While reading the play, Othello, by Shakespeare, you might ask yourself this question; What’s the difference between Iago and Othello? Othello and Iago are very different from each other. Not only in their colours, but in their personality. However, it may be said that the two share one common flaw, their tendency to misjudge others. This common flaw was the cause of their downfall. Iago was consumed by his desire to get revenge on Othello to the extent of putting his plan into action. Othello’s love and possessiveness over Desdemona overtakes him to the point where he would rather kill her than grant anyone else the privilege to have her. In this manner, despite their differences, Othello and Iago represent the same thing - human emotion. Both characters can be viewed in this way throught the play. …show more content…
In this case, yes, that is true, but they are more alike than you would think. From the beginning of the play to the end, one of the main focuses is on both character’s insecurity. When Cassio received the promotion Iago thought he was destined for, his insecurity grew. Othello’s supposed favoring over Cassio makes Iago hatch his master plan. Unlike Iago, Othello’s insecurities are much more indirect, not really making an appearance until Iago’s plan follows through. His background, age, gained social status, and the fact that someone such as Desdemona would have love for someone like him, a “Moor”, are the source of Othello’s insecurity. These insecurities lead to much bigger and negative feeling, jealousy. Iago is jealous of Cassio’s position directing his hate towards Cassio and Othello. Othello’s jealousy of the apparent relationship between Cassio and Desdemona leads him to creating horrible scenarios in his head, fueling his abusive actions towards
Shakespeare often has common themes throughout all of his poems which include love, death, and betrayal. When talking about Othello, all of these major themes are presented. Although, the major theme is jealousy. Throughout the play, jealousy is shown in each character in some way and drives the decisions that they make. The beginning starts with Rodrigo being covetous of Othello for being with Desdemona, and at the end where Othello is envious because he believes Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Iago is an important character throughout all of this because he makes up lies and misleads characters into believing things that are untrue. From the beginning, he is envious of Cassio and has hatred towards Othello because Othello
Iago warns Othello that “[Desdemona] did deceive her father, marrying [Othello], and when she seemed to shake, and fear your looks, she loved them most.” (Shakespeare 3.3.207-210). We can see that Iago is trying to make Othello jealous by pointing out that Desdemona has already betrayed someone that she loved so what would prevent her from doing it again. Iago manipulates Othello by claiming that Desdemona gave Othello’s handkerchief away “yours by this hand! And to see how [Cassio] prizes the foolish woman, your wife! She gave it to him, and he hath given it to his whore” (Shakespeare 4.1.170-173). The final blow to manipulating Othello, Iago tells him that Desdemona gave Cassio her handkerchief confirming her betrayal. This is the end to behaving rationally for Othello. Mark Rose insist that Iago is “playing his victim [Cassio] with wine has robbed [Cassio of his reputation]. The presentation of Cassio as a decent man changed into a drunken madman foreshadows the actions of Othello to come” (Rose 285). This displays the idea that Iago is manipulating anyone in any way in order to get to Othello. In this case he is manipulating Cassio’s reputation so that later in the play Iago can use Cassio against Othello to make him jealous of his wife cheating on him with Cassio. Iago is easily able to set this in motion because he damaged Cassio’s reputation so much that Othello doesn’t trust him, or want him
Iago is a very jealous, envious and selfish person who aggravates other people’s lives. Iago is jealous of Cassio because he is the one that was promoted to lieutenant. He believes he is a better soldier than Cassio who is, “Forsooth, a great arithmetician” (Act 1 sc.1, 20). From Iago’s point of view, Cassio shouldn’t even be in the army. He is just making excuses to give him more reasons to get back at Othello. Iago is envious of Othello because he is married to a beautiful woman, Desdemona. Also, Iago believes Othello slept with his wife, which makes him even more envious. “For that I do suspect the Moor hath leaped into my seat” (Act 2 sc.1, 317-318). Iago is very selfish because he doesn’t care about the consequences of his actions. He just wants to get what he wants and he will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.
am’. It is not very clear on what Iago means as he does not make it
In other words, Cassio is a man who knows as much about war as an old woman does, unless it is what he has read in books. Therefore, Iago finds him hardly qualified for the job he has gained. Iago is also jealous toward Othello because it is rumored that he has slept with his wife Emilia. (Find Quote In Book) Iago now has a motive to make Othello think that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair to get revenge on Othello and achieve his goal. His hatred and jealously toward Othello and Cassio seem to turn Iago, himself into “the green-eyed monster” (III.iii.1203) that leads him down a path of destruction.
The play Othello by William Shakespeare showcases the unique characters of Othello and Iago. Othello commences with Iago: Othello’s general informing the audience of his hate for Othello. Next, the Duke sends Othello, Iago, Cassio along with Desdemona and Emilia to Cyprus to defeat the Turks. Once the Turks are defeated, Iago initiates his plan to ruin Othello’s life. He plants the idea of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness in Othello’s mind, which drives Othello mad. This leads to Othello murdering Desdemona and Othello’s death. Throughout the play Othello and Iago play key roles in the story’s plot. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago and Othello’s complex character development lead to continued conflict and their downfalls.
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, tragedy unfolds on the account of one man’s actions, Iago. He is a twenty eight year old military veteran from Venice. His personality consists of being obsessive, manipulative, relentless, and bold. From the beginning he expressed his hatred towards the Moor, or North African named Othello. Othello is a highly respected general and is also married to the pure Desdemona. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona is destroyed due to Iago’s actions and lies. His actions consist of getting Michael Cassio discharged as lieutenant and convincing the Moor that his wife is cheating on him. The motives Iago has for despising Othello are he passed him over for a promotion to be his lieutenant, instead he chose
Evidence of jealousy in Iago is more prominent and very evident in the beginning of the play when he explains to Roderigo that Othello has moved Cassio to lieutenant (the position Iago desires) although three of Venice’s most noble nobleman have informed Othello and Iago has fought in front of Othello in Rhodes and Cyprus (Shakespeare 1.1. 10 - 30). Iago’s sly behavior and ability to use other character’s roles and trust such as Othello’s love for Desdemona, Cassio’s pride in serving as Othello’s trustful lieutenant, and Rodrigo's over commitment to win over Desdemona from Othello allows his plan to fall through. His motive throughout the play is to get Cassio demoted from the
In Othello, William Shakespeare portrays how Othello is a highly respected figure in Venetian society, but that the racially prejudiced reality he faces threatens to unmask his deepest insecurities. Iago despises Othello due to how he has vastly excelled him in military rank. He desires to reduce Othello’s glittering reputation and love life to dust. He is keenly aware of how Othello has always felt different than everyone else in Venice due to his African background. Othello believes that his relationship with Desdemona will finally allow him to escape his insecurities. However, Iago uses Othello’s greatest strength against him as he allows his love for Desdemona to become his greatest weakness. Iago’s racial prejudice leads him to manipulate
At this point within the play we only have an introduction into Iago's manipulative side, considering how Iago will use Othello's passion towards Desdemona against him through the use of a rather large theme with the play jealousy. Fast tracking all the way to act four, we see one of the most cleverly executed methods of building Othello's jealousy through the use of miscommunication. During this situation, Iago speaks with Cassio about Bianca, causing Cassio to jokingly answer the questions with some laughs and 'inappropriate' statements but what he doesn't realize is Othello is listening in with the mindset (implanted by Iago) that they speak of Desdemona instead (IV.I.110-158) . This plays an important factor into how Othello acts for the rest of the play as he finally first handed gets the 'proof' that he is looking. This appears to be the turning point for Othello, when here after he completely changes; he becomes too deep into jealousy that there seems to be no return. Soon after that conversation,
Othello Commentary This passage takes place after Iago and Othello have seen Cassio speaking to Desdemona. Although Cassio was just asking Desdemona to help him get his job as lieutenant back, Iago attempts to raise suspicion about Cassio and Desdemona having an affair by remarking that Cassio left awfully quickly when Othello approached as if he was guilty. In this passage, Iago fools Othello and demonstrates his trustworthiness and that his motives are honest. Next, Iago warns Othello about jealousy and angers him, causing him to deny that he is jealous. From what Iago has said, Othello becomes doubtful and makes jealous inferences, but decides that he is not jealous and needs proof.
Iago plans to ruin Othello because of Iago's jealousy towards him is by carrying out a plan to get back at Othello based on lies and deceit. This plan will make Iago the only person that Othello believes he can trust, and Iago will use this trust to manipulate Othello. Iago plans to remove Cassio from
Shakespeare portrays Othello as the general without faults, perfect. Yet, he slowly reveals the weaknesses of Othello’s love for Desdemona. For this love he will forsake anything. Iago is quick to pick on this and starts working towards destroying Othello through his only shortcoming.
Both men are artistic in their own ways and thus appear more similar. They are also similar in the sense that they both represent human emotions. The two men display how their lives can be perfectly normal and then violently snatched away from them the next. Iago’s life is suddenly taken over by revenge the moment the play begins and because Iago is jealous of Cassio for having him steal his job, forgets about his wife totally even arriving to the point where he kills her. Othello, like Iago also kills his wife, but he is more concerned with his wife and that takes over his life.
Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to be written in 1603. During the play, the readers witness multiple examples of Othello Syndrome. Othello Syndrome is a medically diagnosed illness that involves extreme jealousy that prompts those affected to take drastic or ridiculous measures to placate their jealousies. As seen in the play, the jealousies of Othello and Iago clouded their minds, turning them towards rash actions. Iago and Othello display qualities of Othello Syndrome through the events of Iago's scheme and the effect of it on Othello.