Iago 's Final Soliloquy As The Motive Hunting Of Motiveless Malignancy

Yet, no matter how strong Coleridge’s view may seem, it is completely incorrect, the motive is there it just may seem to be hard to see. One thing that can be concluded about Iago is that he is not an honest man, and that Othello has mislabeled him drastically. Iago’s character through a strategic and well planned manipulation process eceive many of the other characters. He uses carefully thought out words and actions to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits himself, while also pushing Othello, Desdemona, Roderigo, Emilia, and Cassio to their tragic death. Not only is he betraying his commander he is also using his wife,

   The play "Othello" by William Shakespeare is based on an Italian story in Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi (Groliers). In "Othello" we encounter Iago, one of Shakespeare's most evil characters.  Iago is an ensign in Othello's army and is jealous of Cassio's promotion to Lieutenant. Through deception and appearance, we see unfolded a plethora of lies and clever schemes. The astonishing thing about Iago is that he seems to make up his malicious schemes as he goes along without any forethought. Noted writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes Iago's plan as "motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity" (Scott 413). Iago seizes every opportunity to further advance his plan to his advantage. Greed plays a

Iago is the antagonist of the play, and one of the most evil Shakespearean villains. Iago is extremely clever in the way he uses unsuspecting power- especially psychological power. He gets into people’s heads in many dishonest ways- by spreading false rumours, telling lies and psychologically tricking people and secretly controlling certain situations. His power to manipulate is a key point in the play, as it results in major consequences and the deaths of some main characters. Iago’s schemes are multi-levelled- he conspires with roderigo, and makes him believe that Desdemona will take him back. On another level, he leads Othello to believe his wife is having an affair with Cassio. He uses his wife Emilia (unknown to her), to bring back the handkerchief he uses to deceive Othello. Iago is an extremely resourceful and talented man, but he uses these resources and talents in detrimental ways. Iago is constantly referred to by numerous characters as ‘honest’. He himself also refers to honesty. Numerous characters believe that they know and trust Iago and that he would not lie, nor deceive them. Iago’s soliloquies also provide invaluable insight into his wicked mind and evil schemes and plans.

Iago is one of the most misunderstood villains in Shakespeare literature. We side with Othello from the start because his name is on the cover of our paperback, we read Othello when learning about heroes, so we expect Iago to be a villain, a ruthless manipulator. We don’t know why, he doesn’t state it plainly or in simple English, so we assume that he’s evil, that he’s just a disgruntled sociopath out to exact his exaggerated revenge on good and noble Othello. Iago’s misunderstood reputation is a result of not truly examining his character, and answering the “why” factor behind his actions. After all, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. His goal in the play was not just to destroy Othello for the fun of it. His objective,

Evil, a term used to define those in malignant acts and thoughts, is what Iago was. A man who did anything he could in order to succeed. The most vicious and sneaky of them all; Iago. Hatred and jealousy were all he had in reassuring himself with various reasons to take revenge upon Othello. Iago a man who was able to manipulate many, living in a word full of illusions rather than reality.

A depraved soul would generate chaos, inflict pain, and stir up trouble for its own satisfaction. Iago undoubtedly fits this description seeing that he is a sadist who attains power by annihilating others in cruel and unusual ways. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice, he is a sinister force which steers virtuous people towards their gruesome deaths. Furthermore, he is the core focus of this academic essay.

Every deceitful, manipulative and misogynistic twist of Iago’s plotting is motivated by conflicting feelings of his unrequited love for Othello and jealousy toward his beloved or favored. He feels completely justified that Desdemona and Cassio must be destroyed in order for him to win his place with the Moor. Cassio’s perceived usurping of Iago’s promotion are only the facade of the true demons haunting Iago’s subconscious. His jealousy of Cassio and Desdemona for diverting Othello’s attention and desires away from Iago are the suppressed rational for all the horrific duplicity and villainy he composes against the trio.

In Othello, by William Shakespeare, Othello is hated by his standard-bearer named Iago. Iago gives no reason for his hatred of Othello, yet he creates a plan to destroy his life. This plan is to tear apart Othello’s marriage and gain the position of lieutenant through the manipulation of Cassio, who was chosen for that position over Iago. As the play continues, Iago’s plan gets more complex and scandalous. Murder comes into play and Iago achieves the outcome he had wanted while destroying, not only Othello’s life but, many others around him.

Most other Shakespearean characters commit malicious actions in order to achieve a particular goal. Oftentimes the reason is ambition, as in Macbeth, or revenge, as in Hamlet. What is interesting about Iago is that the audience never knows for certain why it is that Iago wants to destroy Othello. His evil comes without a motive. The characterization of Iago as a motiveless malignity was first proposed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as he was preparing a series of lectures delivered in 1818. Coleridge calls him a motiveless malignity at the end of Act 1, Scene 3 when Iago leaves Roderigo, saying, "Go to, farewell. Put money enough in your purse," and then gives the soliloquy beginning "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse" (1.3.423-426).

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

Iago sees Othello as an easy opportunity. Iago recognizes Othello’s “free and noble nature” (Oth. 3.3.200). Iago chooses to take advantage of Othello’s “noble” nature. Iago directly addresses Othello’s tragic flaw of trust, because although noble, Othello places his trust in the wrong individuals. Iago’s recognition of this illuminates his evil nature, and the important role he plays in Othello’s downfall.

Iago, in Shakespeare’s “Othello,” has often been characterized as one of the great prototypes of evil, someone whose lies and manipulation are designed to destroy his commander, Othello. The Moor of Venice not only achieved high status in a short time but also brought his trusted lieutenant Iago along with him. Most attention to the play focuses on the effects of that misguided trust rather than on possible motives behind the obsessive need of Iago to destroy Othello. To many readers, Iago’s single-minded devotion to the destruction of Othello makes him a two dimensional character, a mechanical device designed to produce the destructive effects on Othello we follow throughout the play, or perhaps Iago is someone whose obsession itself reveals

In reference to Iago’s character, critic William Hazlitt had stated that Iago was an extreme instance of “diseased intellectual activity with an almost perfect indifference to moral good or evil rather a decided preference for the latter”. This linked to Iago’s ‘motiveless malignity’ as he attempted to justify the deceptive plans he was carrying out in the play which is represented in his soliloquy “But for my

Reason as an ally of evil is a subject to which Shakespeare keeps returning, as if fascinated, but in different thematic forms as he explores different counter-forces. ]. . .] Although Iago, as we saw, does not take seriously the ennobling power of love, he does not fail to let us know what he does take seriously. When, in his fake oath of loyalty to "wrong'd Othello," he vows "The execution of his wit, hands, heart" (III.3.466), Iago's words give a clue to his truth: his heart is his malice, his hands literally wound Cassio and kill Roderigo, and his wit is the genius that creates all the strategy. (338)

By an extraordinary composition of character Shakespeare has made Iago, literally or symbolically, share in all these modes of evil. And in Iago he has dramatized Dante?s summary analysis: ?For where the instrument of the mind is joined to evil will and potency, men can make no defense against it.? But he has also dramatized the hidden springs of evil action, the urgency and passion and immediacy of it. He contemplates too the evildoer?s ?potency? and man?s defenselessness: but these he interprets tragically by making them, not absolute, but partly dependent on the flaws or desire of the victims themselves. (343)