Examples Of A Sociopath In Othello

Othello trusts Iago and now Iago is trying to take his wife from him for someone else. Furthermore, “He takes her by the palm...sir in.” (pg. 71). Iago watches Cassio and Emilia because he thinks they had an affair he watches them carefully so he can figure out how to convince Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Another example involves the plan to help Othello kill Desdemona. “Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” (pg. 185). Othello believes that Iago is most honest, thus he believed killing his wife Desdemona was the right thing to do. Iago brainwashed Othello into believing the wrong thing was the right thing. The characterization of Iago is created by the use of dramatic irony. The audience knew how devious Iago is, but the characters fell for his mischievous acts.

Andersen (2012) continues, “Charm is how sociopaths soften you up, paving the way to using you. Sociopaths work their charm through their extraordinary verbal skills. Usually they are smooth talkers – always have an answer; never miss a beat. Witty, clever, articulate – they can talk you into giving them what they want, and they know it” (p. 16).

Iago also knows that Roderigo will do anything for Desdemona’s love. Iago says, “Thus I do ever make a fool my purse” (1.3.355). Iago tells this to Roderigo which means that he is willing to manipulate anyone as long as he gives him jewels and money. This quote makes him look brilliant because he knows that Roderigo has a lot of money and will do anything to be with Desdemona. I agree when D. Madison says, “In Othello, he knows just what to say to sound innocent. Iago is the ultimate master of manipulation”. Iago uses his knowledge wisely and uses it to manipulate others for his own satisfaction, and knows how to manipulate them because he has analyzed them before, and that is what makes him so good at being evil. Iago is fully aware what he is doing and has no sympathy for anyone like he says himself; “And what’s he then that says play the villain, When this advice is free I give, and honest” (2.3.299).

Fred West’s perspective on Iago is that he is a psychopath. He argued that Iago is an ‘accurate portrait of a psychopath’. He stated that “the psychopath does not set out to lie in the self-conscious, guilt-beset way that a normal person would. Lying does not bother him.” I agree with West’s view of Iago being a psychopath. By definition psychopaths are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others, both of which are demonstrated by Iago during the play. Psychopath’s are often charming, they are very manipulative, just like Iago is with Othello and how he manipulates him into believing Othello’s wife has been unfaithful and can easily gain people’s trust, Iago’s ‘honest’ facade allows people to believe he is trustworthy.

Sociopathy is a very elusive disorder that is under the umbrella of a much wider range of personality disorders. This disorder is characterized mainly

A sociopath is defined as a person with a personality

Robert Taylor Mrs. Stephen Honors British Literature 5 April 2018 Iago showing sociopathic tendencies and traits? In the play Othello by Shakespeare Iago is identified by some as a sociopath and that he exhibits sociopathic traits in the play Othello. This is shown many times throughout the play in different ways, them being lack of remorse, manipulation, hostility, impulsive decision making, and consistently lying to others.

There are many people that are considered sociopaths in the world, many of which hold high ranks in our society; amongst those many people you could find presidents and CEO's of companies, all willing to do whatever it takes to step on all kinds of people to get to the top of the social classes. If the definition of a sociopath is someone with an emotional and behavior disorder, clear perception of reality save for the person's social and moral obligations and often by the pursuit of immediate gratification in criminal acts or sexual perversion then Iago fits the description perfectly. Iago of all people wields the power of manipulation like no other man in Othello; he has a complete lack of empathy, is aggressive and he is a master

355,] By playing on his hopes, Iago is able to conjure money and jewels from Roderigo, making himself a profit, while using Roderigo to further his other plans. He also thinks stealthy on his feet and is able to improvise whenever something unexpected occurs. When Cassio takes hold of Desdemona's hand before the arrival of the Moor Othello, Iago says, "With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio." [II, i, 163] This language demonstrates the evil inside Iago’s goals of retrieving absolute power. He actually even says of himself, "I am an honest man...." [II, iii, 245] Iago slowly corrupts the character’s thoughts, creating ideas in their minds without implicating himself. His "medicine works! Thus credulous fools are caught...." [II, i, 44] "And what's he then that says I play the villain, when this advice is free I give, and honest," [II, iii, 299] says Iago. In turn, people rarely stop to consider the fact that old Iago could be deceiving and manipulating them; yet they are convinced that he is "Honest Iago." From these quotes from “Othello” it is proven that the dialogue used between Iago and the others is manipulative causing an evil outcome.

Meyers states, “The reality is that sociopaths don’t necessarily have malicious feelings towards others. The problem is that they have very little true feeling at all for others, which allows them to treat others as objects” (par. 2) and that, “Sociopaths feel deeply angry and resentful underneath their often charming exterior, and this rage fuels their sense that they have the right to act out in whichever way they happen to choose at the time. Everything is up for grabs with sociopaths and nothing is off limits” (par. 4). So, to put it simply, the difference between the average person and a sociopath? One has a conscience and the other does

They’re distinctive traits include living a parasitic lifestyle, lack of responsibility for their actions, glibness, and a lack of realistic long term goals (“Psychopathic”). They do not learn from their experiences and cannot form meaningful relationships. They continuously engage in antisocial behavior, punishment does not have an affect on their behavior, and they are emotionally immature (Hare, Psychopathy 9). They find it hard to control their impulses and commonly hold many short-term relationships, often engaging in promiscuous sexual behavior. (“Psychopathic”). Frequently, they fail to plan ahead, have a low frustration acceptance, and have no problem lying blatantly to someone’s face. Psychopaths don’t feel remorseful if they mistreat or hurt someone, in fact, the person’s safety, as well as their own, is disregarded in order for the psychopath to get what they want (Hare, “Psychopath vs. Antisocial”). An easy way to describe a psychopath is a human who lives a predatory lifestyle (“Psychopathic”).

According to Mayo Clinic, a sociopath uses “charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure” (Mayo Clinic). Iago exhibits this characteristic by manipulating Roderigo for the whole duration of the play. He traps Roderigo in his web by making empty promises and choosing his words carefully, as seen in the following quote by Iago:

The first symptom that Iago exhibits is deceitfulness. Iago spends the entirety of his time during the course of the play manipulation others and indulging in deceitful behaviors. Iago’s actions are constantly manipulative, self serving, and often proving harmful to others. The DSM 5 describes this trait as “indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or gain”. Throughout the plays run Iago puts forth a facade, making himself seem trustworthy in order to get closer to characters like Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello, whom he uses to inflict pain on others, or themselves. One scene in particular comes when Iago and Cassio are the party that is happening that evening. Iago attempts to get Cassio to drink, but Cassio is opposed. Iago tells him,“I have a stoup of wine” Cassio replies with “Not tonight good Iago” Iago counters with, “O they are our friends! But one cup; I’ll drink for you” (2.3. ). However, this is not an isolated incident, Iago is shown being manipulative and deceitful the entire play. Cassio was just a pawn in Iago's plan, for Iago no one has enough value to not be used. Iago displays habits similar to another sociopath, the infamous Ted Bundy. According to the website Weebly, “Bundy frequently manipulated his victims, using his good looks and charm as lures to trap his victims”. Iago’s actions are very similar to known sociopath Ted Bundy. Iago incidentally makes a comment very similar to what Weebly describes

Iago is tricky, deceitful, and egocentric. He utilizes these attributes to further reinforcing his good fortune by gradually arranging his own triumph while watching the end of others. He used Othello's trust to plot his demise by lying that his wife Desdemona and his good companion Cassio are having an affair. He keeps feeding Othello with opinions of what his observations are regarding Desdemona and Cassio behave towards each other. "I do beseech you / though I perchance am vicious in my guess, that your wisdom / From one that so imperfectly [conjects] / Would take you no notice, nor build yourself a trouble / out of his scattering and unsure observation" (III.iii.145-150).

Even though Roderigo believes that Iago is truly trying to help him and Desdemona be together Iago says “ if Roderigo lives he’ll expect me to give back all the gold and jewels I swindled him out of as gifts to Desdemona, That must not happen” (5, 1 14-17) which shows his plan doesn’t involve truly helping Roderigo. It shows that Iago’s true goal would result in Roderigo's death, and that he can’t give Roderigo everything back. These instances of betrayal and jealousy are even more times that show how they two go hand in hand for important moments in the