that Iago be diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder because he exhibits deceitfulness, a lack of remorse, and exploitation and mistrust of sexual partners.
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.
Throughout the play he repeatedly manipulates the rest of the cast to fit his plan. He convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful, and he does so not by outright accusing her, but by stringing together seemingly hesitant stories that allow Othello to come to the conclusion on his own. This is perhaps why he is so hellbent in her slaughter: he believes that he was the one who came to this conclusion. Iago is incredibly subtle in his accusations in only a way that a psychopath could be. Even as Othello attempts to refute the claims against Desdemona, Iago finds a way to interject, claiming that she hasn’t always been honest; “She did deceive her father, marrying [Othello],” (3.3.206). Iago is insanely skilled in his methods of manipulation, and the fact that he claims that “what [he has] spoken / Comes from [his] love,” convincing Othello that his goal is pure. This eventually leads to Othello executing his wife; however, his feelings towards the murder are not as you would expect. Iago has twisted and corrupted Othello so much so that he is justifying the slaughter of his wife as a sort of honor killing, imposing his own narrative upon the atrocious act. Iago’s competency at the arts of manipulation is a telltale sign of psychopathy; however, this is not his only psychopathic trait. There are still many more that further exemplify his psychopathic
Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged. 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.
Shakespeare’s character of Iago in the play Othello is a controversial character which is often criticised. Shakespeare uses the character of Iago, to open up the possibility of having such varied characteristics on such a complex character. Iago in seen as being manipulative, having qualities of being a psychopath and above all a jealous character. These characteristics used by Shakespeare in Iago makes readers see Iago as having a cynical malice personality with no care for anyone else but himself. It is through Iago nature that we see how much of a cynical and personality he has.
In William Shakespeare's play, Othello, Iago is a malicious manipulator who acts out without true motives, but uses them as excuses. Iago is great at saying the right things to people, deceiving them to get the response he wants. He never acts upon his plan, yet he is still involved through creating lies and providing misleading situations. Iago is jealous of Cassio because he was not chosen as lieutenant, Cassio was. He conceals his animosity of Othello to plot vengeance, a brilliant, thought out scheme to exploit his master. Iago is egotistical as he creates jealousy in other characters to make them feel as he does. He is blinded by his ego, envy and anger, his main goal is for everyone to feel as he does, he thrives for others to be equally jealous. He aims to complete his goal through betrayal and manipulation of multiple characters, particularly Othello. No Fear Shakespeare: Othello written by John Crowther states,
Traditional readings describe him as an ‘evil’ character, however this is an oversimplification, and does not fully explore his character much past face value. Psychoanalytically, Iago is a much more complex character. He appeared to have one desire: to become Othello’s lieutenant. This is an important point, as it is Iago’s only desire throughout the whole play, aside from the desire to see Othello’s downfall, which is derived from not being chosen as Othello’s lieutenant. This is important because it is a characteristic of sociopaths to be manipulative and fixated on something to subsequently act on it to the point of absurdity, as Iago did.