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Character of Iago in the play Othello
Animal imagery in othello
Role of iago in othello
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Character of Iago in the play Othello
Animal imagery in othello
Role of iago in othello
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
In the beginning, Othello was evidently a well honored Moor of his time. He earned his position as general because of his strong reputation and character. This authority signified the great respect he most graciously and humbly received. Only Iago, due to underlying circumstances, lacked a sense respect for his commanding officer. Iago slickly undermined his general’s reputation.
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.
In the beginning of the novel, Shakespeare describes Iago as a mastermind of manipulating others. Iago holds a grudge and resentment towards the Moor, Othello, because another soldier, lieutenant Cassio, has been promoted
In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, Brabantio (the father of Desdemona) because of his racist ideals, is in disbelief that his daughter could have ran off with Othello. Brabantio doesn’t believe that Desdemona would willingly go with Othello, calling him a “thief” (1.2.63). This is not just insulting to Othello because Brabantio is accusing him of being a thief but also that he is so beneath Desdemona he would have to kidnap her in order to be with her. He later insinuates that one reason she’s too good for him is by describing him as a “sooty bosom” (1.2.71). His choice of diction is important here because by using the word “sooty” he’s referring to Othello’s dark skin color while calling him dirty and messing like soot.
The devil is not a person, but the embodiment of evil and sin. In some cultures, the devil is even depicted as being black, which may be a cause for this comparison. Iago clearly doesn’t think of Othello as a moral human, and wants Brabantio to think the same, which he does by using harsh metaphors to describe
Iago’s constant animalistic language shows that he views others as animals rather than people, thus, Iago dehumanizing the other characters. In Act One, scene one, Iago describes Othello as an “old black ram” (Shakespeare 1276). This description of Othello is comparing him to a ram, and such animalistic references show that Iago does not view Othello an equal. In his view of Othello as unhumanistic, Iago is most likely willing to treat him as an animal. The audience sees this treatment through his constant manipulations of Othello’s mind, planting seeds of jealousy.
In many stories, there are villains who seem to control how the characters act by manipulation. These kinds of villains use multiple techniques to get what they want and to execute their plans. The techniques are used to affect the characters in a negative way in favor of the villain. In Othello, the antagonist Iago, plays that role. Iago affects the characters’ lives in a negative way by his honest reputation, his ability to “read” people, and how he “proves” to be Loyal.
Othello believes Iago to be as evil as the devil, expecting to see hoofs of a goat, symbolic of the devil, when he looks at Iago’s feet. This devil imagery is used to emphasize Iago’s evil nature. With his plan to destroy Othello being revealed to the other characters, he is now seen as an incarnation of the devil, because of the tremendous amount of pain Iago caused Othello, having purposefully orchestrated it for his own self interest. Thus, by taking
“Othello” written by William Shakespeare revolves around this protagonist who is depicted as strong and powerful. To everyone he is known as Othello or the Moor. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays numerous counts of jealousy and manipulation around many of the characters. It is mainly illustrated through Iago, the antagonist of the play, who manipulates other to their downfall. Iago who is known for always being true and honest towards others has easily earned the trust of everyone around him, thus giving himself an advantage on his schemes.
Shakespeare’s “Othello” is named after the main character, Othello, the moor of Venice, who was a general of the Venetian army. Othello would have remained the innocent, noble man if Iago would have not interfered. Iago hates Othello because he promotes Cassio as a lieutenant instead of him. Another reason Iago mentions in his asides, is the rumors spread that Othello did sleep with his wife Emila. Even though Iago was not sure whether his wife was unfaithful to him or not, the doubt alone was sufficient for him to plan the revenge.
Iago was the real devil. Iago utilized Othello’s blackness to create a plan to bring Othello down. Iago literally regulated Othello throughout the play like a puppet. He used Othello’s race to get other characters to turn against Othello. The racism drove him crazy and Iago did not make it any easier.
In the opening act of the play, Iago and Roderigo wake Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, from his sleep, informing him of his daughter’s marriage to the Moor, Othello. Knowing of Brabantio’s prejudice towards Othello because of his race, Iago says, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” (1.1.94-95). Iago feeds anger into Brabantio’s mind using
Also, each relationship in Othello provokes jealousy in one partner. In a typical Venetian society, a woman was considered to be a man’s property, so if a woman was disobedient, it negatively impacted the man, while also questioning his masculinity. The hyperbolic soliloquy as Othello expressed he would “rather be a toad” than “keep a corner of the thing I love” is Othello’s justification of killing his wife, as her untrustworthiness challenged his masculinity and reputation. Referring to Desdemona as a “thing” emphasises the idea of women being property. Iago’s jealousy of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is emphasised through the degrading comment of Othello, “an old black ram” “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe”.
The exploitation of Othello’s race leads to the manipulation Roderigo, Cassio, Brabantio, the Venetians, and the audience to see Othello as inferior although, the only difference between him and the Venetians is his lineage. In the first act of the play, Iago and Roderigo go to Brabantio’s house to rile him out of his sleep. This is seen as the first step of defaming Othello’s character. The two