Iago In Othello

Towards the end of act 2, scene 1 Shakespeare illustrates Iago’s detrimental persona - throughout his soliloquy - by lacking rhythm and writing in prose. By interrupting the regular rhyming patterns of the text earlier on in the scene (‘fair, heir’ ‘gay, may’), Shakespeare is deliberately showing the reader how irregular and therefore corrupt Iago is compared to the other characters of the play - another interpretation for Shakespeare’s usage of prose, however, is the differentiation of those in the upper and low classes, which shows that Iago is not of high status: which is highlighted by the fact that Iago is said to be a ‘flag bearer’ - this is further highlighted by Iago’s xenophobic references to Othello: ‘him’, ‘the Moor’, which is

Emilia contributes greatly to the dramatic action of the play. In the rising action she unwittingly gives her husband the very object that will seal Desdemona’s fate. The handkerchief she hands to Iago becomes the material evidence that convinces Othello of Desdemona’s guilt. There are a couple of opportunities where Emilia is in a position to alter the tragic outcome. In Act III, scene iv Desdemona asks Emilia if she know where she lost her handkerchief. Emilia states, “ I know not, madam.” (III.iv.23). Again, later in the scene Emilia misses another opportunity to foil Iago’s plan. Emilia sees how upset Othello gets about Desdemona not being able to produce the handkerchief yet she does not come forth. Instead, she blames it on men and marriage; “ Tis not a year or two shows us a man. They are all but stomachs, and we all but food…” (III.iv.103-104). She does not see the connection between the jealous husband and the handkerchief. This dramatic device of having the character being naïve to information about which the audience is aware builds tension. The audience knows of Iago’s plan to use the handkerchief

Despite her loyalty to Desdemona, Emilia chooses to impress her husband over her mistress not knowing Iago’s master plan. Emilia uses hyperbole to emphasize the amount of times her husband has asked her for this very symbolic handkerchief. Not expecting much harm, she gives the precious handkerchief to Iago who then helps Othello confirm that Desdemona is unfaithful. The lady in waiting takes into consideration the meaning and value of the handkerchief and how “wayward” her husband is but she still trusts Iago. Emilia finally finds out that Iago is the evil mastermind to the death of Desdemona when she finds out her husband framed Cassio and Desdemona’s relationship. Emilia explains to Othello the truth about the handkerchief “ that handkerchief thou speak’st of I found by fortune and did give my husband… he begged of me to steal’t ”(5.2.222-226). Emilia realizes her blindness to Iago's desperate want of the handkerchief costing her mistress's’ life. After Emilia reveals the truth to everyone, Iago stabs his wife and flees. Emilia dies an innocent death due to her blindness to her husband's true nature as she was deceived and manipulated in Iago's plan of revenge.

In any story with a recurring dark theme there always must be an outsider from humanity who somehow stands out from the seemingly equal community. In the case of Shakespeare’s Othello the outsider from humanity would be Iago for he truly stands out from the rest of society. Although Othello may be physically put out of the community, it seems that on an emotional and egotistical level Iago puts himself out of society further then Othello’s blackness does. He is not merely manipulative, as other villains are; he turns aspects of truth and good qualities, which he does not possess, and uses them as weakness for his own scheme. He deceives people to follow his plans by telling them the truth and what seems to be good advice. By standing on

In “Othello” Iago and Emilia aren’t together in many scenes but when they are, you can tell they don’t communicate well. It starts off with Iago’s two-faced personality, he asked Emilia to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief with no reasoning behind it. Emilia, on the day Desdemona dropped her handkerchief, says “I am glad I have found this napkin” (III, iii, 334). She continues to go on to say “my wayward hath a hundred times wooed me to steal it” (III, iii, 336-337). Without Iago even saying why he needed it, Emilia went and got what was asked of her just because he was her husband. Iago got the handkerchief to make it look like Desdemona was cheating on Othello with

In addition, Emilia is unwittingly responsible for Desdemona’s death because she is remains silent. The two women often talk about their husbands to one another; in spite of it Emilia doesn’t talk about Iago’s behavior toward her. Unlike Desdemona who declares, “Alas the day! I never gave him cause,” she suggests that Othello behavior toward her is unexplainable because she has not been unfaithful to him (3.4.157). Desdemona also reinforces Emilia to give her a reason as to why Othello is behaving this way; instead Emilia illustrates silence when she says:

Towards the end of the play Emilia becomes so angry with Iago, after all he had just caused Othello to kill his wife and

He fears the exposure of his actual character and wants to execute his plan by keeping other individuals believing that he is an honest and a trustworthy man. Firstly, Iago undermines Emilia not to say another word in regards to the handkerchief that he utilizes as a major aspect of the arrangement to devastate Othello. He advises Emilia to “Be wise and get you home.” (Act 5.2.221). Emilia disagrees with what Iago says and soon after, Iago draws his sword. This shows Iago really thinks about his personality and notoriety, his trepidation of presentation is fierce to the point that it drives him to execute his own particular wife. Also, there is not a single line written in the play, which uncovers Iago presenting his reality to someone else. In spite of the fact that everybody makes sense of Iago's two-sided personality towards the end of the play, despite everything he doesn't have the quality to uncover his actual two- sided character or translate why he has done such offensive deeds. When Othello demands Iago for a reasoning behind his actions, he responds back saying, “Demand me nothing; what you know, you know. / From this time forth I never will speak word” (Act 5.2.300-301). Iago's instability of character is powerful to the point that is prohibits him to talk up and give a sensible reaction to Othello regarding why he has done such malevolence activities. Identity, as well as reputation, is what a man is acknowledged for, a wide range of wrong decisions will destroy this part of Iago

In the last act, Emilia is capable of speaking out Iago’s bloody guilt in front of gentlemen bravely. For instance, she is unafraid of resisting Iago by saying “’Tis proper I obey him, but not now… I will ne’er go home”(V, ii, 195). Emilia’s anger is perfectly delineated through her speech. To some extent, Emilia is equivalent with the status men since she firmly claims that she "will not charm [her] tongue", and that [she] is bound to speak” (5.2.183-184). When Iago demands Emilia to go home, she expresses her emotions being long suppressed. In spite of the traditional view that restricts wives to be reticence and passive, Emilia becomes an outspoken individual as she breaks the rule of obeying the husband in order to act on her behalf. At last when Iago brutally stabs Emilia to death, her self-sacrifice is heroic as she lived to protect her mistress. Furthermore, Emilia is in fact the only character in the play that is excluded from Iago’s malicious plan because of his neglect. Emilia’s disobedient acts ultimately constitute Iago’s downfall and significantly display the ideas that women can be as strong as men, thus, her braveness and belief fits the ideology of

In addition, Emilia proves her underrated intelligence by standing up for what she believes is right. Desdemona, Othello's wife, and Emilia's relationship grows because of her great loyalty towards her. At the end of the play Emilia stands up for Desdemona because Othello kills her. She explains Desdemona's true love for him and would never do anything to hurt him, which proves Desdemona's innocence. Not only does Emilia stand up for Desdemona, but she also voices her opinion to Othello. Emilia shows no fear standing up to Othello to prove to him that his wife has always been faithful. At first Othello finds it implausible but then Emilia says, "Thou art rash as fire, to say that she was false. O, she was heavenly true!" (Shakespeare V: ii, 165-166).Women are looked at in Othello as unintelligent and unfaithful, but Emilia changes that stereotype by standing up to the men. From the start Emilia and Iago's relationship always seemed rocky. Emilia's confidence in herself shows that she is not afraid to stand up to her husband. Emilia realizes the danger she puts herself in when she stands up to Iago. In order to make things right, she does whatever it takes, even if that means ruining their marriage or taking her life.

Coupled with Emilia’s obedience to Iago, his ploy can finally convince Othello of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. Emilia does not agree with her husband, Iago very much, but she does obey him when she has the opportunity to do so. However, Emilia picks up Desdemona’s handkerchief, with no thought, only that it will please her husband, “what he will do with it /heaven knows, not I; /I nothing but please his fantasy,” (OTH.III.III.297-289). Subsequently, this handkerchief may not have much meaning to Emilia at this moment, but once she finally discovers the truth about her husband, she immediately accuses her husband of being a villain, and dies by his hands. Correspondingly, Emilia is also loyal to her husband, to such an extent as to lie to Desdemona about where her handkerchief has gone. As Desdemona worryingly searches for her handkerchief, Emilia denies knowing where she could have lost it, and suggests a different reason for Othello’s uneasiness, “I know no madam… /Is he not jealous?” (OTH.III.IV.14, 20). Emilia knows where the handkerchief has gone, but remains silent because her husband, Iago has told her to. As a result of Emilia’s loyalty Iago does not need to worry about others discovering where Othello’s handkerchief

Furthermore, she realizes that she has played an unintentional part in the tragedy by following Iago’s request to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief. It has all been a plot by Iago to destroy Othello, and this is finally revealed to everyone, including Emilia (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 179-182, 187-189). To see Emilia come to full awareness is to see first the emotional breakdown caused by this revelation, and then to see it begin to build, as she shows heartbreak, guilt, awareness of betrayal, and recognition of supreme cruelty on the part of someone she has trusted with her life. She finally speaks with the words, “Villainy, villainy, villainy!” (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 197), knowing she has to persuade everyone of Desdemona’s innocence. Recognition again occurs in Act V Scene II when Emilia hears Othello mention the handkerchief, after he has killed Desdemona: "With that recognizance and pledge of love / Which I first gave her. I saw it in his hand; / It was a handkerchief, an antique token / My father gave my mother" (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II. 221-224). At the same time, the attending visitors and soldiers, who have been called into action by Emilia’s cries in Act V, Scene II, are also realizing the truth of these terrible events. The reversal occurs as Emilia discloses that it was she who stole Desdemona’s handkerchief, “She give it Cassio? No, alas, I found it, / And I did give’t my husband” (Kennedy and Gioia, V. II 236-237). Immediately Othello knows that

Then, there is the matter of Othello’s wife, Emilia. One would think that being so close to Iago, she would know something of his deceitful nature. However, she is continuously hoodwinked by her husband. She seems to know nothing of his supposed rage toward Othello at being overlooked for the promotion to lieutenant. She also believes him when he pretends to be upset over Cassio’s demotion from lieutenancy. She says thus to Desdemona, “I warrant it grieves my husband/ As if the cause were his.” (III.iii.3-4). Later, she finds her lady’s

Throughout history, there have been many human beings whom have been seen as either a hero or a villain. In their childhood, these people must had obstacles that were in their way, causing each individual to either work harder or give up. People, however; must understand that each individual has a potential in achieving their goals, but if one is mistreated or deceived due to jealousy, resentment, hatred, or ambition, it can lead to many catastrophic events. People who have pride and arrogance do not want to have equals, rather they want to see their victims suffer. These people have no difficulty in achieving their goals due to the fact that their victims have too innocent a nature to suspect the nefarious motives of their enemies. In

He gets Cassio to talk to Othello’s wife, Desdemona, to ask for his position back and he begins to point out small things like them whispering. When Cassio exits the scene when Othello approaches, Iago does not hesitate to make his move and mentions it. Asking of Iago’s suspicions, Iago says, “Good my lord, pardon me, Though I am bound to every act of duty I am not bound to that all slaves are free to Utter my thoughts” (138-140). This places Othello in the position of being alarmed because what could be so horrible that this “honest” man would want to keep secret from him. Eventually, Iago comes out with his fake suspicions and Othello somewhat believes it but wants some kind of evidence. Fortunately, Iago’s wife, Emilia gets a hold of Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to him. He puts more of his plan into action saying, “in Cassio’s lodging [I] lose this napkin. And let him find it. Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ. (331-334). This is enough to convince Othello of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, enraging him to want to murder the two. Othello decides he will kill his wife, and asks Iago to do the same to