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Theme Of Reputation In Othello

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In Shakespeare's Othello, Cassio compares reputation to generosity but Iago uses his reputation to achieve his desire and thinks it is even ethical to do dishonorable work in order to protect it. The main antagonist, Iago uses his reputation to portray vicious activity. Over the years, Iago has earned a good name called “Honest Iago” (1.3.292).The name allows Iago to mask his real identity and manipulate his enemies. One of the victims of Iago’s manipulation is the lieutenant named, Cassio who destroys his own reputation and inadvertently paves the way for Iago’s promotion. In addition, Cassio equates reputation to his own humanity and when it is lost due to his drunk behavior he thinks, “ [he] has lost the immortal part of [himself] and
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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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Manipulation without Motivation In the tragic play, Othello, William Shakespeare creates the true wickedness of the character, Iago, through his devious plans created to cause the demise of Othello. Shakespeare crafts Iago’s evil characteristic through the way he manipulates others in order to carry out his plans and his unfit motivation for his maliciousness. Shakespeare continues to craft Iago’s evil nature through the manipulation he demonstrates on multiple people in order to carry out a fully executed plan without anyone catching him in the act.

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He feels and thinks that he has been cheated, betrayed, made a fool of by others—but he has no proof. His arguments for revenge are built on suspicion, feeling, emotion, and impulse.” (Warnken) In this quote it proves that Iago wants power as a reward rather than to make himself stronger he wants the characters to feel what they made him feel. When Othello gave the ranking as Lieutenant to Cassio, Iago felt that he had been betrayed by Othello.

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In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the right-hand man of the general of the Venetian army, Othello. Unexpectedly, Iago’s promotion was passed to a strategist, Michael Cassio. This event kick start the tragedy of the play. Hence, the passing of promotion, in my opinion, is the core motivation of Iago’s animosity against Othello and Cassio.

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In a society reputation symbolizes who we are and what we stand for, a person's reputation can be seen as bad or good based on their behaviour and how they treat others. In the play Othello, reputation is a strong component that shapes how some of the characters base their decisions and respond to events that occur. There are many people in the world that have a good reputation but have created a plastic image of themselves that doesn't represent who they are as a person, the importance of social status has become such a key role in how people act and motivate them to work so hard just to have people think highly of them. In Othello, William Shakespeare demonstrates how one's reputation may not be how it appears, the character Iago appears

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757 Words | 4 Pages

To Othello, Iago is more reputable now causing Iago is, at this point, reputable, meaning Othello will to believe anything that Iago says even if it is a lie. Iago’s psychopathic manipulations of Cassio then ultimately cause his downfall once Othello discovers that Iago has been dishonest, his punishment of torture and imprisonment at the end of the play is his downfall. Iago’s Throughout the play, since Iago is trustworthy to Othello, Iago plants seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind. In Act Five, scene two, Othello shows the audience how he believes that Iago is “most honest” (Shakespeare 1302).

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To clarify, Cassio too, acknowledges the perceptions of others when he claims “O, I have lost my / reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains / is bestial” (II.iii.241-42). Demonstrated by these two men, they ironically trust a man with no honor, under the impression he is essential and supportive but, in actuality Iago’s perceived righteous actions are only beneficial to himself in hopes of furthering his own

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He expresses his jealousy for Cassio when he says that Othello “already chose [his] officer” who he calls “One Michael Cassio, a Florentine” who “never set a squadron in the field.” Iago believes he should have gotten the promotion because he had more military experience and training. After he gets Cassio drunk and dismissed from service, he devises a plan to manipulate Othello into believing he is cheating with Desdemona in order that Cassio never gets his position again or even killed. Iago also hears a rumor that Othello slept with his

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Shakespeare’s Othello chronicles the downfall of a noble Moor, Othello, who is deceived by a man he considers his friend, Iago. Throughout the course of the play, Iago toys with Othello and eventually leads him to murder and lose his love, his new wife Desdemona. Iago exploits the unquestioned trust Othello places in him to achieve evil ends. As such, trust is a central theme in the story.

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In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare we are introduced to Othello who is the protagonist and faces a lot of obstacles, one of them being betrayal. Throughout the whole play we witness betrayal from many of the characters through their irrational behavior and actions. However the biggest betrayal we see is from Iago, who is the antagonist, in other words, the villain of the play. Iago plans on having his revenge and betraying Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Rodrigo and even his wife, Emilia. Betrayal is wrong and something that can’t be forgiven, at the end betrayal breaks friendships as well as lives and trust which never works out well in the end.

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901 Words | 4 Pages

Secondly, Iago manipulates Cassio the most throughout the book. He uses Cassio’s social status and his trust with Othello to ruin his reputation. Iago is jealous of Cassio because he is higher status and has a strong relationship with Othello. For Iago’s plan to work he needs to get closer to Othello, but first he needs to break Othello and Cassio’s trust first. So one night Cassio is supposed to be keeping a party under control Othello tells him “good Michael, look you to the guard tonight.

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750 Words | 3 Pages

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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Iago with his poisonous’ language has created a suspicion in Othello’s mind, he says to him “Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls”(3.3, 45).The good name that Iago warns Othello about is being used in the context of jealousy suspicion between Cassio and Desdemona that he plants by using a subtle way. Clearly, the good name means the husband which his wife is faithful. All of this information is to tell Othello that the good reputation is a virtue and it is important in everybody’s life. In certain cultures reputation is more valuable than any richest we can have. Iago uses the verse to bring Othello’s attention against the loss of the good name, when the man is being cockled.

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868 Words | 4 Pages

When we look at the name of the play, Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice), we can make the assumption that Othello is an outsider in the book. Before we start to read the play we already know that Othello will be an outsider and when we read the play we can understand why. We also fin in the play, Othello, which Iago refers to Cassio as an “honest fool”, but in that phrase honest have a different meaning. Honest in the play is used so many times that is ironic. Iago is seen as honest and we know that Iago is everything but honest.

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Manipulation is shown in many ways such as politics, the media, misleading information and false advertising. To convey one’s thoughts to your own advantage is seen as crude and unnecessary. However, many people have their reasons in manipulating someone whether they are good or bad. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the concept of taking advantage of someone through manipulation leads to unnecessary, horrible events.

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