How Is Iago A Psychopath

Iago is one of Shakespeare’s most notorious villains in “The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice” and is noted for his deceitfulness along with his malicious manipulation. What makes Iago a unique villain is that he actively seeks opportunities to ruin others' lives regardless of any reason while most villains are driven by a rational desire. Iago is sadistic for his own sake and repeatedly displays characteristics of a psychopath; however, Iago is nothing more than a fictional character, but many like him live in modern-day society. Shakespeare captures the psychological workings of evil through Iago because he exemplifies the characteristics of a psychopath. Before the psychology of an evil person can be dissected, an antisocial personality

Shakespeare captures Iago’s indifference towards the emotions of others in Act IV when Iago gives a soliloquy while Othello falls into a trance, "Work on, / My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught; / And many worthy and chaste dames even thus, / All guiltless, meet reproach" (4.1. 44-47). Iago feels no pity for Othello while he is tormented by the thought of his wife's infidelity and even entertained by his suffering. He demonstrates this antisocial behavior further when he kills Roderigo after failing to kill Cassio (5:1. 74-78) and when he murders Emilia out smite for revealing his scheme (5:2. 283-284). Murder itself, however, is not enough to prove the perpetrator lacks empathy, but Iago doesn’t show remorse for it and only sees murder as a means to an end. Murder is a crime associated with psychopaths because they are void of emotion. Experts say, “clinical psychopaths stand out as distinctly inhuman” (Gervais et al., 2013) and Roderigo in his dying words precisely describes Iago as inhuman while he stabs him, “O damned Iago! O inhuman dog!”(5:1.

He finds pleasure in ruining other people’s lives for no rational reason. His sadism is complemented by his lust for blood when he demands Othello to kill his innocent wife, “Strangle her in bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.” (4.1., 205). Iago also confesses in his soliloquy that he is a devil’s advocate because he is aware of his sadism, “How am I then a villain /To counsel Cassio to this parallel course/ Directly to his good? Divinity of hell!” (2:3. 368-370). Iago like many psychopaths is a thrill seeker and enjoys lying for the fun of it, “if thou canst cuckold him, thou dost thyself a pleasure, me a sport“ (1:3. 411-412). Experts on ASPD confirm this stating, “Conning, manipulation, and a desire to lie for the sake of getting away with it—often referred to as “duping delight”—are well-known characteristics of the psychopath” (Woodworth Ph.D. et al.,