Abuse Of Power In Othello

The Deadliest Poison: Power Criss Jami once said, “The lust and hunger? The thirst for power? And thus is brewed clearly, the heart’s deadliest poison to integrity.” Lust, hunger, and thirst for power, a poison that digs its way under the skin and plants a seed of insanity, which is most commonly found in power-hungry communities. Throughout history, there have been countless authoritarians who have fought their way to the top using wrongful tactics. People who are so consumed by the power become unhinged, craving more. Real-life villains, like Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, and Fidel Castro, had gone insane due to their gluttony for greatness. Similar to these antiheroes, Iago, the villain of Othello, strives for absolute power through the

Iago demonstrates this type of activity on multiple different occasions throughout the play. For instance, when Iago was dejected from the job he truly desired by Othello, we see his puppeteering tactics begin to set into place by insinuating that he will “poison his delight, Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen, And, though he in a fertile climate dwell, Plague him with flies: though that his joy be joy, Yet throw such changes of vexation on’t, As it may lose some color. ” (Shakespeare 1.1.68-73). To make this successful for him, he resulted in abusing his ‘friendship’ with multiple characters, such as Roderigo and Cassio, which ended up with the two of them either dead or injured. Not including the fact that he also abused his power over Emilia and benefited from the fact that she was Desdemona’s lady-in-waiting. At the end of the book, everyone essentially becomes a pawn for Iago to control in whichever way he desired. All of this control made him feel extremely powerful, which was the reason why he did stop when he got the job as a lieutenant. Once he experienced how simple it was to manipulate people to do whatever he pleased, he couldn’t control himself, which sends him into a