Criss Jami once said “Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.” Criss is saying that if you can lie with carelessness and just simply say only parts of the truth, you can lead others to make false conclusions and lie without technically saying any untruths. This is a more vigorous lie than one that involves accountable deceptions. So many people lie in our world today but it is worse when it comes from a villain. A villain is an antagonist who is involved in crime and is able to manipulate the people through words. Iago is presented as the “poisoner” or “antagonist”. Also, Shakespeare …show more content…
One character that Iago takes advantage of is specifically Roderigo, so he can use him for his own purposes. Iago knows that Roderigo is very easy to fool. As so Iago says “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse” (I.iii.426). Iago using his hopes, he is able to make himself a profit from Roderigo for his goals. Iago quickly realizes that he has acquired Roderigo’s trust and uses it for self-craving. Yet Roderigo blindly follows Iago advice and do what he says suggests. “I have no great devotion to the deed, / And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons” (VI.i.9-10). In addition, Roderigo does not want to kill cassio but Iago gives him a valid reason too. Iago never wanted to be the one to kill Cassio; he tricked Roderigo into doing his bidding for him. Furthermore, taking advantage of a person is a villainous act because a person has enough trust in someone but then eventually get’s betrayed. Iago does not only take advantage of Roderigo but Othello too. Othello has much trust in Iago because he believes that he is such a honest man, so that is why he calls him “Honest Iago” (II.iii.355). Although Othello is the one in charge but iago still serves him, but appear to be companions but under his mask he really despises him because he did not make Iago …show more content…
By doing this his actions seem to be sincere and reliable to the other characters, but he is truly deceiving. Iago constantly lies to Othello about Cassio and Desdemona having an affair. Iago purposely uses Cassio to make himself look more noble and Cassio look more deficient. Iago lies effortlessly to Othello because Othello thinks that Iago is a close friend and advisor. Also, Iago lies to Othello by saying “Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; / Wear your eyes thus, not jealous nor secure” (III.iii.228-229). As Iago Constantly lies to Othello about how Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, he makes himself look loyal and sincere for othello's well being. Lying is a villainous act and Iago uses it because it can have unintentional consequences and be hurtful when the truth is unmasked. By Iago being dishonest and he is able to manipulate others, have them unknowingly follow is
...e used Roderigo to do his dirty work and without him he would have never been able to compromise Cassio in the first place. Roderigo seems to know Iago the best, possibly having figured out that he may have been betrayed by him, he writes letters he keeps with him which later serve to compromise Iago’s character and motives completely. Iago throughout the whole play feels like he is justified in his actions and does not let sympathy or understanding as a result.
Othello is such a gullible character with so much trust in the wrong people. He trusts Iago before he trusts his own wife, Desdemona; he let Iago get into his mind. Iago arises any doubt Othello has for anyone he ever trusted making them all seem untrustworthy. More then anything Iago uses pathos to appeal to emotion. “ But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am” (Othello, Shakespeare, Act I Scene I Line 65-66). Iago talks about being open and honest; although this is not true it makes the other characters feel secure. Othello is a strong character, but Iago is his downfall. Blinded by jealousy and questions Othello will no longer trust Desdemona nor Cassio, because of this he will meet his
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,
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
Iago convinces people that the ones they love are liars as in the play how Desdemona is made out to be a cheater and dishonest. Once again Iago lies, and gets on Othello’s good side to persuade him that this is going on. Before Othello finds out, Iago tells Roderigo so he can have another man on his side to get this out and have Othello believe it. He persuades Roderigo to believe him by pointing out Othello’s imperfections saying that he is ugly and won’t be able to keep up with her because of the age difference. He tells Roderigo that she’s cheating on Othello with Cassio because he is young and handsome and has all the right quality’s that a young beautiful girl like Desdemona could ever want. Roderigo had a hard time believing him in the beginning, but Iago never stopped egging it on that it was happening between the two. Once Iago has Roderigo right where he wants him, he is ready to proceed with his plan. He needed a reliable source so that it wasn’t him just accusing this.
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
One of the most prominent traits in Iago is his ability to manipulate. His entire plan of bringing about the downfall of Othello involves him manipulating characters into believing what he wants them to believe. In fact, he is so good at manipulating people that no one even suspects him of doing anything wrong because they believe he is such an honorable man. “Iago deceives Othello by also manipulating other people to achieve his ends” (Boyce). This shows that Iago is able to deceive mostly everyone in the play. However, Iago himself says in Act I scene i line 62 of Othello “I am not what I am.” He means that he is not the loyal, honest friend that he appears to be to everyone else. His manipulations include using Roderigo for his money if he helps him against Othello while making it seem like he will help Roderigo win Othello’s wife, Desdemona (Shakespeare). He also manipulates Othello by making it seem as if Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, which is what ultimately brings about the hero’s downfa...
Iago used reputation to his advantage in order to fulfill his plan to get revenge on Othello and Cassio. He uses each characters reputation to bring out their weaknesses, which he uses to his advantage. This includes his own. Over and over, Othello calls Iago, “Honest Iago.” Because his reputation is known for being honest, he tells Othello lie after lie because he knows Othello will believe him. This in turn helps him fulfill his plan because Othello falls right into his trap. Othello believes Iago when he says that Desdemona is cheating on him. He believes when Iago tells him how Cassio had a dream about Desdemona, and he believes Iago when he says that Desdemona gave Cassio the handkerchief. Another example of Iago using reputation to his advantage is with Desdemona. She is known for being sweet and innocent, and he exploits that with Cassio and Othello. When Cassio is desperate to get his job as lieutenant back, Iago simply tells him to get help from Desdemona because, “Our generals wife is now the general” (II.III.314-315). What this is saying is that because Desdemona and Othello are now married, she can control him, because it is his job to please her as she wishes. When Cassi...
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 lulls Roderigo into believing that there is just one more thing standing in the way of Roderigo having Desdemona. Iago understands how to use people. He knows what to say and how to act to influence people’s actions. This is why he is such a terrifying villain. The character of Iago is the perfect mould to start with when crafting the perfect villain.
By Othello believing his lies, it only shows his inability to trust and have faith in his own wife. Throughout the unraveling of it all, Othello did not once confront Desdemona before she lay in front of him on her death bed. Othello’s jealousy towards Cassio and Desdemona overpowered him and he was not wise enough to catch on to Iago’s lies. As a result of him loving her so much he had to do something about her infidelity. If he had bothered to ask Desdemona if anything that Iago said was true, then Othello could have seen what a devious man Iago really was; ultimately, Othello would not have been fooled and driven to such thoughtless actions.
Othello is a very gullible person and believes everything that Iago throws at him. He is very easy for Iago to lure and fall into his evil plan due to the fact that he is so in love with Desdemona. For example he was tricked by Iago, into thinking that Desdemona was really having an affair with Cassio. When Iago told Othello that Cassio had a dream about Desdemona, Othello replied “Oh, monstrous! Monstrous!" He trusts Iago too much and totally relies on Iago therefore making him really vulnerable to his evilish schemes. He lets his thoughts take over, he loses control of himself and acts on his emotions. He lets his thoughts clutter his mind and good judgment. Another example would be when Emilia told Othello about Desdemona death, and he admits to murdering his honest wife Desdemona, but says that he killed her because she was untrue to him. When Emilia told him that it was false Othello said “Ay, twas he that told me on her first. An honest man he is and hates the slime that sticks on filthy deeds.” By reading that quote, Othello gullibility is fully observed. Othello believes Iago and his lies because he thought that Iago was an honest person. Iago’s plan was so powerful that Othello praised him for his “honesty”, which led to the demise of
Iago’s cunning strength lies in his ability to undermine every single character through their weaknesses. Specifically, Othello and Roderigo are the main victims of his lies and deceit. The trait Iago abuses in Roderigo is his naive nature. From the very start of the play, Iago cheats Roderigo of his money and later tricks him into attempting to kill Cassio: “I have no great devotion to the deed, / And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons. / ‘Tis but a man gone. Forth my sword! He dies!” (5.1. 8-10). Evidently, this gullible character is manipulated through the words of Iago as he attempts to kill Cassio for a chance at Desdemona. After his failure in doing so, Iago stabs Roderigo, as he is of no use anymore. In giving his trust to the misleading antagonist, Roderigo leaves himself completely vulnerable. This demonstrates how ruthlessly Iago uses this foolish character, as his longing for Desdemona is the cause of his death. The other victim, Othello, is the main target and falls furthest into this manipulative villain’s layers of lies. Iago is very strategic in his attacks and notices that Othello has a great deal of trust in him which can be easily torn apart. Iago uses this trait to get Othello to believe everything he says and begins by planting the seed of suspicion that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio because of his understanding of