Who’s to Blame? In the plays Othello, the Moor of Venice, written by William Shakespeare and A Doll 's House, written by Henrik Ibsen; we are witness to two marriages that slowly collapse throughout the play with both ending tragically. Many believe that the characters of Iago and Krogstad played a major role and are mostly to blame for the disintegration of the marriages. I agree that it was a man in both cases that caused the relationships to crumble, but which man is really to blame?
In Othello, Iago is a villainous person who is filled with hatred, jealousy and an undeniable lust for power. He influences and manipulates everyone close to him for the sole purpose of destroying their lives.
Motivated by hate and jealousy, Iago
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He explains to Nora:
“Mrs. Helmer, you evidently don’t clearly realize what you’re guilty of. But, believe me, my one mistake, which cost me my whole reputation, was nothing more and nothing less than what you did.” (1616)
Krogstad’s behavior and motives are based on the fact that he does not want to lose his job at the bank where Nora’s husband Torvald manages. In a desperate attempt to keep his job and spare his children from hardship, he uses Nora to influence her husband. Her attempts to save Krogstad’s job fail because Torvald is convinced that Krogstad is a liar and a cheat and he will not jeopardize his moral character or be swayed by his wife. He states, “Do you think I’m going to make myself look ridiculous in front of my whole staff, and let people think I can be pushed around by all sorts of outside influence?” (1624) It is the actions of Torvald, not Krogstad, which ultimately causes Nora to leave and thus ending their marriage. During the majority of the play he is a pompous and patronizing husband. He looks at himself as superior to Nora, never looking at her as an equal contributing member of the family. It was his inability to change that tortured Nora so much that during a conversation with Mrs. Linde, she referred to the possibility by saying, “Or the miracle that’s going to happen!” (1632) Change could have greatly helped Torvald if he only had possessed the ability to look at himself as Nora’s husband and not her
Shakespeare’s Othello explores the destructive nature of Iago’s villainy through his ability to confuse appearance with reality through his deception and trickery. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is a scheming antagonist whose goal is to destroy Othello. Iago uses foreshadowing when he says, “I am not what I am.” Iago tells the audience that his loyalty with Othello is all a scheme to destroy him, and his
Krogstad victimizes Nora in a very different way than her husband and father. Krogstad does not use his position of dominance as a man to control her. Instead he uses blackmail to manipulate Nora to his will. As we examine her situation Nora seems more a victim of circumstance here than of the not so evil will of her blackmailer.
Torvald told Nora “Don’t contradict me, Nora. Sweet Nora… Spendthrifts are sweet, but they spend an awful lot of money. You have no idea what it cost a man to feed these little birds.” (Ibsen 335). Instead of being the spendthrift that both Torvald and Christine blame her for, Nora is pretty dang thrifty. She has been secretly working odd jobs and not continually skimming cash from her allowance to pay back the loan. Later on we discover that Nora was so determined to save her spouse that she committed fraud just to do as such. This decision demonstrates that Nora is both brave and diligent. She values love over the law. When her little secret is uncovered one may realize that, underneath the silly character she plays for her spouse, there is an entire other very skilled Nora waiting to take place. This other, more competent Nora was eventually brought out away from any confining influence. The anguish of Krogstad 's blackmail begins the procedure, but yet the last blow is Torvald 's response when he figures out the truth. At the point when what Nora believes to be "the brilliant thing" doesn 't happen when Torvald
Krogstad informs Torvald of Nora misdemeanors. Torvald now knows the truth and confronts Nora on her behalf. Torvald then receives another letter revealing that it was all a mishap and nothing was true from the letter before. Torvald continues to forgive Nora for her mistakes and for his disgraceful actions. When Nora realizes she can do better than him, she continues to describe herself and her indecency. She explains to Torvald, that his love is not worth her love. Her efforts are not equal into what his efforts are. Thus, when Torvald discovers that Nora has forged her father's name, he is ready to disclaim his wife even though she had done it for him. When the situation between the relationships is resolved Nora leaves
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.
When Krogstad threatens to expose the truth, Nora must use her craftiness to distract Torvald and sway him into letting Krogstad keep his job. Unfortunately, she is not able to change his mind, but she does succeed in diverting his suspicions of her motives. She praises him and lulls him into a false sense of security by telling him that "[n]o one has such good taste as [he has]" and then goes on to ask him if he could "take [her] in hand and decide what [she is] to go as" for the dance. She confesses to him that she "can't do anything without [him] to help [her]". These statements lead him to believe that he is the one to "rescue" her, when it is in fact Nora who is trying to rescue him from dishonour. Later on, when Krogstad puts a letter in Torvald's mail, explaining everything that Nora has done, Nora uses her charms once more. She pretends that she has forgotten the tarantella so that Torvald will spend all his time with her and think nothing of the mail that awaits him. Nora truly believes that by deceiving her husband, she is protecting him from worry. Because of Nora's deception, the person that Torvald believes her to be is quite different from the person she actually is. He believes that she is a "spendthrift," infatuated by expensive things when in reality, she saves her money to pay back Krogstad and buys cheap clothing and gifts. Torvald
Iago is the smartest character of the play Othello even though he plays the bad guy. Iago is a spiteful brainwashing person who uses his wife Emilia to steal things for his himself in return for stealing items she is rewarded with what we may call some form of affection but she feels is love. He also uses a man named Roderigo
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.
To be evil, villainous or Satan-like, is to state that one does hurtful things to other citizens for the pure enjoyment of themselves. Hitler, Stalin and Napoleon are all leaders, who undoubtedly can be stated as evil. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the character Iago is considered evil. It is argued though that he is not evil, just simply a human. Iago throughout the play becomes insecure over his decline in power leading him to become jealous and get revenge on those who contributed to this feeling of self-doubt. Though Iago at times is satisfied with the way he treats others, his motives are humanistic and the way he deals with his envy for others makes him one of the manliest men in William Shakespeare’s Othello.
She refuses to reveal it because of "how painful and humiliating it would he for Torvald, with his manly self-respect, to know that he owed anything to me!" She is convinced that "It would utterly upset the relation between us; our beautiful, happy home would never again be what it is." Their relationship is also overrun with deceit as Nora tells petty lies, such as eating sweets and Torvald's new position being published in the newspaper, and she withholds the information about her forgery and loan. Torvald perceives Nora as innocent and fragile, but she is ironically the perpetrator of the crime in which he concludes that "a man can retrieve his character, if he owns his crime and takes the punishment." When speaking of Krogstad's forgery he blatantly states that "such an atmosphere of lies home life is poisoned and contaminated in every fibre." The deception in Nora and Torvald's marriage will eventually cause larger problems in their
Iago is one of the most interesting characters in the tragedy "Othello" by William Shakespeare. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits him and gets him closer to his goals. He is the driving force in this play, pushing Othello and everyone else towards the tragic ending.
Torvald regards his wife as a toy as opposed to a person, and when she acts freely, raising the cash for him to recover from an awful sickness, it changes their entire relationship. Nora had to forge her husband’s name to get the money and the man with whom she made the arrangement, Krogstad, finds this and tried to extort Torvald. However, Torvald’s reaction to this makes Nora rethink their relationship and choose to abandon her husband to reclaim her humanity. Torvald’s reality is appeared to be as remote and cold as Norway itself, a strict world of men and law in which ladies are permitted no
Now that Krogstad is fired from the bank, He is blackmailing Nora for her getting a loan through signing her dying father’s signature. When Torvald finds out about Nora’s crime, She expect sympathy from Torvald about her dilemma because he said to her that he fantasizes about risking his life to save Nora’s. “Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life’s blood, and everything, for your sake” (Ibsen, 833). Once given the opportunity, however; Torvald shows no intention of sacrificing his life or anything for Nora, thinking only about his appearances. His selfishness becomes
Nora and Torvald have been married for eight years. He has never excelled at being an exceptional husband to her, and talks extremely negative to her. Torvald also screeched at his wife, Nora, for making inadequate decisions that have destroyed his reputation. Torvald says, “You talk like a child, think like a child! You don’t understand the … the whole society in which you live” (Ibsen 105). Torvald has made Nora feel as if she has wrecked
Later in the play things start getting complicated for Nora. Her husband Torvald had become Mr. Krogstad boss at work, and Torvald wanted to fire Mr. Krogstad. This is when Mr. Krogstad starts to blackmail Nora. He wants Nora to stop Torvald from firing him. If she does not, Mr. Krogstad was going to tell Torvald her secret. This should have been the perfect time for Nora to tell the truth to her husband, but she believed that telling Torvald the truth will ruin their relationship. Nora says to her friend Mrs. Linde “Torvald, with all his masculine pride – how painfully humiliating for him if he ever found out he was in debt to me. That would ruin our relationship. Our beautiful, happy home would never be the same” (Iben 802)