Othello as the Greater Evil in William Shakespeare’s Othello

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.

By the middle of the play Othello’s mood and demeanor seem to shift from being peaceful and patient to very anxious, paranoid, and gullible. For example when Othello is talking to Iago and Iago suggests that maybe his wife is not being faithful to him, it becomes Othello’s obsession to get down to the bottom of it and catch her. “I have been talking with your suitor here, a man that languishes in your displeasure / Who is’t you mean / Why, your lieutenant, Cassio. Good my lord” (III.iii.41-43). In this dialog between Othello and Iago, with just two sentences Iago causes Othello to lose trust in his wife and believe she is being unfaithful to him which grows stronger and stronger each scene of the play. Because Iago is extremely cunning and manipulative, he is able to control almost anyone he chooses and he is in control of Othello’s emotions because he knows the things Othello fears. Iago is pretending to be Othello’s friend but secretively is going behind his back and bringing him down. Iago convinces Othello that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona. “I humbly do beseech

Evil appears through the menacing Iago and his devilish undertakings in Shakespeare’s Othello. Perceived as a sociopath, Iago antagonizes and fuels conflict. Through an interpretation by Ralph Berry, the literary critic identifies a “fairly clear-cut pattern of good and evil that can be closely identified with the three main personages: that is, of evil, personified in Iago, struggling in the soul of Othello for possession of the goo, Desdemona” (3). The conflict throughout the story is fueled by the good versus evil narrative. Firstly, evil shows its presence when Iago manipulates Othello into thinking his love, Desdemona, cheated on him. In response to Iago’s insinuation Othello speaks, “Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw/the smallest

Othello’s trust for Iago enables Iago to completely discredit Othello as the good guy of the play when Iago manipulates him into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful to him with Cassio. Even though Othello must know in his heart that Desdemona would not betray him, he is so caught up by Iago's efforts and has fallen for his manipulative lies, that all rational thoughts abandons Othello and he ultimately ends up murdering his wife since to Othello betrayal was immoral. At the end of play, even Othello can hardly believe what he has done because he thinks of himself as, "One not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..." meaning that he has acted out of character and only in the interests of honor. Iago’s betrayal to those such as Othello and Desdemona, ultimately successfully destroyed everyone, himself included.

Firstly, Iago showed how he was the perfect villain with his ability to manipulate characters throughout the play. By manipulating other characters Iago can forward his plan of ruining Othello without other characters becoming suspicious. One character that Iago often manipulates is his friend Roderigo, this one character is the one that mainly does all the hard work of Iago. This quote: “Desdemona should continue her love to the Moor-put/money in thy purse-nor he his to her. It was a violent commencement in her, and thou shalt see an/answerable sequestration-put but money in thy purse. (1.3 334-338) convinced Roderigo to not kill himself and to continue to believe in Iago’s plan of making Desdemona to stop loving the Moor. Roderigo is in love and this is one reason why he is unable to realize that he is manipulated by Iago. Also, Iago manipulates Cassio to go talk to Desdemona, but Cassio is totally oblivious that he plans to use this to the Moor with jealousy. The quote: “I’ll send her to you presently; /and I’ll devise a means to draw the Moor/out of the way, that your converse and business/May be more free. (3.3 37-40) convinced Cassio to talk to Desdemona, which consequently shaped Othello to be even more jealous than before.

There are many critical interpretations of Iago’s character. Was he a ‘skillful villain’? Or perhaps he was a ‘mysterious creature of unlimited cynicism’? Or was he simply a ‘wronged man’? More sinned against than sinning?

    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.

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

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,

"Tush, never tell me! I take it much unkindly/ that thou, Iago, who hast had my purse/ as if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this./" (I. i. 1-3) From the beginning of Othello, Iago is portrayed as an antagonist, a villain who acts out of only his own interest. The acts that Iago engages in throughout Shakespeare's Othello are erroneous acts. Iago is not insane and he can comprehend the difference between right and wrong. Shakespeare is known for his ability to focus on human flaws and teach us lessons from their misfortune. Iago's destiny with evil is due to his own flaws, jealousy, selfishness, and deceit. Because of these insecurities, Iago will stop at nothing to get even with Othello. By

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.

Othello, not knowing that Cassio was in fact speaking with Desdemona in hopes of being reinstated as Lieutenant, mistakenly believes that the two are having an affair and that Desdemona has lost her chastity. Iago skillfully capitalizes on the situation by developing his attack further: "She did deceive her father, marrying you" (3.3.220). Othello begins to see Iago's reasoning: if she could deceive her father, she could just as easily deceive her new husband. Once Othello's bliss has been decimated, Iago concentrates on weakening Othello's perception of himself; Iago very carefully and very tactfully chooses words and metaphors that subconsciously pit Othello against the Venetians. Othello begins to perceive himself as an outsider in his own country, "a malignant and turbaned Turk" (5.2.365). A fruitful marriage with a Venetian woman becomes out of the question in Othello's mind. Iago's successful manipulation takes a self-confidant man and reduces him to one at ends with himself and with the woman he loved.

In the play Othello, Iago is automatically labelled as evil for being the villain, but what if he is something more? A psychopath is defined as someone who lacks a sense of morality with an antisocial personality disorder, such as one that has established into a corrupt and/or criminal character (The American Heritage). In the Bible, manipulation is defined as an evil characteristic trait (Marx 24-25); meaning Iago has some evil but is he pure evil? What if he is just a man driven by power to gain more than just the lieutenant position or he is a mixture of all these?

Iago’s complexity in character grows as the play comes closer to a conclusion. The tricky and crafty way Shakespeare uses the evil in Iago is to make him seem amoral as opposed to the typical immoral villain. At the climactic end of the play, Iago's plot and plan is given away to Othello

Iago quickly tried to come up with false evidence to apparently, to prove to Othello that this is indeed, reality, “I know not that; but suck a handkerchief – I am sure it was your wife’s – See Cassio wipe his beard with.”(3.3.496). Iago was supposedly ‘thickening his proofs’, and he insisted that Cassio has Desdemona’s handkerchief. Notice how Iago is exaggerating false allegations, only to make Othello think that Desdemona is unfaithful. It becomes fairly manageable for Iago to sell his tale to Othello, as he takes advantage of Othello’s trust, and reports what he ‘apparently witnessed’. After Iago successfully manipulates Othello, to consider his wife as a false-hearted woman, he doesn’t even think to reflect upon his sinful deeds, revealing his cold-hearted soul to the audience. By now, the viewers can only look down upon Iago with disgust, as he is also breaking a loving relationship between an honest man and his innocent wife. Why would Iago want to harm Desdemona when he clearly hates the Moor, and only the Moor? What was Iago’s purpose in slandering a beautiful, innocent woman? Well, Iago’s villainous schemes continue to leave the audience in disbelief. Then, Iago also vividly describes to Othello, about how Cassio is yearning for Desdemona, “There are a kind of men so loose of soul that in their sleeps will mutter their affairs. One of this kind is Cassio. In sleep I heard