Othello Good Vs Evil Analysis

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.

In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, the Iago is the most important character. It is his dreams, hopes and desires that turn him evil, bringing out the worst possible characteristics in order to achieve all the things he wants. Iago’s manipulative traits, deceitful actions and love for Othello eventually cause the death Emilia, Desdemona and Othello himself.

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

In Othello, Shakespeare builds up to the overall meaning of the play through the use of betrayal which results in Iago ruining everyone’s life as well as his own. Betrayal is central to the drama and it drives each character to making irrational choices, due to them being easily manipulated by Iago’s heartless actions that were motivated by revenge, jealousy and delusional assumptions

    We find in William Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello an example of personified evil. He is the general’s ancient, Iago, and he wreaks havoc and destruction on all those under his influence.

“Monsters are real, ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win,” said by Stephen King, maybe not all the monsters humanity likes to envision are living under our bed but has it came to consideration that they live inside of us decoding in between what is good and evil can be difficult for plenty of individuals along with figuring out on whether it's inside us or not, but some if lucky may sense the division. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, a play about a woman named Desdemona and a man named Othello happily married but soon their marriage is soon poisoned by envy, the man that had tainted the relationship with another man and jealousy was none other than a man

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

Othello written by William Shakespeare is a play centered around the theme of fidelity and honesty. In Iago’s own words during act 2 scene 1 lines 223-248. The main villain in this story, Iago is driven by the way women act. Iago is the main villain throughout the story, he is very twisted in the web of lies he strings to manipulate the purity of people. His actions are motived by the jealousy of a main character Cassio, and the anger through his story of an affair between Othello and his wife.

William Shakespeare’s Othello uses different and unique techniques in his language to express the nature of evil throughout the play. Verbal twists and the characters most importantly stress the act of evil. Iago, most of all is portrayed as the “villain” or “protagonist in the play. Shakespeare uses this character to set the basis of evil. Each plot point is spiraled further into tragedy due to the nature of Iago and his manipulative language towards the other main characters.

To begin, Iago’s encouragement of prejudice leads to Othello’s manifestation of darkness. For instance, when Iago unveils to Rodrigo that he has a plan to attain Desdemona’s affection for him, he in contrast dehumanizes Othello he reveals that “If I the Moor I would not be Iago. In following him I follow but myself; Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, but seeming so for my peculiar end. For when my outward action doth demonstrate” (I.i.57–65). This illustrates, Iago’s true nature that he holds prejudice and hatred for Othello by referring to him as a Moor, it proves that he only views him as substandard. Iago will pretend to serve him, but in reality he is only loyal to himself. This foreshadows that Iago will use negative connotations of race to manipulate Othello into thinking he is worthless. Thus, planting in Othello’s mind thoughts of adultery and hypocrisy. Later, resulting in the uprising of jealousy and darkness of Othello’s character. So Rodrigo, can obtain Desdemona’s love. Promotion of racial bias is also, evident when Iago tries to insinuate that Desdemona is unfaithful. He argues that “not to affect many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion, and degree, Where to we see in all things nature tends—Foh! One may smell in such a will most rank, Foul disproportions,

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

It then hit me that through Iago’s judgments Othello is “the Moor” and should therefore exemplify the common idea of a moor, which is not admiration, self-worth, and fortune; it is one of disconnectedness and dependency. When he says that “nothing can or shall content his soul/ Till he is evened with the Moor, wife for wife” (Act 2: Scene), he means that he is satisfied until Othello’s life is made equal with his involving feelings of inadequacy and jealousy, which are all qualities fitting to a “moor”. Throughout the play Iago repetitively uses derogatory remarks when speaking of Othello so to encourage certain people in the play to endure racism and confirm that it was the norm. Even so, some of Iago’s semantics reveal his own prejudices. For example, Iago only refers to Othello as a “Moor” with the exception of when he refers to Othello as the “black Othello” (Act 2: Scene 3). Iago hates Othello because he is “the Moor” yet does not symbolize the expected role of what is thought of to be a black man in these times. There is neither reason nor logic behind his hatred, but discrimination against one seldom has reason, for it is characteristically irrational thinking. Iago is a clear illustration of what racism is and will justify his irrational thoughts with anything, just as Iago contributes to Brabantio and Rodrigo’s reasoning behind their actions and Othello’s reasons for acting out on

In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare illustrates Othello as a benevolent military noble who shares an intellectual love with his young wife, Desdemona, that is of utmost purity and innocence. At once the evil character of Iago is introduced and uncovers the hero's tragic flaw; ultimately that of naiveté. Although Othello is usually a very even-tempered man, as can be seen when he refuses to let Iago persuade him to get angry at Roderigo, (I, ii, 6), an exteriour opposing force characterized by Iago, perpetuates the tragedy of the play by provoking the interiour opposing force, or the hamartia of the protagonist. Near the beginning of the play, Shakespeare's clever demonstration of dramatic irony allows the reader to realize Othello's tragic flaw in the fact that he hands his full trust over to a man who is "Janus-faced" and dishonest. "...my ancient; a man he is of honesty and trust. To this conveyance I assign my wife". The irony from this line lies in Othello's misconception of his ensign, Iago, who is already plotting against him for his own means. After witnessing Iago's conspiracy with Roderigo at the ruination of Othello in the previous act, the reader immediately sees Iago's villainess, however in innocence, Othello is blinded to it and by it. From this we see, as in many tragedies, the tragic hero's flaw is not actually a defect in itself, but rather an excess of a virtue. In the case of Othello, this perilous virtue

Othello is a classic of the universal literature, where human relations show a constant fight between good and evil. From the opening of the play, Shakespeare, in addition to racial and gender aspects, makes continuous religious allegory. From the stories told in the Bible and the events reported by Shakespeare can be compared to the history of destruction of life Othello with Christ, as a result of evil desires and envy. In Othello, Iago is the main driver of the action, with their manipulations makes the characters to where he wants, merciless and unscrupulous. Iago may be related to Satan, because their actions are for the purpose of self-interest, with perversion and harm to others. Shakespeare makes one of his first allusions to the perversion

Iago’s relationship with Othello becomes a power struggle where Iago attempts to degrade Desdemona in order to position himself so he can ‘poison’ Othello. Here Shakespeare is showing how powerful and manipulative Iago can be with his use of words, and how powerful they can be. This power struggles is exemplified