From Valiancy to Vengeance in Shakespeare´s Othello

Iago's need for revenge on Cassio and Othello could originate from the inadequacy he must of felt when Cassio was promoted, and finding out that his wife might be having affairs must have wounded his pride and bruised his ego greatly. All

Shakespeare’s play Othello is based on tragedy of Othello’s jealousy, which ironically leads Othello to kill Desdemona, his beloved (wife). Evil Iago is above all Shakespeare’s villains. Iago is a person with evil emotions, and as a result he deceives everybody, he also is exceptionally influential character who has taken in everyone, above all his own wife Emilia. His public face of bravery and honesty conceals a satanic delight in manipulation and destruction, and he will stop at nothing. Iago’s opinion on women is that he detests women in all kinds and shapes, and finds faults even when they have little or no faults.

Iago attempts to discredit Cassio is the eyes of Othello (II.iii). He enables Cassio to become intoxicated and then later Roderigo picks a fight with him. Othello finds Cassio at fault for the fight, which he seems to be at first glance., and removes him from his office. Even after it is done with, neither have any idea they were manipulated by Iago, but think he is a wonderful person, better, in fact, because of this incident.

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.

Iago takes what most of us see as good and uses those traits against characters in the play. He is able to take something as pure as Othello and Desdemona’s love or Cassio’s loyalty as a weakness that he can pounce on. “He holds me well; The better shall my purpose work on him.” (I, iii, 381-382) Iago possesses no good qualities so as a jealous pay back he takes trust and turns it against the trusting and then tries to take it even further for himself.

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.

Iago also has a very low opinion of his wife who is also a Venetian woman. He thinks she has slept with both cassio and Othello:

Emilia didn't have a very wonderful marriage relationship with her husband Iago. She wished for more because she really loved Iago and did some bad things like stealing the handkerchief that she knew meant so much to Desdemona just to make Iago happy, of which she did not notice(3.3.297-320). In another incident where Emilia is not appreciated by her husband, is seen when Iago is ready to compose a poem for Desdemona, because she is beautiful but refuses to do the same thing to Emilia, his wife (2.1.117-134). According to Emilia, men are the cause of many marital relationships. The jealous men posses make them ruin the relationship they have. In the play, we see this come to pass when Othello, because of being jealous loose the trust he had on his wife to the point of killing her. She further says that, women cheat on their husbands because their husbands don't satisfy their wives sexually for they go to sleep with other women beside their wives (4.3.87-88).

“Good ancient, you are welcome. Welcome, mistress./ Let it not gall your patience, good Iago/That I extend my manners: 'Tis my breeding/ That gives me this bold show of courtesy” (2.1.98-101). Iago is not a winner in any case; he is not handsome nor authoritative than Cassio does. Instead of being humiliated, Iago act to rehabilitate his own inadequacy by slandering on the female body; he leverages distaste and accuse the duality in Emilia, and female characters in general: “Come on, come on. You are pictures out of doors,/ bells in your parlors, wild-cats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being offended,/ players in your housewifery, and housewives in your beds” (2.1.112-115). Iago is essentially implementing an attack on male insecurity, and establish a male bond between him and Cassio. His tactic to expose women’s disorderly nature is transferring male’s social anxiety to sexual anxiety: “Cassio fantasizes that he had the same access to Desdemona that he now has to Iago…in courting Desdemona, Cassio is really courting his general. That this dream indeed figures Cassio’s desire for Othello’s love is suggested too by the male- male eroticism realized in Cassio’s sighing, his passionate kissing of Iago and his laying of his leg on Iago’s thigh” (Matz). Matz’s critic demonstrated that male

Iago’s condescending view of women causes Iago to begin to manipulate them. The root of his distrust is revealed to be buried in his suspicions that his wife slept with Othello. “I hate the Moor; / And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets / ‘Has done my office, I know not if’t be true; / Yet I, for mere suspicion in that kind, / Will do as if for surety” (I.iii.392-396). Iago uses this vague “thought” as justification to treat his wife as if he had been cuckolded. To further exemplify Iago’s patronizing perspective of women, Iago, lies to Othello about the behavior of Venetian women in regards to faithfulness. “I

Roderigo pays Iago for this false hope that he will be with Desdemona (1162). When he believes he is getting closer to being with her, however, Iago tells him that it might not happen because Desdemona is in love with Cassio (1169-70). Roderigo is greatly angered by this and resolves to do what it takes to stop Cassio from getting Desdemona even if it means taking his life. His attempt to kill Cassio, however, is unsuccessful, and instead he is the one injured (1175). Roderigo is no longer consumed with thoughts of being with Desdemona. Instead he is consumed with feelings of hatred toward those who might have her love and attention.

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.

Iago’s vengeful hatred is responsible for the suffering and in some cases, the tragic deaths of several innocent characters. Iago cleverly reaches at the final stage of his plan and reaches to a point where he becomes the cause of deaths of innocent people. Iago continues lying to Othello to break his calmness resulting in action against Desdemona and Cassio. Othello says to Iago that “ay, let her rot and perish, and be damned tonight, for shall not live! No, my heart is turned to stone: I like it, and it turns my

At all points of one’s life, one has desires; what separates and defines a person is determined by how that person goes about dealing with those desires. Some believe in working honestly towards his or her aspirations and others in seizing it at any cost. Iago, the antagonist of the play Othello is one of those people who would do anything in order to get what he wishes. Because Othello names Cassio lieutenant instead of him, he begins to device a plan in vengeance to bring Othello and Cassio down, which ends up tragic for all of the major characters. Iago’s obsessive need for revenge stems from jealousy and ambition, and because he is a master manipulator, the plan goes extremely smooth for the majority of the play.

In Othello, there were various cases of those deception, mistrust and denigration of women by men, which all were caused by Iago. The most significant case in this story would be the denigration of Desdemona. In order to bring downfall to Othello, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is being faithless. He uses Emilia, his wife, to steal the handkerchief that Othello gave to Desdemona, and uses it as an evidence to prove Desdemona's faithlessness to Othello. In the end of the story, Emilia reveals, "O thou dull Moor, that handkerchief thou speak'st of. I found by fortune, and give my husband- For often, with a solemn earnestness (More than indeed belonged to such a trifle), He begged me to steal 't." Emilia was deceived by her husband, Iago. As a result, she became a part of the cause of the death of Desdemona, who she was most royal to, and the downfall of Othello, even though she did not intended to be. This is one clear case of a man deceiving a woman and making her look an evil. When Othello finally reveals the reason of his anger to Desdemona and tells her that he