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Comparing and contrasting the nature of revenge before Shakespeare
Character analysis of Iago in othello
Iago from othello character analysis
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Authors, in works of literature, often use the theme of revenge because it adds intrigue and suspense to a story. Julius Caesar and Othello by William Shakespeare are two plays whose most predominant theme is revenge. This is illustrated through the characters, symbols, and settings of both works.
Revenge is a constant theme throughout the play Othello. It is portrayed through one of the character Iago. Iago is determined to destroy Othello and his loved ones. This retribution is a result of Othello promoting Cassio to the position of lieutenant. The theme of revenge is the motivation of Iago’s hatred toward Othello. "I follow him to serve my turn upon him." Shakespeare (I, 1, 42). Roderigo tells Iago how upset he is by the fact that Desdemona, with whom he is in love, has eloped with Othello, the great Moorish general. Iago is a soldier under Othello's command, but he hates his leader and wishes revenge for the promotion of Cassio over himself as high-ranking lieutenant. He admits to Roderigo that he only continues in Othello's service because he wants to plot against him, and he encourages Roderigo to join in the plot, as this will gain him the hand of Desdemona. In this scene, Iago begins to move into play the pieces of a conspiracy, which will lead to ultimate tragedy.
Moreover, the other character that wants revenge in the play is Othello. This is shown through the plot of Iago to kill Othello. Iago simply pushes all the right buttons in turning the moor in to vengeful beast. “Ay, let he r rot and perish, and be damned tonight, for she shall not live! No, my heart is turned to stone: I strike it, and it hurts my hand. – O, the world hath not a sweeter creature! She might lie by an emperor’s side and
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...eople were there to watch the thing go down and if Brutus did it there must be a reason behind it.
Moreover, the battle between Marc Antony’s side versus Marcus Brutus’ side was a bloody one. Marc Antony wanted revenge for Caesar and Brutus wanted the Roman Empire. Many of the followers died for there side but this led to only one turnout, Cassius and Brutus both committed suicide. The other opportunity, which they could have risked, is being captured and tortured to death. “Prepare you, generals, the enemy comes on in gallan show. Their bloody sign of battle is hung out, and something to be done immediately.” Marc Antony’s revenge has been completed and Caesar’s spirit was set to rest one the battle was over.
In conclusion, revenge is the most predominant theme in both works by William Shakespeare. This is shown through Characters, symbols, and settings.
In Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago Is shown to be the villain. With the cunning use of his brilliance and manipulation, he is able to orchestrate an entire plot to take his revenge on Othello the center of all his ill tempered aggression. By lying to characters like Roderigo and many others, including his wife, in order to
The book Julius Caesar is full of happiness, conspiracy, power, and betrayal. The people of Rome deeply loved julius Caesar and wished to make him their king. A group of senators however were not so fond of this idea and formed a conspiracy. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Cassius. In order to make sure that his scheme of killing Caesar would work and would look honorable he had to convince a senator by the name of Brutus to help. After being convinced that they had to kill Caesar to protect Rome from a tyrant Brutus joined the conspiracy and soon became the principal conspirator.On the day in which Caesar was to be crowned king he was on the way to the senate when he was stabbed by all the conspirators panic ensued and to convince Rome of their honorable intentions Brutus gave a funeral speech. Mark Antony, a very close friend of Caesar, gave his speech after Brutus had given his. Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive to the Roman people because of his outstanding use of pathos, sarcasm, and logos.
In conclusion, throughout Hamlet the idea of revenge is very prominent and important. Critics may state that guilt is the most important theme for the way in which is helps move along the play. However, revenge also moves the play along and does it from start to finish. As well, the theme of revenge allows the reader to learn more about character development, foreshadowing of characters death and in the end it is the main reason of the majority of main characters deaths.
Shakespeare’s plays, among other classic works of literature, tend to be forged with the tension of human emotion. The archetypical parallel of love and hatred polarizes characters and emphasizes the stark details of the plot. More specifically, the compelling force of revenge is behind most of the motives of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. The play opens with the return of Hamlet’s father, a surprising encounter, which ended in his son learning that his father’s death was the result of foul play. By emphasizing this scene as the beginning of the story to be told, Shakespeare clearly implies that the plot itself will be based around the theme of revenge. Through three different instances of behavior fueled entirely by vengeance, Shakespeare creates an image in the reader’s mind, which foreshadows the future of the story and provides insight into the plot line. Even so, despite the theme of revenge being the overarching concern of the plot, the parallels drawn between characters truly strengthen the thematic depth of the piece overall, making the play easily one of Shakespeare’s most infamous and historically valuable works.
Shakespeare wrote hundreds of pieces, from sonnets to plays. Hamlet is one of his most
As Iago's role in the play begins to define itself, the plays main theme, which is jealousy, also begins to develop. Iago's role is unclear to the reader in the first scene. He appears to be an honest, trustworthy soldier who was angry because he was overlooked for a promotion. However, the reader later finds out that he is a "malignant and destructive plotter" and would do anything to destroy Othello and anyone close to him (Epstein 381). The fact that he is an evil character remains undetected by the rest of the characters in the play. "The other characters actually call Iago honest fifteen times throughout the entire play" (Campbell 156). Iago is jealous and resentful of Othello in everyway and uses this festering hatred to infect and destroy Othello. He filled Othello's mind with thoughts of deceit and betrayal until his unwarranted jealousy towards his beautiful, trusting, and innocent wife blinded Othello himself.
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.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare the theme of revenge is heavily embedded into its frame work, seeing it follows Prince Hamlet in his task of avenging the mysterious death of his father. After encountering the ghost of his father Hamlet was lead to suspect that his uncle Claudius, who took over as king of Denmark after marrying Hamlet’s widowed mother, was the father’s murder. So although by simple glance it may seem that Hamlet was in search for revenge throughout the play, Hamlet took many precautions to insure that the action of removing his uncle from power was truthfully deserved. So, Hamlet ultimately sought justice for the murder of his father, but through strong emotions hamlet did commit several uncivil acts that played an
Shakespeare develops the character Iago into an instigator and evil man. Iago attempts and succeeds to convince Othello that his wife has had an affair with his friend Cassio. We see Iago beginning his plans at the very start of the play. “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at, I am not what I am.”(Oth 1:1:64-65) He immediately tries to start trouble with Brabantio and Othello over the marriage to Desdemona. Iago want to get in Othello’s way because he was passed over for general and Cassio was chosen instead. We see from the start how he plots against Othello and he involves several characters in his plans. “And what’s he then that says I play the villain? When this advice is free. I give and honest, probal to thinking, and indeed the course to win the Moor again? For tis easy Th’ inclining Desdemona to subdue in any honest suit; she’s framed as fruitful…”(2:3:295-300).
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
Revenge tragedy is one of the main focuses of the plot because everything Hamlet does and every action he takes is because of his internal struggle of trying to fix a wrong- his father’s death. Hamlet knows that whatever he does to seek revenge will result in consequences, and even if he does not do anything, he will have to deal with the guilt for not taking action like his father asked.
Revenge almost always has the makings of an intriguing and tragic story. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a perfect example of how revenge unfolds and what it unveils. The play tells the story of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, marries his mother soon after his father’s death. Hamlet greatly disapproves of the hasty marriage and suspects foul play. His suspicions are confirmed when the ghost of his father appears and tells him that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet’s father asks him to take revenge upon Claudius, and soon everything takes a drastic change. The courses of revenge throughout Hamlet surround each character with corruption, obsession, and fatality.
In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores the theme of revenge. Throughout the work, Hamlet acquires a moral dilemma; he cannot decide how to carry out revenge without condemning himself. Thus, although the play promotes the idea of revenge at the beginning, the cultivation of dialogue, relationships, and complications provide evidence of the detrimental consequences and limitations of the theme.
In 1603, William Shakespeare wrote a tragedy called Othello about a Spanish moor that ultimately fell victim to his own skepticism and emotions and murders his wife due to the machinations of Iago. Iago is the most interesting character in this Shakespearean play and in fact, has more speaking parts than even Othello himself. A man that can even convince his own wife to help with his masterfully manipulated puppetry of Othello, Desdemona, Rodrigo, Cassio, and Emilia is an exquisite character. This villain seems to have no real motive for his actions, but the enjoyment of the trouble he causes and the fact that Othello passed him over for his lieutenant. (Although, Iago seems to quite, passionately want Othello’s affections, whether as a friend
In Williams Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, there are many themes. Revenge is the biggest theme in this play. The idea of Revenge plagues Hamlet and causes many tragic deaths in its wake. Hamlet who consumed by the need of revenge is the cause of all of the deaths in the play. The deaths that are directly caused by the sense of revenge is in order, Polonius, Ophellia, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet himself. Revenge is the downfall of all of the characters in the play. While there are many themes to this play, revenge is the key to what makes this play a tragedy.