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Shakespeares revenge essay
Change othello makes
Othello characters analysis
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The play introduces us to two characters Roderigo and Iago, which sets up the first external conflict of which Roderigo owes Iago money , “That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse as if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.” (Shakespeare, Act I) . Roderigo was referring to his payments to Iago in return Iago would get him his dream girl, Desdemona, which brings up another external conflict because Desdemona is married to the illustrious general Othello. Iago has some animosity towards Othello because Cassio got the job of lieutenant instead of himself. Iago instigates a fight between a drunken Cassio and Roderigo which results in Cassio being fired by Othello.
As the play begins Othello is looking for a new Lieutenant. Iago has always been dependable to Othello, but he ends up overpassing the position to Cassio, who doesn 't know anything about war duties. Although Iago wants to exterminate Othello over of his jealousy of his popularity, he also wants to sabotage him because of the promotion that he thinks was mistaken, he uses Desdemona as a sin. Indeed Iago is going to destroy Othello because of the promotion that was misconstrued.
”(1.3.429-433) This shows that Iago hates Othello for getting a promotion. He then switches his reasoning for hating Othello to a rumor he heard about Othello and Iago’s wife having an affair. Obviously, Iago was the problem, and was never held accountable for those
After he kills Desdemona, Othello explains his reasoning to Iago’s wife, Emilia, justifying that “Cassio did top her, ask thy husband else” (Shakespeare 1360), meaning that he killed his wife because according to Iago, Cassio and
In the same incident, after Iago finishes ranting about his hatred for Othello to Roderigo, himself and Roderigo arrive at the house of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father. There Iago enacts his revenge by getting Brabantio’s attention, getting him to come to his balcony, and telling him, explicitly, how Othello and Desdemona were together. “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise; Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, or else the devil will make a grandsire of you: Arise, I say.” (1.1.97-101)
Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of
In the first act of the play, after Roderigo finds out that Othello married Desdemona, he carries out a dialogue with Iago about Iago’s discontentment with Othello, Roderigo comments, “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe,/ If he can carry it thus!” With this, Roderigo shows his feelings of jealousy for Othello, basically stating that luck was on Othello’s side in getting Desdemona, but it will probably not last very long. In addition to this, Roderigo gives Brabantio large sums of money to Iago in order to try to get Desdemona from Othello. In addition to Roderigo’s jealousy, Iago’s jealousy of Cassio cascades to the point where he begins to manipulate Othello to want to kill Cassio, which ends up leading to the death of Desdemona. In the beginning, Iago details how he was passed up for a promotion by Othello.
Brabantio shows how bothered and angry he is about losing desdemona to a moor. Brabantio is hurt, his daughter is left him without him even knowing it, and Brabantio is angry with Othello and tells him that his new wife will leave him as well. I have seen movies where the father is unhappy and distraught to see the man his daughter has chosen to be with. The next part of jealousy we see is right at the end of act I.III, when Iago begins to speak to himself and goes on to say why he truly hates Othello. “I hate the moor,/ and it is thought abroad, that
Iago uses Roderigo to inform Brabantio about the relationship his precious daughter Desdemona has with a moor Othello. Iago’s initial intention is the downfall of Othello and get the position, as a lieutenant, he wants. Throughout the play, Iago continuously manipulates Othello by showing him false proofs and telling him rumors about Desdemona and Cassio. “I know not that, but such a handkerchief - I am sure it was your wife’s -
Throughout the play, he would often talk about Iago in the same manner as in Act 2, scene 2, “a man he is of honesty and trust”( II,ii. 323-324). Given that Othello trusted who he thought was his best friend, it was easier for Iago to bring Othello down. The root of Iago’s evil intentions is jealousy, which he describes to be like a “green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (III,iii. 196-197). He speaks of it in a way that captures how it affects man because that is what he was going through after Cassio got the lieutenancy.
Although, Iago creates this immoral images of women to feed his revenge, while doing it by this mean he reveals his true perception of women. Iago perceives his wife as a promiscuous woman and without having any facts or proof convinces himself and takes as a fact the rumor that Emilia had an affair with Othello (1.3.324-27). Iago acknowledges his wife as an easy woman who has betrayed him more than once, murmuring: “For I fear Cassio with my
Iago is trying to ruin Othello 's marriage by sending Barbantio to Othello and expressing his dislike for his secret marriage, “Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her” (I. II. 82). Brabantio is in such shock that he believes Othello used magic to get Desdemona to marry him. Iago’s manipulation of Barbantio has ruined the relationship between a father and a daughter and any relationship that could happen between Othello and Barbantio. He achieves his goal of creating a problem between this family and making Othello emotionally
Iago is a unique and complicated character. He is intelligent in that he is able to manipulate people and events in his favour, which he thrives on throughout the play, classifying him as the antagonist of the play. Driven by jealousy and hatred, Iago plots against Othello to destroy his character and reputation. Knowing that if he foolishly attacked such a respected man directly, he would be sentenced to death. As a result, he devises to use other people to obtain what he desires by influencing the characters in the play to suit his plan.
In William Shakespeare’s Othello the two main characters are Iago and Othello. The entire story centers around Iago 's plan to achieve revenge on Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. Throughout the story Iago tries to convince Othello that his wife Desdemona has cheated on him with his lieutenant Cassio. Iago’s plan is successfully and easily executed. Othello is tricked into believing that desdemona has been unfaithful and in the end he kills her.
Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Othello embodies a pivotal point in the play, as it is a transition act that grounds the foundation of Iago’s development as an antagonist and the play’s development as a tragedy. In fact, Othello is written by William Shakespeare in the early 17th century. In Act 3 Scene 3, Iago begins his insinuations of an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, which petition Othello to consider the likelihood of Desdemona’s infidelity and Cassio’s disloyalty. In this particular scene, Shakespeare makes meticulous use of linguistic and dramatic techniques to characterise Iago as an scheming, deceptive and hypocritical antagonist.