In William Shakespeare's play, Othello, there is an example of evil personified. He is the character of Iago, and he wreaks havoc and destruction on all those under his influence. As the play develops, we see unfolded a plethora of lies, deceptions and clever schemes. Iago seizes every opportunity to advance his malicious plan to his advantage. Greed and jealousy play a major role as a motive for his various schemes.
Iago first reveals his cunning and unscrupulous behavior in his encounter with Rodrigo. Iago easily controls Rodrigo and he is very aware of his power over him. He plans to use his influence over him for his own good. He shows this by saying "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse; For I mine own gained knowledge should profane If I would time expend with such a snipe". We learn that Iago has a secret hatred for both Othello and Cassio. Iago says he hates Othello because he has denied Iago a promotion and for Cassio because he now occupies Iago's desired position of lieutenant. His motive is to seek revenge upon both these characters. Rodrigo has a shared hatred for Othello for his own and when he suggests he would not serve him, Iago reveilles his scheming plan for Othello by saying to him "O, sir, content you. I will follow him to serve my turn upon him." By saying this Iago shows that he plans to cleverly trick Othello of being loyal to him and then eventually use him for his own ends. In his first attempt to bring down Othello, he and Rodrigo tell Brabantio that Othello has kidnapped his daughter Desdemona. This is a dishonorable act as this is definitely a lie and told to Desdemona's father only to anger him towards Othello. Brabantio is also a senator and has the power to dismiss Othello from hi...
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...s. "Two Worldviews Echo Each Other." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p.: n.p., 1970.
Gardner, Helen. "Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from "The Noble Moor." British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.
Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. "The Engaging Qualities of Othello." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.
They may argue Maggie could of escape from the slum life and she didn’t have to let it take a hold of her. They may also say that Maggie was her own downfall and demise by letting a boy drag her down to the mud and damage her good name. However, because of her upbringing, it was hard for her not to be affected by her environment and social factors.
Maggie is introduced into the storyline quite subtle and quickly becomes the main focus of attention by the other three main characters. From the beginning, Maggie is a harsh contrast to the slum environment she has to endure. She "blossomed in a mud puddle ... a most rare and wonderful production of a tenement district, a pretty girl" (16) that not only had the physical beauty that her family seemed to lack, but also the hope that she could be better than what was around in her environment. Therefore, the slum environment that surrounds her contrasts her character greatly. "None of the dirt of Rum Alley was in her veins" (16) as she became the talk of numerous males in the neighborhood.
Maggie is one of the daughters in the story. She is described as being like a lame animal, she walks with her "chin on chest, eyes on ground, and feet in shuffle" (Walker 87). Her mother gives the impression that Maggie is ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs that the fire left her with. Maggie is the younger of the two daughters. It seems as though she is still very naive and gullible. Maggie is uneducated like her mother and her lack of education has a lot to do with her character. Mama is able to persuade and control Maggie because she does not know any better. Maggie is seen as being a sweet, well behaved young lady. Possibly that is just Mama's favoritism between the girls showing through. Maybe Maggie really is that way, but we only know what we can perceive from Mama's story.
"Othello." The English Review 15.3 (2005): 15. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 8 May 2014. .
One of the many themes shown in Maggie: a Girl of the Streets is that of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy occurs when one pretends to be something that he or she is not. Most people associate hypocrisy with a person that speaks poorly of something, yet commits that something him or her self. In Maggie, many of the main characters in the novel display the trait of hypocrisy. The trait is displayed by the characters of Pete, Jimmie, and both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. They pretend to be what they are not.
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...
Maggie lives with a poor and dysfunctional family and a hopeless future with only the small possibility of change. The environment and setting she grows up in do not support anything more than a dull, dreary and pathetic future for her. An old woman asks Maggie's brother Jimmy: "Eh, Gawd, child, what is it this time? Is yer fader beatin yer mudder, or yer mudder beatin yer fader? (Maggie, 10)" while he runs to Maggie's apartment one night. The lack of love and support of her family hinders Maggie's ability to live a happy and fulfilling life. Without knowing that someone loves her no matter what she does or how she acts Maggie may feel desperate enough to change her situation by any means she can, and without any useful guidance. Even without any positive influences Maggie grows up different from the low-life's living with and around her. Crane explains Maggie's uniqueness in the passage "None of the dirt of Rum Alley seemed to be in her veins. The philosophers up-stairs, down-stairs and on the same floor, puzzled over it" (Maggie 16). Maggie's uniqueness gives her the chance to improve her life, but only a slim chance. Even though Maggie differs from the people around her they remain sleazy, making it harder for her to change her life because she must go outside of her community for help.
As early as the first scene of the play Iago shows us strong motives for his actions. In this first scene we see Othello, a general of Venice, has made Cassio his new lieutant. Iago feels he truly deserves his promotion as he says "I know my price, I am worth more no worse a place."(l.i.12) Iago over here is confused why Othello has made such a stupid decision. Iago is a man with a tremendous ego who knows, sometimes overestimates, his worth. Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman, understands Iago when Iago said that he is "affined to love the Moor."(l.i.41-42) What Iago really means is "I follow him to serve my term upon him."(l.i.45) Iago wants to use Othello for his personal goals. We also must put ourselves into Iago's shoes. He is a man whose self-esteem and professional carrier have just been torn apart. Iago makes his actions of revenge toward Othello almost immediately by informing Brabantio, a Venetian senator and father of Desdemona, that "an old black ram (Othello) is tupping (his) white ewe (Desdemona)."(l.i.97)
Walker clearly portrays Maggie as the more sympathetic of the two daughters. This is created by giving the character of Dee all of the good lucks and intelligence, but also pairing those positive qualities with the negative quality of arrogance. It is also done by creating the Maggie character without any of the natural gifts bestowed to Dee, but also saddling her with tragedy and allowing the impacts of the tragedy to be evident to the reader. Maggie is depicted throughout the story as a truly tragic character that has been shorted at every possible stop in life. Dee is portrayed as someone who has been given everything, yet has turned into a undesirable human being. It is this unfairness that is truly the root of her status as an extremely sympathetic character.
Kermode, Frank. “Othello, the Moor of Venice.” The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994.
The types of love in a poem can be reflected in many ways. One of
Iago is one of the most complex characters in William Shakespeare’s Othello. To most of the characters, he is “Honest Iago” (Shakespeare, 5.2.73). however, the audience knows that Iago is the furthest thing from honest. Iago is a devil bent on destroying the lives of everyone around him. At the beginning of the play, the audience learns that Iago is determined to ruin Othello’s marriage to Desdemona. He has appointed a new lieutenant, Michael Cassio. This angers Iago because he feels that he has much more military experience and should be the lieutenant. Iago has also heard rumours that both Othello and Cassio have slept with his wife Emilia. He concocts a malicious plan to ruin the lives of all who have wronged him, and consequently establishing
The classic antagonist in every story seeks to see the fruition of their devious plan, and would most likely be successful without the direct opposition of the protagonist. However, in Othello, rather than working against Othello, Iago gives an illusion of working with him in order to gain an advantage in the construction of his plot. Acting as a playwright within the play, Iago pushes and prods characters into the position that is most favorable to his final plan, which ultimately is to bring down Othello. In Iago, Shakespeare presents a villain who is not only able to construct elaborate schemes, but one who is also clever enough to disguise them with a façade that allows him to manipulate others.
Iago, the villain in Shakespeare’s Othello, is a character that builds up anger throughout the play. As the play continues, Iago seeks to destroy all those in his path. However, it is not clear what motivates Iago to go as far as he does. When he has destroyed Cassio’s reputation he could have secured his partnership with Othello and lived on happily. Instead of being happy to take Cassio’s position, Iago wants to mess up Othello’s life by tricking him into thinking Desdemona has cheated on him. This random desire to destroy others’ lives is a huge part of Iago’s character.