In William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, the villain Iago displays manipulative and self-absorbing personality traits, classifying him as a psychopath. Throughout the play, Iago was consistently using people for his benefit and he managed to disguise himself as an honest character. Shakespeare depicts him as a malicious character, and takes advantage of his reputation to plot revenge to whom he believes to have wronged him. His psychopathic traits such as pathological lying, lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, parasitic lifestyle, poor behavioural controls, impulsivity, and criminal versatility proves that Iago is, indeed, a psychopath. Iago can be seen as manipulative and cunning which is one of many aspects of a psychopath. In …show more content…
Iago’s personality traits are components of a psychopath; A psychopath possesses superficial charm, unreliability, untruthfulness, lack of remorse or shame, antisocial behaviour, poor judgment, incapacity to love, and specific loss of insight. In the article “Psychopaths know right from wrong, but don’t care” written by Maaike Cima, Franca Tonnaer, and Marc D. Hauser describes a psychopath. “Adult psychopaths have deficits in emotional processing and inhibitory control, engage in morally inappropriate behaviour, and generally fail to distinguish moral from conventional violations. These observations, together with a dominant tradition in the discipline which sees emotional processes as causally necessary for moral judgment, have led to the conclusion that psychopaths lack an understanding of moral rights and wrongs.”(Maaike Cima, Franca Tonnaer, and Marc D. Hauser) This article depicts that psychopaths have poor control over their feelings, and they will never admit their wrongdoings. These characteristics, perfectly describe Iago in the play “Othello”. Throughout the play Iago’s behaviour has been consistently manipulative, persuasive, and two-faced. All characters believed his words because of his good reputation and humbleness. He successfully used Roderigo to be his wallet, stripped Cassio from his lieutenant position, and controlled Othello to make him believe …show more content…
Iago, always, seems to be proud of his good reputation and self value. In the article “Iago the Psychopath” written by Fred West, depicts and analyses Iago’s behaviour and personality. “Like the psychopath described by Cleckley, Iago is impulsive, but he sees nothing wrong with his behaviour, no matter how erratic or antisocial; therefore, he doesn't bother to find or invent excuses unless prodded. The very first lines of Othello contain just such prodding on the part of Roderigo, Iago’s gull…” (West.30) West argues that Iago sees no wrong doings to his actions. Iago can be seen to be using his best friend Roderigo for his wealth, and he, successfully, convinces him that sending gifts to Desdemona will win her heart. However, Iago stole all the gifts that were supposed to be delivered to Desdemona, and makes Roderigo believe that killing Cassio will eliminate all obstacles between Roderigo and Desdemona’s love. When Roderigo realises Iago’s plan, Iago stabs him and kills him. This is one of many examples that Iago easily uses people for his own good and finishes them off if they are no use. West also cites “As a psychopath, he has no real insight into his own true nature, hence it would never occur to him to inquire if he were evil or malignant. Also, he projects his own views and shallowness of affect upon other, so he has no reason for making an unfavourable evolution of himself against anyone else.
In conclusion, Iago is a psychopath because he meets all of the symptom criteria. He is an especially dangerous psychopath because he enjoys inflicting pain upon others, has no remorse or empathy, has a grandiose sense of self, is able to easily manipulate others for personal gain, and needs constant stimulation
Iago was very blind to seeing the faults in his actions. At least the personal faults. He was able to identify certain characteristics of himself but just assigned them onto other people. In some case a psychopath can “Projects his own views and shallowness … upon others” excusing themselves from the responsibilities and pressures of theirself (West 30). This behavior could be one of the reasons that Iago says he hates Othello. He sees these things in himself, attributes he does not like and projects them on Othello, the person who most recently wronged him, as a way to fight those unliked characteristics. Iago “does not regard his own actions as horrendously evil” because he believes that it is deserved in a way (West 28). As if with the mentality of “What else can he expect from appointing someone who has no experience. He deserves it.” Being “egocentricity is his vanity” prevents himself from seeing his flaws (West 34). Although who is to say that in the brain of a psychopath if they see their actions as a flaw. This prevention of seeing and accepting these flaws results in a hindered reality of wrong and right. Because if vanity is a characteristic of a psychopath then no psychopath will see what they are doing as wrong, at least not the average one. This would cause an inverse of morals creating a backwards thought of right and wrong. To make matters more confusing Iago mockingly knows what he's doing in wrong and subconsciously contests it with sarcasm. He even if the entire arguments hold no ground he still has to knowingly be aware that he is lying to everyone and yet he still asks “as honest as I am” (II.i.220). Yes it could be sarcasm but that joking attitude alone lightens up the tone for the severity of what he has done. Joking can in some
“I am not what I am,” proclaims one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most enigmatic villains, Iago, in the tragedy Othello. Iago’s journey for revenge enables him to become capable of immoral acts, and whilst his malevolence excites us, we are no more intrigued by his attributes than we are of the play’s tragic hero, Othellos’. Rather, both characters’ confrontation with jealousy and their subsequent moral demise as a result of failing to control such an emotion provides the true excitement for audiences. Iago’s spiteful manipulation of Othello makes him a multifaceted character — whose corrupt attributes make the audience examine their own morality. However, the same can be said of Othello; his failure to withstand Iago’s ‘pouring of pestilence’
Iago is not an irrational, mentally unstable sociopath who goes around killing people for pleasure. Yet, it also can’t be agreed that Iago is quite physiologically sound. He is an extremist who has reasons for his misdemeanors, though they aren’t necessarily the ones he claims. Some of his faults can be connected/traced to environmental factors, his life lived unloved and self-doubt as a result.
In Othello, Iago is Shakespeare’s most malicious character and serves as a vehicle to these two themes. Iago despises Othello; he has a strong will to destroy Othello’s life, yet the motive behind his plan goes unexplained. Iago is a great manipulator of the tongue and lies to everyone in order to advance his plan; however, every character in the play considers Iago an honest character, and Othello even associates Iago with light and eyesight. Othello continuously asks Iago to explain or make something clearer. Until the very end, Iago appears to be honest and helpful to the other characters, but underneath this seemingly harmless façade, Iago is a demon with the strongest will; he will stop at nothing until he ruins Othello’s life. Iago uses a positive appearance to enact his
A psychopath easily demonstrates several discernible quirks. Iago, one of Shakespeare 's most notable characters from Othello, regularly displays unholy habits. Iago is a man who is determined to achieve his goals by manipulating and scheming plans to get what he wants. His shallow heart shows no mercy for those who oppose. A psychopath Iago undoubtedly fits the role of a psychopath because of his manipulative, emotionless and devious behavior throughout the entire play.
The reader can see Iago’s drastic difference from what he said in the beginning of the play, compared to his actions in the end of the play. Iago says “Though in the trade of war I have slain men, Yet do I hold it very stuff o' th' conscience To do no contrived murder. I lack iniquity Sometimes to do me service.” (Act I, scene, ii, lines 1-4) Iago tells this straight to Othello’s face that he truly finds murder of another man sickening, and that even though he has killed men before, he believes it to be wrong and will not kill out of his own reasons but only when his is forced to. Contradicting Iago's on words, in Act V, scene I, line 65, Iago murders Roderigo out of cold blood. Iago also murders his wife Emilia in Act V scene ii, line 149, because she wouldn’t obey him to shut up, when she is telling the truth about Iago’s horrible ways he has manipulated Othello into believing Desdemona was unfaithful to him. “Be wise, and get you home.” (Act V, scene ii, line
Have you ever met a devil who does evil for his own sake? Iago in William Shakespeare's Othello could seem like he has good motives, but I feel that he uses them as his excuses. The first thing that I did was uncovered Iago's motives. Iago is the most controversial character in Othello. He is able to keep his true thoughts and motives from everyone. Are his motives only excuses for his actions? Iago pretends to have so many motives that they seem more like excuses. Iago then uses these excuses to justify his actions, which are pure evil. I also feel that Iago has motives and actions that cause his actions. Does Iago have many different excuses, or does he only have one? This paper will prove that Iago has one clear motive and reason for his madness. Iago is not looking for justification that causes him to act the way he does. There is much more though to Iago. He is not a man of only excuses, he has goals with his motives, which causes him to act the way he does.
“Iago the Psychopath.” South Atlantic Bulletin. 43.2 (1978): 27-35. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web.
The fascinating intelligence of Shakespeare begins with Othello, unlike other tragedies that begin with ancillary figures that point out the character that will turn out to be at the center of the tragedy, with his genius creation of truly evil Iago instead of Othello. Shakespeare gave Iago the honor of being a main character, an antagonist too, in one of his blood-soaked tragedies and made him survive the experience. Iago, the genius villain whose intrigues and deception brought the downfall of the main hero Othello, is considered in today’s society a true Sociopath. Sociopathy-as noted by Preston McAfee-is a personality disorder defined by certain characteristics such as manipulations, lack of empathy, sense of entitlement, and a grandiose sense of his own importance. Those traits were manifestly shown by Iago in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello.
Iago would most commonly be referred to as dishonest, however beyond that he is also downright amoral and uses other’s weaknesses to manipulate them into doing what he pleases. From the very beginning we see how Iago manipulates Roderigo by pretending he is looking out for his best interests in the matter of Othello’s elopement with Desdemona. He makes Barbantio angry with Othello and Desdemona by telling him about their elopement then lying about the consummation of their relationship. He then leaves Roderigo to take responsibility for his (Iago’s) actions. In the meantime he goes off to inform Othello that Roderigo is accountable for telling Barbantio about the relationship and saying horrible things about Othello. Iago later brings Roderigo back into his quest for revenge when he tries to get Cassio fired from the position that Iago originally wished to obtain. Although Cassio knows it is against his better judgement to drink, Iago manipulates him into getting drunk then stages a fight between Roderigo and Cassio. He even goes as far as to try to make Cassio look bad by telling Montano that he gets drunk regularly. Upon Iago’s explanation of the situation Othello promptly fires Cassio from his position and Iago becomes more respected in Othello’s eyes. Roderigo is a prime example of how Iago uses people to fulfil his desires. Iago convinces Roderigo that he could win Desdemona’s love away from Othello and the only man that stands in the way is Cassio. In this way when he plans to humiliate Cassio it seems as if he is doing it to help out Roderigo when, in actuality, he is seeking revenge on Cassio for taking his position.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Iago’s magnificent intelligence and superiority make him a very intriguing character. Iago is not just any villain that comes into a town, with a black cape and knife that scares everyone, he destroys and “kills” by using creative tactics that could only be thought of by someone who is brilliant. He deceives, strategizes, and twists the truth with amazing ease. Iago maintains his on point intelligence by staying completely unconflicted about being evil. Iago is completely committed as he states, “[He will] turn her virtue into pitch, / And… make the net / That shall enmesh them all” (II. Ii. 366-368). Iago is considered a cross between God and the Devil, as shown in the, “Divinity of Hell!” (!!. ii. 356)
From these eleven soliloquies the audience is pulled back and forth concerning their opinions of Iago’s character. He plays on the audiences pity, however also shows them his darker side. In the end, the audience is left with no doubt that Iago is nothing but evil and manipulative. I suppose one could say Iago was the true definition of a sociopath and cared for no one but himself. Not once did he show remorse or care for any other character in the play. The entire time he thought of schemes to get other characters to commit murder and be murdered in order to acquire his goal of gaining Othello’s title. His use of darkness and light, and deeper motives combine with his exterior ones exposed in his soliloquies, truly made him a hard character to analyze and predict, but allowed the audience to certainly place him as the detestable antagonist at the end.
Of all the characters in Shakespeare 's literature, Iago is the most innately evil antagonist created. Although Shakespeare’s other antagonists show reasoning behind their actions, Iago lacks any type of motive. In the tragedy, Othello, by William Shakespeare, Iago, the manipulative antagonist plays the role of a master puppeteer who successfully creates chaos and disorder throughout the entire play with no motives behind them. Early on, Iago is seen by the other characters as an honest and trustworthy ensign. Although as the play progresses, this multilayered character manipulates numerous good-natured minds to become as sinful as his own. Iago’s ability to exploit his victims’ flaws in such an unsuspecting manner