Iago Vs. Othello

Iago vs. Othello

In Iago’s soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 1, we learn about his character through the speech he gives in spite of Othello. After Iago believes Othello slept with his wife, he immediately resorts to revenge, and plans to sleep with Othello’s wife. Iago’s character in this story is defined through his strengths and weaknesses, and these qualities are shown to us through his actions. His strengths are his scheming and manipulating skills, while his weaknesses are his jealousy and insecurities. Iago's mastering manipulation skills and jealousy heavily contribute to his plot of revenge. Iago has this reputation of being an honest man which is ironic considering he is constantly deceiving people, but this is the reason it is so easy for

Iago’s insecurities about his relationship with his wife sparks the thought that she slept with Othello. Without evidence of this happening, this assumption haunts him, and he states that it “gnaws my inwards.” Iago’s jealousy of Othello is obvious in his words “This Moor, howbeit that I endure him not/ is of a constant, loving, noble nature/ and I dare think he’ll prove to Desdemona/ a most dear husband. Now, I do love her too/ not out of absolute lust/ but partly led to diet my revenge…” (2.1.310-316) Iago is saying that even though he cannot stand Othello, he must admit that he is reliable and a loving man and he probably could be a good husband to Desdemona. Iago also says that he loves her too, but not for the right reasons, he only loves her to feed his revenge. In this quote, not only can we see Iago praise Othello for all that he is good for, but we also see him say “Now, I do love her too..” Here, Iago is saying this not because he loves Desdemona, but because he loves what Othello has. He wants to be Othello so badly and is so jealous of him, that he wants to sleep with his wife, and be living his glorious life. Iago's personal insecurities attack him and cause him to grieve over a situation that never really happened about Othello and his

While Othello, a natural leader, rises to power, Iago has to use his own trickery and scheming abilities to hurt others, just to try to keep up with Othello. Iago created the idea of Othello and his wife together in his own mind, and Iago believes if his wife is good enough for Othello, then he is as good as Othello. We see Iago’s deep desire for Othello to like him and be associated with him by saying “I’ll have our Michael Cassio on the hip, abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb, make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me for making him egregiously an ass, and practicing upon his peace and quiet even to madness.” (2.1.327-333) In this quote, Iago states that he will achieve power over Cassio and slander him to Othello.In Iago's mind that Othello will thank him and reward him and value him. This is all a part of Iago’s master plan. This motivates his revenge, for his whole plan is based upon seeking revenge on