Essay on The Evil Iago of Othello

Cassio's trust in Iago stems not only from his impeccable reputation of sincerity, but again from Othello's influence.  Othello simply states; "Iago is most honest." [Act II, scene iii], when conversing with Cassio.  Once more, if Othello feels this way, then Cassio, who admires Othello and follows his leadership, will also believe that Iago is an honest man.  When Iago pretends to help Cassio, he comments; "I never knew a Florentine more kind and honest", [Act III, scene I].

Iago attempts to discredit Cassio is the eyes of Othello (II.iii). He enables Cassio to become intoxicated and then later Roderigo picks a fight with him. Othello finds Cassio at fault for the fight, which he seems to be at first glance., and removes him from his office. Even after it is done with, neither have any idea they were manipulated by Iago, but think he is a wonderful person, better, in fact, because of this incident.

Iago as Evil in William Shakespeare's Othello "Othello" is famously regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. It explores the downfall of a great general Othello through a series of unlucky circumstances. Othello's character shows a man of high status whose job, marriage and life is ruined because of his insecurities by a man named Iago. Iago (Othello's ensign) is able to manipulate Othello,

Othello is the character with whom most of Iago's methods have success. His weakness as a jealous lover is apparent early on, but only after Iago’s has planted the seeds of doubt within his mind. Such is Othello’s trust for Iago that he uses the misnomer of describing Iago as ‘honest Iago’ and irony considering the action held within the play.  The trust is obvious and implicit and thoroughly entrenched within the language. Othello surmises on the aforementioned doubts during the last act of the play when he says;

In Act 2, Iago is a deceptive person. He is able to effortlessly pretend that he loves Cassio, even though he is plotting to get him fired. There is a part of Act 2 of Scene 3, where a brawl has just taken place between Cassio and Roderigo. Cassio is made drunk by Iago; Roderigo takes advantage of this and picks a fight with him. (IC; IC) Montano is trying to stop the fight; he places himself between them and gets hurt instead. (General IC; Specific IC) The ruckus interrupts Othello’s honeymoon night. He asks Iago to reveal who started the fight. Iago feigns innocence at first, but eventually tells Othello “with reluctance” that it was Cassio: “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth / Than it should do offense to Michael Cassio” (Shakespeare 2.3.236-267). (IC: “Quote” (citation).) Iago claims that he does not want to say anything bad about Cassio because he cares for Cassio. The audience obviously knows that Iago set Cassio up to get into a fight and ultimately get fired. This is because Iago despises Cassio; for, he has a greater power and position than Iago. Iago is so easily able to lie in front of

the start of the play Othello is seen as evil and bad by all the other

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.

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

Not only is Iago a man who doesn’t like to be held vulnerable, he also won’t have to worry about returning the money if Roderigo is gone. To manipulate Roderigo’s unbearable love for Desdemona even further, Iago causes a situation that inevitably has Desdemona venting out her anger to Cassio. Then he bluntly states to Roderigo, “First, I must tell thee this: Desdemona is directly in love with [Cassio]” (II.i. 26). The audience knows that this is a blatant lie, but it manages to make Roderigo loathe Cassio. Iago’s got him so bad that he even convinces him to murder Cassio.

The Art of Persuasion Act 3 Scene 3 Aluda Galla Iago would reveal something, but not to a full extent. He would instigate suspicions in Othello’s head all while acting oblivious even though he knew the answers to everything and meticulously planned it all. Iago would be persistent, but still wouldn’t say everything that was on his mind, his persistence would keep Othello thinking and ensue self destructive thoughts. Iago also played on Othello’s love and trust, he’d use it to his advantage, Othello believed him because he has always seen Iago as an honest man.

     Iago, the villain in Shakespeare’s Othello, is a round character of great depth and many dimensions. Iago works towards an aim that is constantly changing and becomes progressively more tragic. Yet, at times, "honest" Iago does actually seem honest. This essay will explore the complex character of "honest Iago.

Thereafter, as Roderigo looks up to Iago for guidance, Iago comes off as a worried friend, and as soon as he leaves, Iago begins insulting him and remarks on his lack of intelligence. Never the less, the cast doesn’t seem to notice Iago’s betrayal. On the other hand, they praise him for being so

For the second object that Iago used to exact revenge on Othello is Michael Cassio. Cassio is a good looking, good mannered, and well-educated courtier, but his weakness is he cannot control himself when he drinks alcohol. So, Iago knew how could he take advantage of Cassio. He asked Cassio to have drinks with him, and gets Cassio drunk. Once Cassio is drunks, he then sends Roderigo to fight with him. Iago shows the audiences what is he thinking about Cassio in his soliloquy, "If I can fasten but one cup upon him, with that which he hath drunk tonight, already, he'll be as full of quarrel and offence as my young mistress' dog. Now my sick fool Roderigo" (Act II, scene 2, lines 37-40) Iago’s plan has been created to trick Cassio into overdrinking and lose himself control.

Iago and Othello have a copious amount of dissenting opinions and this is never more palpable than in their sentiment about Othello and even though they are both biased views, with Othello obviously having an affinity to himself and the both narcissistic and envious Iago having an animosity towards Othello, they reveal the nature of Othello.

Iago previously conspired with Roderigo to provoke an altercation from Cassio. A fight ensues, and Othello is awoken to find his lieutenant being drunk and disorderly. Therefore, Othello dismisses Cassio from his position in his army. Later, Iago persuades Cassio into asking Desdemona for help to be reinstated as Othello’s lieutenant. This is part of Iago's diabolical plot to make Othello think that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair because Iago eludes to Othello that the reason she is helping Cassio is that she loves him. Iago makes it apparent that he dislikes Cassio for being promoted instead of him, but he makes another claim in his second soliloquy: