Jealousy, it is what gets the best and, of course, the worst of people. Iago in Shakespeare's play "Othello" is one of the worst villains out there. Other villains, such as Scar in Disney's "The Lion King", Jafar in Disney's "Aladdin", and Mother Gothel from Disney's "Tangled" have closely related motives and jealous personalities. All four betray and kill for reasons they believe are going to further the lives they intend to lead after their master plans. The stem of the jealousy roots from never having enough power and feeling inferior.
Iago' s jealousy rises mainly from a his boss, Othello, picking Cassio to be his right hand man. "One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, a fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife; that neverset a squadron in the field, nor the division of a battle knows more than a spinster;" (1.1.2.) Iago believes Cassio is way too under qualified. Therefore (not on purpose), Iago feel less like a man and giving Iago little power. He hates when people are in a higher position than him. Also when giving Cassio the lieutenant job, it gave Iago someone new to direct his attention and jealousy toward. Iago makes a plan to get revenge by making it look like Othello's wife and his newfound lieutenant are having an affair behind his back. And then Iago can get the job he believes he rightful deserved in the first place.
Another reason Iago has massive jealously is he has a suspicion that Othello slept with his wife. Iago says, "I hate the moor: and it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets, he has done my office: I know not if't be true; but I, for mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety." (1.3.12). Even though he is uncertain that Othello and Igao's wif...
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Shaw, George Bernard. "Iago's Complex Character." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 19 Feb. 2014
Auden, W. H. "Iago as a Practical Joker." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 19 Feb. 2014
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Shmoop Editorial Team. "Othello Jealousy Quotes Page 4." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 8 May 2014.
“I am not what I am,” proclaims one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most enigmatic villains, Iago, in the tragedy Othello. Iago’s journey for revenge enables him to become capable of immoral acts, and whilst his malevolence excites us, we are no more intrigued by his attributes than we are of the play’s tragic hero, Othellos’. Rather, both characters’ confrontation with jealousy and their subsequent moral demise as a result of failing to control such an emotion provides the true excitement for audiences. Iago’s spiteful manipulation of Othello makes him a multifaceted character — whose corrupt attributes make the audience examine their own morality. However, the same can be said of Othello; his failure to withstand Iago’s ‘pouring of pestilence’
West, Fred. “Iago the Psychopath.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association. South Atlantic Bulletin. 43.2 (1978): 27-35. Web 11 Apr. 2012.< http://www.jstor.org/stable/3198785>.
The common thread of jealousy ties together the main plots in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Winter's Tale. In each of these plays, the main conflict is centered around some form of jealousy. While jealousy is the mutual, most prominent cause for turmoil in these plays, its effects on the characters, and ultimately the plots, is different in each case. This difference has much to do with the way in which the concept of jealousy is woven into each play, and what it is intended to accomplish.
Have you ever met a devil who does evil for his own sake? Iago in William Shakespeare's Othello could seem like he has good motives, but I feel that he uses them as his excuses. The first thing that I did was uncovered Iago's motives. Iago is the most controversial character in Othello. He is able to keep his true thoughts and motives from everyone. Are his motives only excuses for his actions? Iago pretends to have so many motives that they seem more like excuses. Iago then uses these excuses to justify his actions, which are pure evil. I also feel that Iago has motives and actions that cause his actions. Does Iago have many different excuses, or does he only have one? This paper will prove that Iago has one clear motive and reason for his madness. Iago is not looking for justification that causes him to act the way he does. There is much more though to Iago. He is not a man of only excuses, he has goals with his motives, which causes him to act the way he does.
In the play Othello, there are many jealous and selfish characters. Each of the characters at one point or another let their jealousy take over. It seems like they all have these plots and plans on how to hurt another character in the play either physically or emotionally, as an act of selfishness, so that they can feel better about themselves. One main character who seems extremely jealous in this play is Iago. Infact, probably the most jealous. Many bad things happen because of Iago. The first bad thing that Iago did, was tell Barbantio (Desdamona's father) that Desdemona has married Othello, the Moore. Iago was mad at Othello, because Cassio had made Othello a higher position and not Iago. Iago thought that he was the one who qualified for the position as general, not Othello. Iago was jealous because of this, so he decided to tell Barbantio about Desdemona and Othello. This was bad, because Barbantio did not know yet, and something like that should have been said by his own daughter, not someone who was not part of the family. The way Iago went about telling him was also bad. He called to his house in the middle of the night. He yelled it to Barbantio from downstairs into his window in a rude manner. " quote from Othello here." He wanted Barbantio to be upset about what had happened, and most of all, he wanted Barbantio to be mad at Othello and do something bad to him.
Iago is often referred to as "honest" Iago. This is because he is hiding behind an "exterior of the plain soldier and blunt, practical man of the world . . . " ( Tragedies 19). "Iago is the exact opposite of whatever he appears to be . . . " ( Eagleton 69). Iago's mask has grown to his face and is irremovable" (Evans 117). When a person appears to be so honest yet is so deceitful it seems hard that the person would not be exposed for whom they really are. "Iago does not put his mask on after the action commences, he has presumably worn it from birth onwards- or at least from the start of his military career" (117). It also seems hard to believe that Iago does not eventually believe what he says. "Step by step, Iago falls into his own gap of being, changing as he hears himself plot, improvising a drama that must destroy the dramatist as well ...
One of the major themes of Othello is that of jealousy, a manifestation of paranoia and obsession in itself. Iago’s burning desire to drive Othello to madness and a compulsion to disgrace those above him can be seen, with a Marxist reading, as his intense dissatisfaction with the social system he is a part of, ‘we cannot all be masters, nor all masters Cannot be truly followed’. Likewise, his intellectual superiority over his betters and peers is made evident ...
In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, good is often confronted by evil, in which almost every case is in the form of jealousy. Iago, the plays antagonist, is a very manipulative villain. Iago uses his own agony and distress brought upon him by his envy of others, to provoke the same agony within the characters in the play. Jealousy’s ability are shown to influence people to new ends and make all humanistic judgment disappear leaving that man a monster torn apart by envy. Jealousy’s true destructive wrath and the pure evil it brings out in people can be revealed through Iago’s actions throughout the tragedy Othello.
Language and imagination are among the most dangerous weapons Iago has at his disposal in Othello. Jealous and angered by Othello’s - his commanding officer - passing over him for a promotion, Iago develops a fierce, antagonistic perspective the aforementioned character; this sentiment quickly corrupts his volition, and he subsequently concocts a plot bent on destroying Othello. He renders this revenge scheme credible by concealing his true feelings behind a facade of loyalty and trustworthiness, and fabricating a fictitious story concerning the infidelity of Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Until the play concludes, Iago utilizes purposeful rhetoric to drive his agenda, and also a mastery of deception to mislead the minds of his targets.
Watkinson, A. "Othello: The Ironic Interdependence of Othello and Iago." Novels for Students. 5 November 2004. http://www.enotes.com/othello/743/print
Zender, Karl F. "The humiliation of Iago." Studies in English Literature, 1500 - 1900.Spring 1994. Vol. 34, Iss. 2 Spring 1994: 323.
Iago, the villain in Shakespeare’s Othello, is a round character of great depth and many dimensions. Iago works towards an aim that is constantly changing and becomes progressively more tragic. Yet, at times, "honest" Iago does actually seem honest. This essay will explore the complex character of "honest Iago.
What should be noticed in particular is that, essentially, Shakespeare invented Iago; set him down in his dramatis personae with the single epithet “a villain”; and devoted most of the play’s lines and scenes to showing in detail the cunning, malignancy, and cruelty of his nature, including the cowardice of his murder of his wife. It seems to me therefore impossible to believe, as some recent critics would have us do, that the root causes of Othello’s ruin are to be sought in some profound moral or psychological deficiency peculiar to him. (137)
Iago is a powerful predator who exploits those around him by infecting their perceptions of truth with carefully chosen fallacy. His skill in finding the proverbial chinks in others' armor allows him to skillfully weave his machinations of destroying Othello into their minds and actions; by manipulating character's perceptions of Desdemona, Iago gains the leverage he needs to exploit each character. No one is impervious to Iago's seething purpose; even Othello falls prey to Iago's suggestions and insinuations about Desdemona. Iago's constant presence as the stager, as well as his ceaseless - but subtle - reinforcement of events through narration, allows him to be the pivotal force that directs Shakespeare's Othello.
The second stated reason for Iago's hatred would be the suspicion of an affair between Othello and Iago's wife, Emilia. During the play, Iago says, "And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets, He has done my office" (1.3.387-388). He is basically saying that there is a rumor, which Othello is doing his business with his wife.