What Is Iago Character In Othello

Iago Character Analysis

From the very beginning of Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is held in very high regard within the community in Venice. He is often called “honest Iago” by many people, including his superior, Othello. There is a large juxtaposition between Iago’s character in the beginning of the play, and the general perception at the end of the play, due to Iago’s many character flaws that cause him to create devious plans and a web of deception and lies, spun by his intense anger and hatred. The exposition of Othello holds many indications of the negative traits Iago possesses, and they escalate quickly as the play progresses. There are many points within the play that present Iago falling prey to his issues and therefore lets them control him. Iago’s anger and hatred kept him from dealing with these character flaws and lead to his descent into moral

There are many accounts of Iago’s manipulations and deceit in the play of Othello, which leads the audience to the assumption that he is in fact a pathological liar, and probably has been his entire life. Iago even makes reference and gives reason to his habitual lying in the lines, “Virtue? A fig!...love to be sect or scion” (I.iii.316-327). In these lines, he is essentially explaining his belief that in order to get anything from your life, you must manipulate it as you would a garden. Iago also views the community in which he lives as a giant garden that he is constantly sowing the seeds of deceit and lies that he hopes will eventually grow into the plants of destruction. There is even a comical aspect to these lines as Iago explains that one must even spread manure over the garden to allow the seeds to grow, so essentially Iago knows what he is saying to the other characters can be likened to manure in the sense that it is completely untrue and holds no grounds in any moral