Iago In Shakespeare's Othello : A Perfect Villain

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.

In the play, Iago, the main antagonist, wants to seek his general’s downfall. He plans on running him by manipulating his mind into believing that his wife cheated on him. The result is Othello killing Desdemona and eventually himself. Since Iago is mastermind behind the scheme, it raises the question on whether he is evil or not. A modern interpretation of evil is by Hillel Steiner, a Canadian political

Iago is jealous, dishonest, duplicitous, manipulative, and evil. His jealousy is shown when he is furious of Cassio becoming the military lieutenant, instead of him. His dishonesty can be seen when Iago continuously lies to Othello about his wife cheating on him. His duplicity is revealed when Iago praises Othello in front of him, but badmouths him when around other characters. He is manipulative, as he uses Roderigo’s thirst for Desdemona to do his dirty work: fighting Cassio. His evil nature is portrayed when he ruins the life of Othello, through convincing him to kill his wife, Desdemona.

Iago is portrayed as the evil character in the play, or the villain so to speak. Iago uses many people to his advantage to fulfill his plan of revenge on Othello without them even knowing what he is doing. Iago is so disappointed with Othello for not choosing him to be his lieutenant that he is consumed with envy and rage to

In Othello, one capable of reading subliminals can easily see the many different colors this play has to offer from good, to evil,and everything in between such as themes of distrust or underlying racial themes. When looking into the specifics in the rather broad range of things to consider,evil is one that stands out immensely. There are several evil acts by arguably each character,yet Iago is one that shows villainous acts since scene 1. In Othello, Iago from the start has a sadistic view of the world with his uncontrolled anger and need for vengeance , uses roderigo and cassio as his guinea pigs, and when he gets Othello's beloved handkerchief into the hands of cassio while also convincing othello that his wife is cheating on him.

In 1603 William Shakespeare wrote the classical tragedy Othello. In doing so he brilliantly brought to life one of the most sinister villains of all time. Iago, the plays main protagonist, drives all of the action of the plot through his borderline psychopathic personality traits. Iago contains wicked character traits internally, but on the surface he appears charming and empathetic. Iago’s ability to deceive even the strongest willed characters comes from his lack of not only empathy but a conscience all together. He easily and eagerly manipulates the structures of culture and identity, whether it is marriage or the authority of the state, as if they are fantasies. Through William Shakespeare's

Iago is cunning, cruel and manipulative. He is considerably the strongest character within the play, with his ability to manipulate and control those around him. He is considered the antagonist character of the play, Othello. Iago’s manipulation could stem from the hatred of the characters of the story, mainly the women of the story. He believes women are inferior to men and that they should be considered almost slaves to the household. Hatred toward women could be derived from the suspicion that his own wife, Emilia, cheated on him. He uses his own agenda for the downfall of the other characters without remorse for his actions. Iago uses his intellect to control the scene and situation for how he sees fit. Jennifer Putnam explains, “He is clever in his diction to avoid confrontation that can easily erupt” (Putnam, 2). Iago’s expertise is saying the right thing to the right people for them to believe exactly what he wants them to believe. This is

In Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello, Iago is an evil character. However, he is one of the most dangerous examples of evil. He is often able to convince people that his motives are meant only for good. Iago displays many morally ambiguous and downright dirty traits. These traits contribute to his overall evil character.

The play of Othello was written by Shakespeare, it is one of the greatest tragedies he had ever written. Iago is the villain in the play. He always wants bad things to happen to others. He is is the true meaning of evil. He makes everyone believe that he is trustworthy.

Usually, people have the belief that evil human beings are ruthless and coldhearted, or at least disconnected from the people they hurt. On the other hand, Iago is capable of harming Othello so much because he is able to read Othello’s mind so excellent. Because of Iago’s grasp on Othello, he is able to exploit him so expertly that at times it seems he is actually inside Othello’s head. Typically in Shakespeare’s plays, characters do bad things in order to achieve a particular goal. What makes Iago different from the others is that it’s never revealed for sure why it is that Iago wants to destroy Othello. Throughout the play, Iago provided many conflicting motives for hating Othello. At one point, Iago said he’s angry because Othello overlooked him for a promotion. Later, Iago insists that Othello is having an affair with his wife, Emilia. Being impossible to imagine, Iago must have had an extensive ability to devise and deploy such a plan to convince everyone else of various trickery along the way. It has to be believed that Iago will be punished, but it’s left open for the audience to wonder whether he will be sentenced or try to get away with his evil plans by throwing together some other kind of destructive act. Different from the other personalities that are molded by their actions, Iago’s

Villains are characters who are devoted to committing evil acts and thus set the plot in motion. They add excitement to works of literature, as they challenge the concept of higher morality, to achieve a certain goal. For the most part, a villain has a motive for their heinous deeds, but a villain whose only motive is the sadistic pleasure they receive from watching their victims suffer, is the most interesting. In Othello, Shakespeare introduces the audience to one of the most malevolent and diabolical of all Shakespearean villains. What makes Iago such an intriguing character, is the intricateness of his personality as well as the inability of viewers to sympathize with him or understand the inner workings of his mind. Ironically, he puts on the face of a confidante, hence the name, “honest Iago”, while playing the role of the devil. He is able to fabricate certain situations that serve his monstrous plot and takes on the role of the puppet master, while abusing his incredible insight into human nature and the personalities of those around him in order to manipulate, exploit and control them. Interestingly, the source of his sinister demeanor seems to originate from a bottomless pit of hate, malice and resentment towards all that is good, innocent and noble, deep within him. Therefore, in William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is simply a monstrous, vice-like character due to the

When one examines Iago’s character in this Shakespearean play, they will notice unlike in Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and more, he causes several to ultimately become insane. Additionally, he is considered as one of Shakespeare’s best rhetoricians (Beier). By invoking a slight distrust in all the characters against each other, he cunningly persuades them into assuming he has good intentions. The dramatic irony of the play allows the audience to realize they are far from good. In the first Act of Othello, Iago has a soliloquy which reveals a part of his intentions. He states, “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse...I hate the Moor, and it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets...Cassio’s a proper man. Let me see now, to get his place and to plume up my will...After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear that he is too familiar with his wife” (1.3.367-80). This describes his initial plans to use Roderigo for money and use Cassio to cause Othello to believe Desdemona is having an affair.

What is it about how Iago is characterized in the play Othello and how he acts that makes him such a vivid villain, even today? We still use the expression “an Iago” to describe someone evil and underhanded. Iago is characterized in the play Othello by William Shakespeare as a vivid villain because he manipulates the other main characters. Iago contains so much jealousy and hatred against Othello for being a general in the army, a position he feels in righteously his that he victimizes everyone around him. “He is mad at Othello for he granted Cassio as his lieutenant instead of him, this affects his pride, “forsooth a great arithmetician one Michael Cassio, a Florentine” (Meyer, 2017, pp. 1072). Iago is mad at Othello for choosing Cassio over him; he is already upset that Othello receives a promotion to general instead of him, to Iago he has battled wars and proves himself worthy of such a title.

Shakespeare's' Othello introduces us to arguably the greatest villain in all of his plays, Iago. Iago is skilled in the art of manipulation, he is an apt tactician, to the point of military precision in the art of persuasion, he is a genius of unfortunate proportions. Shakespeare is telling a story as old as time at the expense of most of the characters in Othello, a story of Jealousy, deceit, and how they can corrupt beyond absolutely, tear through the purest love, the mightiest of warrior, and the most honorable of men with no regard as to the damage done, all the while even Iago himself has no true grasp on what his jealousy and deceitful web of lies and destruction have cost him. The greatest tragedy of the actions of the villain Iago, is not the lies that seethe from every word he speaks, or the machinations of his demi-devil schemes, but how these things tear a rift through the very fiber of him as they do all men.

Iago represents evil and cruelty for its own sake. He is deeply unpleasant and this is revealed to the audience in no uncertain terms in his numerous asides. He even acts as an advocate for Othello's character, telling the audience that he is noble and in doing so, comes across as even more villainous that he is prepared to ruin Othello's life despite his acknowledged goodness (Zender, K.F 1994).