The Monstrous Birth that was really brought to the light

The Joker, Sauron, Plankton, Lord Voldemort, Kronos, Shego, and Hades are all very well-known villains in today’s world (at least in the U.S.). But, what makes them villains? A villain is made out of who the person is and what he or she does with his/her life. A villain is a person who is evil, hates people, gets even/gets revenge, is conniving and/or sneaky, a person who is manipulative, and a person who can (and does) keep up a false reputation. The character Iago, the main antagonist of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice definitely qualifies as a villain under these circumstances because he is manipulative, conniving, and keeps up a false reputation (that he’s honest and trustworthy).

Iago is a villain because he is manipulative. This is proven when Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him by just dropping little hints and letting Othello piece it together for himself. Iago would start the jealous trip by saying such simple things like that he “likes not that”, later Othello would return and say that he had “found not Cassio’s kisses on [Desdemona’s] lips” (III.iii.393). This shows that Othello put together pieces from little things that Iago said with a purpose to make Othello jealous and believe he was being cuckolded. Another instance of Iago’s manipulative tendencies is when the reader finds out that all along, Iago has been taking Roderigo’s money to purchase jewels to give “as gifts to Desdemona”, but that Iago ended up keeping and using for his own personal needs without Roderigo’s knowledge (V.i.17-18). Another example of Iago being manipulative in his villainous ways is when Emilia “has a thing for [him]” and ends up giving him Desdemona’s handkerchief from Othello (III.iii...

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...his shows that Iago keeps up his reputation because he tells Othello what he wants to tell him, which is a bent up version of the truth and Othello believes him because he is called Honest Iago frequently and therefore, Iago is keeping up his reputation of being honest and he keeps his hands clean in the takedown of Cassio.

Iago is a true villain because he is conniving, smart about keeping up a false reputation of innocence and honesty, and because he is manipulative like all of the best, most popular, villains nowadays like the Joker and Sheldon J. Plankton. A villain is a manipulative, lying, being who has a false reputation and is conniving, planning their damages to society or other specific people.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square, 1993. Print.