Behind The Obvious Villain In Shakespeare's Othello

Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio while Othello smothers Desdemona. Emilia then reveals to Othello Iago's manipulation. As Emilia continues to divulge Iago's actions he kills her and flees. When Iago is returned to Othello, Othello wounds him and upon realizing the tragic actions he has brought about, kills himself.

This week lecture topic was about Latino culture. The lecture was interesting, it pointed out that Hispanic and Latino make up approximately 16% of the U.S population and also that, A third of the population is under the age of 15. Something that had me thinking was the Hispanic Latino Culture article, it stated that, Hispanics in the United States includes any person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Few days ago, I came across a clip-on YouTube that talked about how the census for the year 2020 will now offer Hispanic as an option for the race category. For myself, this was a great video that made me realize how some of their peers, or even themselves, don’t

Tragedy is mostly seen in characters pure and innocent. The deaths of those whom are innocent have a blindness to see the deceitfulness in others. Characters die who do not deserve their unfortunate fates. Desdemona is the heart of Iago’s plan and her loyalty to Othello eventually leads to her death bed. Emilia’s husband is the villain she hates, but giving him the one item he needs dooms everyone. Othello falls into Iago’s plan as soon as his fatal flaw of jealousy comes into play. In the tragic play Othello, by William Shakespeare, the innocent characters Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello are lead to their demise because they are manipulated into trusting Iago.

Starting off, Othello allows Iago to tamper with his mind and does nothing to stop it. Othello puts all of his trust in him, but Iago is just hiding behind a mask and only wishes to torment Othello. Othello is not aware of his surroundings and the people there, making him vulnerable. If he paid more attention to Desdemona and not Iago than he would not have thought to kill his loyal wife. Othello jumps to conclusions too quickly

Othello’s trust for Iago enables Iago to completely discredit Othello as the good guy of the play when Iago manipulates him into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful to him with Cassio. Even though Othello must know in his heart that Desdemona would not betray him, he is so caught up by Iago's efforts and has fallen for his manipulative lies, that all rational thoughts abandons Othello and he ultimately ends up murdering his wife since to Othello betrayal was immoral. At the end of play, even Othello can hardly believe what he has done because he thinks of himself as, "One not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..." meaning that he has acted out of character and only in the interests of honor. Iago’s betrayal to those such as Othello and Desdemona, ultimately successfully destroyed everyone, himself included.

What makes one person to be considered evil, while another is considered righteous? The character Iago, in William Shakespeare’s Othello, could be considered evil because of his plot against Cassio and Othello. Othello, could be considered righteous, because he believes his wife has been unfaithful. The line between these two labels, evil or righteous, is thin. Ultimately, actions speak louder than words. Iago is evil in his actions towards Othello, but between the two, Othello is the most evil for reacting to lies in the most violent of ways.

In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, the Iago is the most important character. It is his dreams, hopes and desires that turn him evil, bringing out the worst possible characteristics in order to achieve all the things he wants. Iago’s manipulative traits, deceitful actions and love for Othello eventually cause the death Emilia, Desdemona and Othello himself.

As in almost all tragedies, especially those of William Shakespeare, the tragic hero always runs into misfortune. The play Othello is no exception. In this play, every character acquainted with the tragic hero appears to be unfortunate. While these misfortunes are oddly related to Othello, are they his fault or did each character attract them out of their own actions? To answer this daunting question, one must consider the three most unfortunate characters: Othello, Desdamona and Roderigo and analyse their downfall which eventually lead to their deaths. It is known from reading the play that Iago is the one who manipulates all three of them. Examinations of their connection with him before their deaths are necessary to answer this

     The final scene in Othello is loaded with deaths. Every character that died in the play was a victim of Iago’s fraudulent plot. Iago slew Roderigo and Emilia to maintain the frame around his scheme. He killed to keep them silent, thinking that he could still retain his cover. Iago was foul, because he did harm to others only to satisfy his own appetite. His plot ended in the most unfortunate way, and it’s end didn’t justify the means, because he got caught.

Iago, being remarkably wise, understood this, explaining to Roderigo: “If the balance of our lives had not one scale of reason to poise another of sensuality, the blood and baseness of our natures would conduct us to most preposterous conclusions” (Shakespeare 1.3.322-25). People require balance in their life in order to maintain stability, and therefore maintain their sanity. In the same way balance provides structure in one’s life, imbalance can also bring about one’s undoing. Iago was not traditionally at the apex of power in the Elizabethan triangle of power, but every character was still a pawn in his scheme. His manipulation over each character truly put him as the most powerful character, at least until his true intentions were later revealed. Iago deliberately offset the balance in Othello’s life, and manipulated his jealousy in such a way that allowed him to succeed in all that he had planned. His plan would not have otherwise come to fruition had Othello not allowed his emotion to overpower his logic. Iago was able to simultaneously accomplish every goal in exploiting Othello’s jealousy. Iago painted Cassio, the lieutenant, to be Desdemona’s lover behind Othello’s back. In doing this, he won Othello’s trust, ruined Desdemona and Othello’s relationship, as per Roderigo’s payment to him, and eventually became named lieutenant after Cassio’s demotion. Being the cunning manipulator ultimately brought Iago was success in

William Shakespeare, born in the year 1564, is often considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, writer in the English language. His works range from ingenious poems, such as Fear No More, to plays, such as The Tragedy of Othello. In The Tragedy of Othello, Shakespeare details the story of a celebrated military hero who falls victim to the machinations of a conniving villain who goes by the name of Iago. In his play, he portrays Othello like a tragic hero, a type of literary character. A tragic hero has many characteristics, 3 of them being that they must have an error in judgement, they must have a reversal of fortune, and they must recognize that the reversal of fortune was brought about by their own actions. Furthermore, they must also have a fatal flaw, that eventually leads to their downfall. Othello demonstrates all of these characteristics in the play, proving him to be a tragic hero. Othello makes an error in judgement, which leads to his change in fortune, and later realizes that his actions are what caused said change in fortune.

Later on in the play, Iago lies to Roderigo when he tells him that Othello will be taking Desdemona with him to Mauritania. He suggests that if Roderigo ever wants to see Desdemona again he has to make sure that Othello extends his stay in Cyprus. To do so, he suggests that Cassio must be killed, “Why, by making him uncapable of Othello’s place—/ knocking out his brains.”(4.2.226-227). If Othello goes to Mauritania, Cassio will be assigned Othello’s place. By killing Cassio, Iago gets his revenge and Roderigo would have a chance to win over Desdemona. Roderigo’s character is used to portray the theme of manipulation. He is persuaded into doing Iago’s ill deeds. Iago is only after one thing, to be appointed lieutenant, and he will do whatever is necessary to reach his goal.

Is Othello responsible for Desdemona’s death? Or is it Iago who planned to get revenge against the Moor? There are many people in the play who are responsible for Desdemona’s death. However, one of the individuals in the play unwittingly helps contribute to her death by being naive. Emilia who is Desdemona’s loyal friend fails to convince Othello that Desdemona is faithful. She is unwittingly responsible for her friend’s death because, she never mentions the handkerchief until Desdemona has been killed. Although, Iago is the master mind behind Desdemona’s death and Othello is the person who murdered her if then, it were not for Emilia who initiates Iago’s plans Desdemona would still be alive. Emilia is unwittingly responsible for

Othello is responsible for Desdemona’s murder because despite Iago’s claims that she is disloyal, he is conscious that what he is doing is wrong, shown by the way he

    In the Tragedy of Othello, by William Shakespeare, a great injustice is done to the main character, Othello the Moor. Othello is manipulated by the villain Iago to satiate Iago’s need for control and his desire for revenge. Othello the General has promoted another, Cassio, to hold the position that Iago feels he deserves. For the injustice that Iago feels has been committed against him, he brings about the destruction of Othello and his wife, Desdemona, using Cassio as his tool for doing so.