The Real Monster, Othello or Iago

The Real Monster, Othello or Iago

In order to decipher who is the real monster, Othello or Iago, I must

first gain a suitable knowledge of what a monster is. The Oxford

Paperback Dictionary and Thesaurus defines a monster to be, ‘an

inhumanely wicked person.’ The Webster’s 1828 Dictionary interprets a

monster as, ‘one unnaturally wicked or mischievous.’ This shows that

concept of what a monster is has remained fairly constant over time.

This leads me to believe that when Shakespeare was creating Othello

his ideas as to what a monster was were similar to that of those

today. In some ways the term monster can be linked to that of

fairytales, examples of which include, Frankenstein and the Wicked

Stepmother from Snow White. In some respects you could interpret

Othello as a fairytale. Desdemona the pure, innocent princess

completely loyal to her husband; Othello the courageous soldier

protecting his wife and country from danger and finally Iago the

machiavellian, mendacious evil ready to destroy the exuberance of

those around him.

It is with these thoughts in mind that I have no doubt that was Iago

who was the monster. He had an evil around him that lacked motive and

throughout the play he remained somewhat enigmatic, as the audience

never seemed to discover his true reason for is hatred of Othello.

‘I hate the Moor!’ (Act 1 Scene 3)

The simplicity of the language used in this line makes it evermore

prominent in the mind of the audience. This statement was brutally

honest and portrays Iago’s inner most feelings about Othello. It

raises a question in the audiences minds, Why is Iago so full of hate

towards Othello? H...

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...ives or part of

lives of almost all the characters in the play! To him his actions

were more like a game, the characters just pawns in it. He took a

contorted pleasure in seeing the suffering of others. He had no

loyalty or compassion to anyone but himself! During the murders, Iago

used a rhyming couplet, which was quite unusual of his style of

language, to convey his feelings.

‘This is the night

That either makes me, or fordoes me quite.’ (Act 5 Scene 1)

This was the moment when Iago’s plan would go as he had planned or

become unravelled! Unfortunately for Iago, like all monsters Iago was

doomed to fail. He was captured and was punished severely for the

un-repairable damage he has caused. Like with all fairytales, good has

triumphed over evil but at a price, the death of the tragic hero and

the innocent!