Iago contributes to the tragic downfall of Othello, playing him like a fiddle. The human nature of Iago manipulates the trust
Often it is the dark side of human nature that brings a story to life, and there is no sounder proof of this than William Shakespeare’s masterpiece Othello. The tragedy of the Moor of Venice is inflicted by the cruelty of Iago, perhaps one of the most intriguing antagonists in literary history. Iago’s cruelty is a defining element of the play, in that it pushes the plot forward as the trigger for all of the major actions throughout the story, serves as the cause of the cruelty of others around him, and reveals the character of each person in the play through their responses to his cruelty. The action of the entire play is centered around Iago’s various acts of cruelty.
A Cruel Game Unknown to Othello, Iago was motivated by a cruelty that demanded the utter destruction of Othello’s public and private life. In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, Iago is the main antagonist to the protagonist of the story. Iago is motivated by cruelty; his final goal is see all of his adversaries suffer. Cruelty is an especially crucial theme to any story, for it reveals the ugly truth about a character who is primarily motivated by cruelty. The social and political gains of Iago’s cruelty display how the theme functions in a work of literature and what it reveals about both the perpetrator and victim.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s bittersweet tragedies. The character that is unforgettable is the one and only Iago, who not only manipulate Othello, but his audience as well into thinking he is not to blame for the cause of Othello’s death. Iago’s character shows so many emotions in Act 1, Scene 3. The additions to the scenes have a great impact, but the things that were left out also have meaning. In the video clips, we see Iago played in three different ways; although, he is portraited differently there are many similarities that shows his manipulation and thirst for revenge on Othello.
The idea of honesty plays a prominent role in other Shakespeare works, with the word honest appearing multiple times in many of them. However, the word honesty plays the largest role in Othello. The use of the word honest to describe both Iago and Desdemona allows Shakespeare to heighten the dramatic irony in Othello. The use of the word honesty enhances the contradiction between people’s opinions of Iago, and his true nature, therefore; it magnifies the dramatic irony.
It emphasizes the striking contrast between the false persona he projects to the other characters and the poisonous ideas that permeate him internally. The spectator is drawn deeper into the character's psyche by Iago's monologues, which make him a fascinating and engaging antagonist. It almost seems as though the audience gets participating in his evil goals thanks to his ability to build a close bond with them. This feeling of closeness heightens the play's dramatic tension and increases the effect of his actions. Iago paints visions of hypothetical occurrences that never happened by describing them in rich and evocative language.
The following passage is significant to the play ‘Othello’ in retrospect to the plot progression, as it reiterates themes and introduces important facets to the plot development. Through Iago’s cunning manipulation and Shakespeare’s crafting of language, this passage is constructed as a pivotal point of the play, marking the transition of Othello’s personality and revealing his deepest insecurities that eventually lead to his downfall and tragic ending. Iago wields a lot of power over all the characters throughout the play, but in this passage in particular he is presented at his most powerful. The passage is riddled with subtle suggestions and insinuations by Iago to raise Othello’s suspicions of his wife’s fidelity, opening with the admonition to “beware, my lord, of jealousy!
Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello and Regina Mills from Once Upon A Time share extreme jealousy and irrationality. When Iago is talking to Roderigo, Iago tells him that he despises Othello. Iago states, “Despise me if I do not… I know my price, I am worth no worse a place” (I.i. 8-9, 12). Iago hates Othello because Othello gave an advance military position to Cassio.
Othello and Iago are two very comparable men. In the great written novel “Othello” by William Shakespeare, Othello is known to have more of a considerate side than Iago, they both depict jealousy and they permit that suspiciousness to take over them. While reading the novel Iago is recognized as the “villain” of the play and Othello is known to be inoffensive, receiving more information into the novel the reader can detect added traits between Othello and Iago. While readers get to the conclusion of the book they observe the evil features in both Othello and Iago, but overall Othello is a more of an enhanced person than Iago.
Among some of the crucial characters who were targeted by Iago’s manipulative plans are Othello, Cassio, and Rodrigo. Due to everyone trusting in him he is able to know their feebleness and specifically their personalities. Each of these male characters have different personalities and knowing them can be useful to Iago in his hope of completely fooling them in thus ruining their names and making everyone turn on each other. Othello who has always
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
Notes: - Malignant character, plots downfall of othello. - Opposition between good vs evil through use of religious connotation “baptism”, “divinity of hell”, “satan”. Embodied by conflict of christianity against evil - classical theme. - encapsulates evil of satan, othello and des purity goodness - subtle use of symbolism, fruitful, adam and eve, linking iago to snake character, eve &adam, othello & des - naivety, othello, not aware of lack of goodness in iago - metaphysicality - omnipitent intent - psychopathic and evil - rhetorical questions, shows he is self-assured, merciless, evil, confident - calculated character - pivotal, shows iago reached pinnacle of evilness Context:
Title Some of Shakespeare’s most memorable characters are the outsiders; these characters deviate from societal norms, and are often ridiculed or overlooked. Characters such as Edmund who is an illegitimate child and Iago who is a foreigner are typically looked down upon. One might view this as a disadvantage, however these shortcomings become greatly beneficial for Shakespeare’s outsiders. Beneficial in a sense that Iago and Edmund become some of the most determined and ambitious characters in the play.
This paper highlights the justification as to why this play qualifies to be a tragedy. To begin with Othello, the key character is held in high esteem by the society as a leader after showing his prowess in war as a soldier. His downfall thus brings about a lot of pity and fear, more so because it was the making of another character, Iago,
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.
