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Good And Evil In Shakespeare's Othello

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Recommended: The character of iago

The Evil Within Iago Ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles expresses, “The soul that has conceived one wickedness can nurse no good thereafter.” The term “evil” is interpreted in various aspects however; Iago clearly allows malice to take full control and eliminates any possibility of integrity. The concept of immoral conduct is explained by Steve Taylor, a PhD and author of Psychology Today, as, “‘Evil’ people are those who are unable to empathize with others.” Therefore, Iago embodies the attributes of evil through the desire to cause damage to others. The malicious intent of Iago is revealed with his strategy to destroy the marriage between Othello and Desdemona. Through the practice of rhetoric, Iago expresses that, “I’ll pour this pestilence …show more content…

For example, Iago states, “If I can fasten but one cup upon him,/With that which he hath drunk tonight already,/He’ll be as full of quarrel and offense” (II.iii.42-44). Cassio is purposely compelled by Iago to give the impression of a drunken fool, which ultimately costs him the attainment of lieutenant. As a result, Iago obtains the rank of lieutenant through the use of evil and guileful ruses. The evil act performed reveals Iago does not feel empathy or remorse for the destruction of Cassio. Additionally, Othello is convinced to approve the murder of Cassio for a crime not committed. Once again Iago uses rhetoric to achieve everything he desires at the cost of innocent lives, verifying the wickedness contained inside him. Subsequently, Iago is strongly considered evil based on the scandalous endeavors perpetrated for his personal acquisition. Indubitably, all of Iago’s actions are fulfilled with the intention to cause destruction. Displaying no signs of remorse or emotion, Iago performs these deeds with the sole intent of ruining everything Othello and Cassio represent. Consequently, based on the engagements Iago implements, he exemplifies the characteristics of an evil

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Iago contributes to the tragic downfall of Othello, playing him like a fiddle. The human nature of Iago manipulates the trust

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William Shakespeare’s “Othello” was a great example to showcase sacrifices made by characters to accomplish revenge or obtain power. Shakespeare told the story of Othello, a tragic hero, who was manipulated by Iago, which motivated him to kill his own wife. From this story, Shakespeare’s main goal was to portray characters making sacrifices for their ambitions. From this play, Shakespeare puts forth the idea of sacrifice through pointing out the importance of reputation and how sacrifices must be made to silence the truth.

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Evil is an ever present aspect within the existence of humanity. Satan, a real and powerful being, constantly influences the world through his evil and manipulative ways in order to bring destruction and chaos to earth. Perhaps one of the most evil characters ever written about, Iago, from Shakespeare’s Othello, also portrays many traits that are similar to those seen in Satan. Throughout the Bible and throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, both Satan and Iago share many characteristics and differences of poisonous evil within their manipulative words, origins of jealousy, and their malicious acts, but differ in where this power comes from.

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Iago also had three different key representatives throughout the city of Venice voice their opinion that he is deserving of the job to Othello, “Three great ones… suit… to make me” (1. 1. 8-9). Instead of confronting Iago and explaining his decision to promote Cassio, Othello ignores the obvious animosity and lies to Iago pretending all is fine. This subtle act of lying is the key reason for Iago’s heinous plan of revenge.

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Othello’s confidence for a loyal man to maintain honesty and morals are contradicted through Iago’s actions: “in a man that’s just / They are close dilations, working from the heart, / That passion cannot rule” (3.3.123). Iago, due to the understatement to his name, is not perceivable as hateful. Othello’s willingness to sense Iago’s distress, and to believe his accusations, is because of the lack of awareness Othello has for his vengeance. Iago is of such little power and relevance within societal ranking that if he were to have intentions to sabotage anyone, which he does, are not considered, thus making him easily trustworthy to those of greater dominance. Society’s view of an individual determines how others consider and surmise their persona, though these conclusions may be false.

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Psychopaths have attributes of detachment, insincere speech, selfishness, and violence. In the tragedy, Othello, the playwright William Shakespeare constructs an antagonist with such traits. This evil character, Iago, is known for being one of the most sinister villains Shakespeare has even written. Through Iago’s psychopathic manipulations and detached persona, Shakespeare shows that psychopaths are not redeemable in the play.

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As the audience receives more information about his hatred for Othello, it is still vague on how and why exactly Iago wants to destroy him. Because of the lack of clarity, it creates a spark of interest to hear more of Iago’s

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While he knows that his actions are immoral, he embraces it fully by calling for evil forces to help in his plans to destroy Othello’s life. This imagery shows Iago’s true nature to the audience, one that wishes for the corruption of people’s lives and actively acting it out. Moreover, Iago refers to himself as a devil in a soliloquy after Cassio drunkenly --------, saying "When devils will the blackest sins put on, / They do suggest at first with heavenly shows, / As I do now" (2.3.351-353). He reveals his intentions to harm Othello to the audience, showing that he does not have empathy for Othello or those his actions would affect, showing his ------------------------------------------------------------------------.

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In the book Othello, Iago is a very manipulating man, throughout the book he manages to manipulate three main people, Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello. He uses all their weaknesses to bring them down. Iago wants revenge on Othello, because Othello overlooks Iago and his abilities, so Iago manipulates these three characters to get back at Othello in the long run. He comes up with a very good plan to get each other to turn against one another. So in the end he ends up getting what he wanted, revenge.

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In the play Othello, William Shakespeare creates an elaborate tragedy with various in depth characters, enhancing the story with powerful characterization. Iago, the main antagonist of Othello, exemplifies Shakespeare’s use of characterization to create in depth and complex characters. Using his manipulative nature, intellectual mind, egotistical attitude, and dishonesty, Iago controls the other characters in order to achieve his goal, leading Othello to succumb to an overwhelming jealousy causing his downfall. In order for Iago to gain control of the characters in the play, he manipulates Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, and more to believe false information and turn on one another.

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If Roderigo exposed Iago when he said he would, a lot of misfortune would not have occurred. Therefore, Roderigo demonstrates the dark side of human nature by being jealous and unintelligent. To conclude, the dark side of human nature is demonstrated by Iago who is selfish, Brabantio who is doubtful, and Roderigo who lacks cleverness. William Shakespeare’s Othello shows how easy it is to let emotions take over one’s mind.

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Iago is a unique and complicated character. He is intelligent in that he is able to manipulate people and events in his favour, which he thrives on throughout the play, classifying him as the antagonist of the play. Driven by jealousy and hatred, Iago plots against Othello to destroy his character and reputation. Knowing that if he foolishly attacked such a respected man directly, he would be sentenced to death. As a result, he devises to use other people to obtain what he desires by influencing the characters in the play to suit his plan.

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Kolin observes that Iago stands out among Shakespearean villains since he is the only one to survive his own monstrous acts (25). Unlike Richard III, apart from telling stories, Iago carries out a downright fraud through other means of manipulation, which makes him the most evil and intelligent character. To be exact, Iago is a puppeteer who sets up scenes to deceive the “credulous fools”—Othello, Cassio and Desdemona (4.1.45). Iago talks to Cassio about Bianca while telling Othello that the subject of their conversation is the Moor’s wife. He is so smart and careful that he even gestures Othello to come closer when Cassio is about to illustrate how Bianca entangles him.

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Iago’s powerfully disruptive insinuations torment Othello to fall precipitously into his intricate trap, believing in the prospect of Cassio and Desdemona’s fictitious affair. Through the use of linguistic techniques such as elliptical speech, subservient vocative choices and a hesitant tone, Iago is able to construct artful innuendoes to deceive and manipulate Othello. Supplementary to linguistic techniques, dramatic techniques such as dramatic irony reinforces Iago’s role as a two-faced villain, who is making a pretence of being Othello’s loyal ensign. Eventually, Iago’s villainy nature sows a seed of doubt in Othello that germinates into the murder of Desdemona. Through the characterisation of Iago as a notorious villain, Shakespeare is able to hold Iago’s actions accountable for the play’s tragic downfall, establishing a sense of powerlessness amongst the

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When something goes to far normally we would end it however, that 's not what happened in the shakespeare play Othello. In the source “Destructive revenge in Othello” by Harry Keyishian it talks about the revenge that fueled the play as well as Iago’s true ambitions. Keyishian also talks about how Iago tricks almost everyone in order to get his sweet revenge. Once Iago Stabs his assumed friend Roderigo it’s clear revenge had been taken too far.

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