In William Shakespeare's, Othello, Iago's ability to manipulate characters in the play demonstrates that he has two sides to himself, which ultimately cause major destruction. When Othello does not name Iago his main lieutenant and instead chooses Cassio, Iago seeks revenge on Othello. However since Iago does not have a past of being disloyal to Othello, Iago is able to manipulate Othello and other characters more easily. Iago represents a paradox because he is honest to himself and the reader, but he is dishonest to everyone else in the play. There are a lot more layers to him than everyone in the play knows about. Iago’s paradox shows how dishonesty can lead to even more tragedy. Iago is only honest with the audience throughout the play. Iago’s sincerity with the audience creates an even bigger reaction from them. Having the audience watch Iago’s plan unfold piece by piece creates more tragedy for them because they have no …show more content…
Iago’s dishonesty with Othello sparks significant tragedy in Cyprus. The more Othello trusts Iago, the easier it is for Iago to feed information to Othello. Iago drops hints to Othello that cause Othello to question his relationship with Desdemona. After Iago tells Othello to hide, his plan is to question Cassio as if he is referring to Desdemona, even though Iago is actually talking about a maid, Bianca. Iago shows his craziness in this moment because he is playing both Othello and Cassio at the same time. Aside to the audience, Iago says, “Now will I question Cassio of Bianca/…when [Cassio] hears of her, cannot restrain/ From the excess of laughter/ As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad” (Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 110-117). It was Iago’s plan all along to break up Othello and Desdemona to get revenge on Othello for promoting Cassio instead of Iago. The more Iago noticed the plan was working, the more the power went to his head, and he kept doing more to sabotage Othello’s
Act iii, scene iii, lines 108-131 of William Shakespeare’s “Othello” unquestionably shows Iago’s trickery and deceptiveness which is masked through his reputation for honesty, reliability and direct speaking. This section not only shows Iago’s slow but powerful act of deception, but also shows the jealousy and insecurities slowly depriving Othello’s inner peace and balance.
of being an honest man. Iago knew that an important man like Othello couldn’t ignore. the possibility that his wife was cheating on him. Nobody suspects that Iago is a deceitful man and would plot and plan to destroy Othello, Cassio and Desdemona in such a way. cunning way to go.
Iago wanted Othello’s position and used others to shame Othello and gain stature. Iago dressed himself up a trustworthy man and worked his way into Othello’s trust with tricks and lies. He wore a very convincing mask; often temporarily defending the person he was trying to ruin to further his honest visage. He says to Othello, “Men should be what they seem…” (3.3.127) through these methods, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio, an officer, was having an affair with Othello’s beautiful wife Desdemona. As a vicious result, Othello is driven mad with anger and sadness and throttles Desdemona in their bed. The death and want left by Iago’s deception is vast hurting everyone involved most frequently on a mortal level. When the truth finally comes out, Othello, in his grief and remorse, ends up stabbing himself with a dagger. In the end, many die due to Iago’s deception, through villainy or despair, and none gain what they truly want because of it. This just goes to show that the mask of deception that a man wears can cause an unbelievable amount of harm, bodily and worse,
What is perhaps the leading cause for the downfall of the characters in the play is Iago’s hypocritical nature that comes with an undeniable desire for fame, and receiving attention from others. To begin with, the audience can develop the idea that Iago greatly appreciates all the compliments that others give to him. Noteworthy evidence includes when Cassio “humbly [thanks Iago] for’t, [never knowing] a Florentine more kind and honest (3.1.27-28), as well as when Othello states that he knows [Iago is] full of love and honesty (3.3.118). The significance behind Othello, Iago, and what others thought about Iago’s qualities that he possesses all share one thing in common – the characters share their feelings for Iago whenever he ensures that he would help find solutions to their problems, such as Roderigo’s fondness for Desdemona, bringing back Cassio’s position as lieutenant, and helping out Othello by ending the alleged relationship between Desdemona and Cassio; this evidence demonstrates how Iago would do whatsoever only for people to praise him and to create a positive reputation of himself so it would be easier for him to hide his felonious schemes from others. Similarly, in order
In Othello, Iago uses his fine reputation as an “honest man” and Othello’s insecurities to manipulate him and carry out his master plan of destroying Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona. Iago’s insight towards the other characters’ weaknesses enables him to let them know exactly what they want to hear, which helps him gain their trust. He plays upon the insecurities of others to maneuver them into carrying out the actions he needs done in order to fulfill his own desires. In looking at Othello, we will consider the Othello’s blind acceptance of “the truth” as it is presented to him and find that when we blindly take another’s “truth” and accept it as our own, we merely become tools utilized by the person who gave us that supposed truth and give up the power of being ourselves—we fail to assert a self. Iago is angry because Othello chose Cassio to hold a position which he thinks he deserves, so he seeks revenge by playing upon Othello’s main flaw—his lack of trust—and putting Cassio in a position that would turn Othello against him.
Implicitly targeting Othello’s doubts about marrying Desdemona and insecurities about her actions with infidelity, Iago eventually impacts Othello enough that the General himself confides in Iago about his own wife. Earlier in the play, ‘honest Iago’ needs to first gain Othello’s confidence and he does so by expressing his loyalty to Cassio, “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth/ Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, while Othello is present in a conflict (2.3. 203-204). Then, later in the play Iago baits Othello by suggesting that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Immediately, Othello wants more information; however, Iago nervously responds with, “…vicious in my guess-/ As I confess…” and tries to calm Othello by saying, “My noble lord-” (3.3 46-47, 93). When voicing his devotion to Cassio, Iago immediately begins to play on his false reputation as ‘honest Iago’. He enables Othello, and his fellow characters, to think highly of him and to respect that even when his partner, Cassio, has not been following orders, Iago would even endure physical pain and have his “tongue cut from [his] mouth” and proves his locality (2.3. 203). This leads to when Iago responds to Othello’s queries, about
As early as the first scene of the play Iago shows us strong motives for his actions. In this first scene we see Othello, a general of Venice, has made Cassio his new lieutant. Iago feels he truly deserves his promotion as he says "I know my price, I am worth more no worse a place."(l.i.12) Iago over here is confused why Othello has made such a stupid decision. Iago is a man with a tremendous ego who knows, sometimes overestimates, his worth. Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman, understands Iago when Iago said that he is "affined to love the Moor."(l.i.41-42) What Iago really means is "I follow him to serve my term upon him."(l.i.45) Iago wants to use Othello for his personal goals. We also must put ourselves into Iago's shoes. He is a man whose self-esteem and professional carrier have just been torn apart. Iago makes his actions of revenge toward Othello almost immediately by informing Brabantio, a Venetian senator and father of Desdemona, that "an old black ram (Othello) is tupping (his) white ewe (Desdemona)."(l.i.97)
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it?
Characters in the play fail to comprehend Iago’s true nature until it is too late. Those interacting with Iago fall into the belief that Iago is loyal to his superiors, when Iago is actually focused on bringing them (Cassio and Othello) down. Iago constructs a false impression of his loyalty to Othello through ...
Iago is one of the most complex characters in William Shakespeare’s Othello. To most of the characters, he is “Honest Iago” (Shakespeare, 5.2.73). however, the audience knows that Iago is the furthest thing from honest. Iago is a devil bent on destroying the lives of everyone around him. At the beginning of the play, the audience learns that Iago is determined to ruin Othello’s marriage to Desdemona. He has appointed a new lieutenant, Michael Cassio. This angers Iago because he feels that he has much more military experience and should be the lieutenant. Iago has also heard rumours that both Othello and Cassio have slept with his wife Emilia. He concocts a malicious plan to ruin the lives of all who have wronged him, and consequently establishing
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Iago demonstrates a mastery of manipulation over people who had previously trusted and confided in him. His sudden turn from Othello’s loyal ensign to rage-filled villain seems indicative of a man who can no longer accept his position in life. Iago’s plotting of Othello’s demise starts as idle talk of a disgruntled 28 year-old career military man passed over for promotion. Iago believes that such a promotion may never come after Othello rejects his candidacy and makes it clear that he did not believe him suitable. He sees Othello is only concerned with personal and political gain with his choice of Cassio as lieutenant. When Iago teams with love-scorned and desperate Roderigo, he begins to construct Othello’s downfall. Iago is declaring an all-out covert war on Othello, Cassio, and anyone else who gets in his way. In Iago’s first speech in Act I Scene II, he proclaims hatred for Othello and lays out his plan for seeking vengeance. “After some time, to abuse Othello’s ears that he is too familiar with his wife (Shakespeare 1473).”
Iago uses the word "honest" in act three of Othello in three primary ways. The first way he uses it is to mean honourable, about Cassio. He uses this meaning of the word to force Othello to doubt Cassio's honesty, and question his hounorablility. The second way is to mean faithful, both about Desdemona and Cassio. Iago uses it in the context that the two may be "truthful," again to make Othello doubt. The third way is Iago's most effective use, which is to use honest in the context to mean truthful, as in, he has told Othello the truth. However, Shakespeare has created tremendous dramatic irony, for we know that Iago is being anything except truthful. The three uses of the word honest are used largely in the subtext of the act, they are used by Iago to force Othello to question his wife's integrity, and honesty. Shakespeare uses the word by Iago to plant tremendous doubt in Othello's mind. The word is also used by Iago in the action line. His objective is constantly to make Othello think things without actually being told them, and Iago's parroting of the word and constant useage do this quite nicely.
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.
Without a doubt, one of the main themes that runs throughout William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello, is that of honesty. In the play, the most interesting character is Iago, who is commonly called and known as "Honest Iago." However, this could not be farther from the truth. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits and moves him closer to his own goals. He is smart and an expert at judging the characters of others. Because of this, Iago pushes everyone to their tragic end.
Iago has been excellent at saying the what is needed to get to people, he misleads them to get a reaction he wants out of them. He is clever with his words to avoid confrontation that can easily happen. “Othello 's confusion is the human experience of language. In other words, language itself, not the outside world, determines meaning” (Christofides 2). Iago uses his words against Othello to get him to do Iago’s doings. Iago has an eloquence with