Iago's Characterization in 'Othello'

Othello, a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, depicts complicated relationships and imperfection of humanity by inaugurating various characters with unique personality. Specifically, Iago, driven by his avarice and jealousy towards others, plays a manipulative role who exploits the weakness and frailty in the characters around him as he justifies himself of those actions. In fact, Iago’s inability to control his greed, envy and jealousy towards others had implemented him to being a devious individual; his contriving nature had been the substructure to the tragic events that progress throughout the calamitous story. Moreover, Iago specifically shows of how obsessive covetousness had lead himself into irrational behaviors.

Iago's manipulative nature has a profound effect on the decisions made by other characters in Shakespeare's ‘Othello’. Through his relations with those around him Shakespear characterizes him as a man full of malice, vengeance and dishonesty that is wholly inspired by jealousy. Furthermore it would appear that Iago has an exceptional ability to scheme, a talent which he uses to snake his way into the lives of others and exploit them through their weaknesses. Whether he does this for profit or for pleasure is a separate issue.

Iago, who presents himself as Othello’s confidante, signifies the antithesis of the virtues of the play, and Othello’s belief in the lies this villain tells destroy these values and lead to his demise.  Iago is disloyal from the start.  From the beginning he tells us, “In following him [Othello], I follow but myself. / … I am not what I am” (I, I, 55-62).  Iago feigns devotion to Othello only to bring him down, and in doing so he makes himself seem virtuous and turns the true virtue, in Desdemona, to vice.  When scheming to make Othello think that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant, he plays on her concern for people, and her willingness to help Cassio come back into Othello’s favor: “So will I turn her virtue into pitch, / And out of her goodness make the net/ That shall enmesh them all” (II, iii, 360-62).  As the opposite of all that is valued in the play, Iago is able to make the virtue of the other characters into their downfalls without them suspecting it.  He observes of Othello, “The Moor…Is of a constant, loving, and noble nature” (II, I, 288-89).  He then plans to use this nature to “Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me / … Even to madness” (II, I, 308-11).  Iago uses Othello’s trusting nature and Desdemona’s goodness to create the

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,

From the very beginning of Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is held in very high regard within the community in Venice. He is often called “honest Iago” by many people, including his superior, Othello. There is a large juxtaposition between Iago’s perceived character in the beginning of the play, and the general feeling at the end of the play. There are two possible reasons that this man that many now know to be one of the most infamous antagonists of all time, to be revered, loved, and trusted as a most loyal friend.

In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello we see a morally depraved character, perhaps a very mentally sick individual, named Iago. His personality and development during the play is the subject of this essay.

While reading Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago’s actions, thoughts and overall psyche showed clear signs of psychopathic qualities. This lead me to believe that his “motives” were meaningless justifications for his actions, they were merely rationalisations for those he’s deceived, only used as tools to do so. He commits to his plans and deceptions through his love of the power he can hold over those he manipulates, and when he does succeed in what he set out to do, the evil disposition of Iago’s character comes to fruition. The critical essays by, Fred West, David Stempel, and works by Samuel Coleridge contain a great deal of insight into the mind of Iago, giving both in-depth analysis and a clear understanding of why he set out to commit the atrocities

The most illusive character in all of Shakespeare’s drama, Iago is perhaps the most difficult to explore psychologically for the simple reason that he lacks a personal self. He dons and sheds gender like a closet of clothes, adorning each article as it suits him. Ultimately evolved from the Vice figure of the medieval English morality plays, as Bernard Spivack has convincingly argued, Iago is the Shakespeare’s dramatic and humanistic manifestation of the abstracted evil which governed the dramatic movement of the previous generations of English plays. The self he presents to the world is bound only by circumstance and not by constitution. One key to Iago’s power is his “improvisational ability” (Gutierrez 12). Like the mythical Satan as Prince of Lies, he makes up his fabulous stories as he goes along, playing off of others’ actions and reactions to his ever-spinning web of lies. Iago switches between the facades of emotion easily and fluidly. He admits and affirms his hatred of Othello in the opening lines of the play (I.i.1-9) [All citations are from the Bantam edition.] and reveals his intentions of betraying Othello at his earliest convenience (I.i.44). In the very next scene, not more than 150 lines later, we find Iago in his role as sycophant openly fawning before the

What marks consummate villainy is the willingness to be absolutely evil-to have no qualms about being diabolical and no strains of human morality.  Because feeling for another leads one to experience guilt, even an iota of empathy is a character flaw that will lead to the downfall of a villain.  To succeed, the villain needs to emulate the character Iago in Othello, who consistently works his evil throughout the whole play and does not slip until the end, when there is simply no way he can turn the situation to his advantage.  Iago is a model for the ultimate villain because he operates on a self-styled level of morality, such that he never doubts his actions, however diabolical the actions seem

Calvin Williams Mr. Fuller English Composition II 09, December 2014 Othello Researh: Iago From reading and understanding William Shakespeare’s play Othello, he presents us with a character that is a villain name Iago. He has been seen as a honest man by many of the characters within the play. With Iago serving in the military and had gone through the ranks he felt kind of over looked throughout the film and text. Iago, himself is view to be very two faced, trifling, prejudice, jealous, and etc…

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is undeniably the most sinister character, possibly the most sinister in all of his works. He is established as a trustworthy character, and coined with the epithet “Honest Iago.” Iago has crafted a believable facade by working beside Othello for years and forming a friendship with Michael Cassio. Iago has a secret resentment towards Othello, partly because he gave the position of lieutenant to Cassio. Jealousy of Cassio consumes Iago as well. Intent on vengeance, Iago creates a devious plan to plant suspicions in Othello’s mind. Iago is sly, and he thrives on playing people’s weaknesses. He manipulates people to go against each other without them realizing it. The extent of his iniquity is revealed as

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.

The critic A.C Bradley suggests that Shakespeare’s portrayal of Iago as a mischievous man is exceptionally good, he states, “Evil has nowhere else been portrayed with such mastery as in the character of Iago.” Bradley believes that pictures of Iago are wrong in two ways, Iago was an ‘average villain’ who enforced only out of revenge, and that like Coleridge’s ‘motiveless evilness, he was an evil human being ‘who hates good simply because it is good,’ and he enjoys evil only for itself.’ I don’t agree with what Bradley has stated as he talks about Iago causing others discomfort as he does multiple times, I believe that it was Iago’s jealousy that drove him to become the worst version of himself, it was his loneliness and hardest times that took made him commit these sinful acts, and it was Iago’s deceived way of achieving power the same power that was deprived away from him when Othello named Cassio as lieutenant instead of

Iago has many reasons to hate Othello, including the fact that he had been passed over for a promotion, in which Othello had snatched the position, and he also suspects Othello had slept with Emilia. These reasons were given to the audience, as Iago, himself, reveals his reasons to Roderigo, “ 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.” (1.3.378-82). Iago is never turned back on his plan to ruin Othello and the people surrounding him, since he is always contemplating on how Othello doesn’t deserve his accolades, and how Iago is plotting revenge against him. This keeps Iago to consistently, and deliberately continue with his strategies, which keeps the audience empathetic for the rest of the story. Iago is also jealous of Othello’s ability to woo and lure Desdemona, “It cannot be that Desdemona should long continue her love to the Moor ... She must change for youth. When she is sated with his body, she will find the error of her choice.” (1.3.340). However, Even if Iago had received the promotion; even if he had no suspicions or jealous feelings, he would still invent new motives for hating the Moor, as he is the devil of the story. Iago is not capable of performing good deeds, sustaining good relationships, or even

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.