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Roderigo's Ambition In Othello By William Shakespeare

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Every human being may be different or unique but one characteristic that everyone possesses is ambition which is the key to gain superiority, power and authority over others to climb up the mountains of success. Even though, ambition makes a person stronger forcing one to strive for his goals, it can often impose harmful impacts on a person’s life leading one to a destructive path and throwing one towards the downfall. A person’s ambition is driven by their actions and the risks one is willing to take in order to achieve their dreams. In the play, Othello, William Shakespeare highlights ambition as a destructive personal attribute which transforms a simple person into a sinful demon and results in a disastrous future by shattering an individual’s…show more content…
From the beginning of the play, Roderigo complains and criticizes his own fate for not getting Desdemona’s attention and love. Roderigo’s ambition implies such a destructive impact on him that he is blindly tortured by Iago and thinking of taking Desdemona from Othello which shows that Roderigo has such a weak and unintelligent character. Roderigo’s love for Desdemona goes to such extent that he is willing to do whatever it takes and says, “I am changed. I’ll go sell all my land.” (I. III. 371). At this point, Roderigo’s ambition and desires have blinded him to the point that he is willing to change himself and sell all the wealth he has in hopes of winning Desdemona. This idea was proposed by Iago to manipulate Roderigo and steal all his wealth which portrays Roderigo’s unintelligence and poor character as he is being controlled by an another person without realizing that his ambition is blindingly leading him to a damaging pathway. Later on in the play, after being manipulated by Iago on several occasions, Roderigo’s superego starts to wake him up from Iago’s horrible mind games as his character starts to change up a bit and he realizes that his ambition has gotten him into a huge trouble for his future leading him to the pathway of humiliation. He slowly begins to understand that his ambition is pointless and it is going to give him nothing but regrets so he says, “With naught but truth. I have wasted myself out of my means …. Nay, I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fopped in it.” (IV. II. 185-194). At this point, Roderigo has realized the mistake he has made of thinking of winning Desdemona and now, he regrets everything he has done but most importantly, he has sold all his lands, jewellery, and fallen into poverty through Iago’s psychological manipulations. He has tried
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