Othello and Iago Comparison
Othello and Iago are different in their characters as well as in their
colours. It could be said also, however, that they are similar because
of their fallibility. Iago is overcome with his desire for revenge to
such an extent that he puts it into action. Othello's love and
possessiveness of Desdemona take over him until he eventually would
rather kill her than allow anyone else to have her. In this way,
despite their contrasts, Iago and Othello both represent the extremity
of the same thing - human emotion.
Both characters can be viewed like this throughout Act 1. We
immediately see Iago as representative of the very basest elements of
humanity. He uses crude language. He swears:
"S'blood";
"Zounds";
and uses crude sexual and animal images to taunt Brabantio:
"an old black ram is tupping your white ewe"
By using the agricultural term for breeding or mating two beasts, Iago
reduces the act of love to a basic action. Othello, in contrast, uses
gentle and tender terms to describe his affection, and never mentions
it as simply a physical act. He says:
"I love the gentle Desdemona",
and this suffices to explain his feelings. It is obvious that Othello
is a much 'deeper', more sensitive man than Iago.
Another contrast is that Iago's motivation is himself and his
self-interest. Iago desires success and gain for himself and no other.
It appears that his major grudge against Othello is that he promoted
"a fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife"
(that is, Cassio) above himself. He speaks bitterly about Cassio and
his mathematical skills because of his self-interest - although to the
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...his relationship with Othello:
"I follow him to serve my turn upon him"
Whilst Iago is a dual personality, Othello is constant. He is the same
with everyone (except Desdemona - understandably, as they are
married). He is open, bold and unafraid. He admits, when he says
"rude am I in my speech"
that he is no great orator, and this perhaps contributes to his
honesty and open level with all other characters. He is
"unvarnished",
as opposed to Iago, whom one could say is so 'varnished' that only the
audience can see through all his layers to the deceit within.
Neither character is wholly positive. Whilst we recognise Iago as the
'melodramatic' villain, we can also see that Othello is not altogether
good, and that his possessiveness of Desdemona could get the better of
him and prove his downfall.
Both Iago and Othello are emotional characters with a lot to offer. Othello is a gullible character who places too much trust in the wrong people. He trusts Iago over his own wife, Desdemona, allowing Iago to manipulate his mind. Iago instills doubt in Othello about anyone he has ever trusted, making them all seem untrustworthy. More than anything, Iago uses pathos to appeal to emotion.
ii, 275), so he is even at the end of the play linked to the
When Shakespeare composed the tragedy Othello televisions were not. Along with no televisions, life in the late 1500s had many different qualities than it does today. This time period had no war on drugs and no high school shootings. Peer pressure was not an issue. The audiences of Othello in the 1500s did not face the circumstances that we, American high school students, face today. With these significant differences in daily life, come the attempts of movie creators to help prevent our modern day tragedies.
A Shakespearean play always includes a typical villain character. He is boisterous, egotistical, sometimes witty, and all too eager to seek revenge. In William Shakespeare Othello, Iago is the well-liked, trusted, and brave ensign of the great Venetian general Othello, or so it appears. Iago actually possesses all of the typical villainous qualities, however Iago conducts himself with great composure, and by manipulating his counterparts, he makes people believe he is on their side. I find this characteristic to be a very intriguing one that is not easy to perform. It is perhaps Iago's villainous actions throughout this play that lead me to believe that he is the hero rather than the typical villain.
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
The Relationship Between Othello and Iago In this scene Iago persuades Cassio, who is on watch, to drink, knowing that he is not a drinker and that he will be easy to antagonise. Roderigo provokes Cassio into a fight and Othello, hearing the disturbance, arrives to find the nobleman Montano seriously injured. Cassio gives no explanation, Montano pleads self-defence, and say that Iago knows best, so Iago is ordered to speak, ' Iago, who began't? " This passage starts with Othello, who appears to have interrupted someone, as there is a line break.
William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy about revenge through jealousy and deception. Throughout the play, Iago is constantly pitting characters against each other in order to satiate his anger from being denied the promotion to lieutenant that Cassio was granted. As a catalyst for all the conflicts that arise during the play, Iago merely uncovers the underlying insecurities characters such as Othello, a notable war general in Venice, are struggling with. Animal imagery as well as the use of light and dark to differentiate between race is very prominent and is used to drive a wedge between the newlyweds, Othello and Desdemona. Although Othello is a highly accomplished and well respected war hero, the notion that Venetians, including Desdemona, are a superior race, prevents him from ever feeling truly secure in his marriage, ultimately leading to the demise of several people close to him, and finally himself.
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)
...uinely sweet on her. When Desdemona asks Iago to distract her from worrying about Othello, who may be lost at sea, Iago obliges by plying his wit upon her. This particular conversation does not serve to further his plot by causing his good image to increase, as he praises people of ill-manner, nor does it set up a future situation. It is simply conversation. However, Iago recognizes his love will forever go unrequited even if Othello were to die, and so his passion turned bitter and he jealously decided that if he can’t have her, no one can. Goading Othello into blind jealousy, he also restrains the Moor with cautionary words- like holding back a rabid dog whilst prodding it with a stick, so that once released, there is no chance of the madness wearing off mid-bite. Iago wants to ensure that when Othello says, “I’ll tear her all to pieces” (3,3, 447), he really will.
Both Othello and Iago have many different qualities but the ones that are the same are what proves the point of them not just simply being two sides of one coin. Othello had many weaknesses and Iago plays off every single one of them, the “hellish villain”(V, ii, 354) that Iago is killed every living ounce that was left in Othello, and once the truth came to the surface, Othello only wished he could awaken and “arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell” (III, iii, 507). The fact that Iago had “ensnared [Othello’s] soul and body” (V, ii, 354) made Othello believe that “honesty’s a fool” (III, iii, 436) and his life was over.
Iago takes on many different persona’s to enact his plan of revenge upon Othello. He plays the friend, a trustworthy and credible source of information for Othello in his feat of drama with his innocent wife, Desdemona. He also plays the wingman for Roderigo who is madly in love with Desdemona, encouraging him to make advances towards her to woo Desdemona away from Othello. Iago even persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio with his lies about Cassio and Desdemona’s affair. “...you may take him at your pleasure: I will be near to second your attempt, and he shall fall between us.” Iago promises to assist Roderigo in the murder of Cassio and he will be rewarded with Desdemona’s love (Navigators.) Iago’s true persona, though, is a heartless, woman-hating villain who would go to great lengths to get revenge against Othello for preferring Cassio over him for the military promotion.
That’s Othello’s weakness that Iago deems as useful. Othello’s love turns to jealousy. The question is how sympatric is Othello to the reader. Othello feels betrayed. But Othello loses his look of a gullible, good guy when he decides he wants Cassio and Desdemona dead. The rage of his jealousy turns the character of Othello the readers know on its head and creates a different look. Only during and after the death of Desdemona can the reader see the good that was once in him. Othello shows regret and kind of a sense of torment. Clearly parts of him doesn’t want this to happen. And after the death of Desdemona he sees the misplaced change and rage he had. When Othello hears of Iago’s disseat he changes back to the good Othello that was present in the start of the play. He might be filled with regret and a new rage for Iago, but is morals seem solid
Iago is a very strategic and clever person, and he despises Othello because Othello appointed Cassio as a lieutenant over Iago. He plans to ruin Othello’s life by ruining his relationship with Desdemona. He starts off by telling Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, of Othello and Desdemona’s secret marriage. Iago goes to
Othello doesn’t realize Iago doesn’t care towards him and never did after Iago wasn’t promoted to lieutenant. Iago plays the as the main director of what happens in Othello’s life. Othello doesn’t realize it thought. Iago is able to hide his emotions towards others. Which allows Othello not to notice he is faking every emotion of helping Othello. Iago is always at ease when in the eyes of his peers. “He moves jovially and at ease among the gentlemen of Cyprus, even as he sets up Cassio for a drunken fall” (Barnes 15). This shows how committed Iago was to strike revenge against his foes. Only a psychopath could hide their feelings in front of the people you want to hurt. “Iago refuses to show the "outward action" which would "demonstrate / The native act and figure of [his] heart / In complement extern" (“Where Iago Lies” 19). Because of Iago, Othello creates his own anxiety. He has anxiety because he now worries that Desdemona may be cheating on him with Cassio. Iago creates Othello’s fear by twisting his words to have different meanings. “Iago: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy/ It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on” (Shakespeare 1816-1818). Iago is manipulating Othello into believing that Othello shouldn’t be jealous, which tricks Othello into being jealous. The green-eyed monster is another term for jealousy. It is Othello though that allows him to get trapped in anxiety. Iago exploits him to bring Othello to a tragic
When looking at Iago his actions are very similar to those of Richard the third the reaction of the people around him is very much different as is the reaction by the audience reading this play. Where in the text we see the characters hate Richard in Othello we see Iago being constantly called ‘ the good and honest Iago’. Looking through text he is called good Iago four times and honest Iago five times, which when asking audiences is nine times to many. One of the most important thing is that Iago himself mentions this honest side of himself in his own speech in act three of the play. In "The Art of Persuasion and Shakespeare’s Two Iagos." By Benjamin V. Beier he points out that ‘Much later in 3.3, Iago references his own “honesty and love”