The Character of Iago There is no doubt in « Othello » as to the role Shakespeare has given Iago, he is the villain, masterful at deceit he generates most evil in the play. The clever soldier, his incredible acting allows him to be two or three completely different people. During most of the Act the audience finds itself constantly trying to find a motive for Iago’s actions but finds none that can justify what he is about to do. What does seem to come back again and again is his view on women which
The Character of Iago The old cliché "One bad apple ruins the bunch" is what enters one's mind when discussing the villainous, deceitful, protagonist Iago in Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello." It is amazing how one person alone can completely destroy, or deteriorate a group of good natured, trusting, loyal peoples' lives in a matter of days- three to be exact. What is the motive behind Iago's heinous, selfish acts, one may ask? A rather obvious theme in the Shakespeare's tragedy, "Othello"
How is Iago an intriguing character? Across the history of literature, we as readers have encountered many villains whom intrigue us. Iago from the play “Othello” is a prime example. Known as one of Shakespeare’s most sinister and manipulative villains, Iago commits countless betrayals without arousing suspicion. Throughout the play, we see Iago 's constant scheming to exploit lives- particularly Othello’s. Despite his malevolence however, Iago possesses a complexity that we find compelling and
Iago as a Character in Othello Perhaps the most interesting and exotic character in the tragic play "Othello," by William Shakespeare, is "Honest" Iago. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits him and moves him closer toward his goals. He is the main driving force in this play, pushing Othello and everyone else towards their tragic end. Iago is not your ordinary villain. The role he plays is rather unique
The Character of Iago in Othello One of the most intriguing characters in the tragic play "Othello," by William Shakespeare, is Othello's "friend" Iago. At first glance, Iago seems to have no motive for the destruction he is causing. However, despite Iago's unquestionable malignancy, the motivation behind his actions lie more in Iago's quest for personal gain, as opposed to just being evil for evil's sake. In order to achieve his personal gain Iago manipulates Rodrigo, Cassio and, most importantly
complexity, are fascinating in the way characters are portrayed. The play Othello, written by William Shakespeare can be interpreted by its characters and their actions. In this play, the character of Iago is the antagonist seeing that he often performs evil feats and is continually manipulative. This character is portrayed as sly and has no motive to back up his menacing actions, resulting in the ultimate demise of all the main characters. The character of Iago in the play is often manipulative and
diabolical scheme, but some may be as simple as a neighbor, classmate, someone in the community, or even worse; a friend. In the play Othello, the simple ancient, Iago is very successful at his influencing schemes. Iago provokes his evilness by retrieving trust and appear as an honest, loving person. Without the knowledge of the nature of good, Iago will not be successful in mastering schemes of nature of evil. Each point is explored further into Iago’s manipulation schemes and will analyze the nature of
The Character of Iago in Othello In the play Othello, the character Iago plays a paramount role in the destruction of Othello and all of those around him. Some critics state that Iago's actions are motiveless and that he is a purely evil character. However, during the course of this paper, certain motives for Iago's actions will be discussed. For the first motive to be understood the reader must become knowledgeable of Othello's heritage and the setting of the play. Othello is a Moslem
readers that Iago is very intelligent because of how he manipulates and uses people’s mind that trusted him. Throughout the play, he plans to use his brilliance on his behalf to triumph over other characters of the play. William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, is play about jealousy, envy, trust, and revenge. In many of Shakespeare’s plays have a bad character who most readers may consider unworthy or irregular, especially with Iago, is probably has the most negative effect on other characters. Although
Iago Character Analysis From the very beginning of Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is held in very high regard within the community in Venice. He is often called “honest Iago” by many people, including his superior, Othello. There is a large juxtaposition between Iago’s character in the beginning of the play, and the general perception at the end of the play, due to Iago’s many character flaws that cause him to create devious plans and a web of deception and lies, spun by his intense anger and hatred
Of all the characters presented in Shakespeare's literature, Iago is the most sinister one of the group. He is a ruthless sociopath, and no other character can even come close to how evil he has become. Most of the antagonists present in Shakespeare's plays have usable reasons for the dilemmas he has caused. Iago does what he did because he felt that is what must and had to be done, then for the most part he just has a burning animosity Othello, which in that case, uses everyone around Othello to
utilizes a machiavellian character in his tragedy Othello. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a machiavellian character is an individual who “[uses] clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something”(CITATION). In Othello, Iago is the exact literary illustration of a machiavellian character.Iago has become so self-involved in seeking Othello’s position that he begins to manipulate other crucial characters in order to cause Othello’s destruction. Overall, Iago mainly manipulated Roderigo
play Othello there is a main character named Iago. In this play, Iago is the instigator. From the very beginning the readers can see that he is single minded and determined. Iago portrays an act of being persuasive and helpful to the other characters in the play, yet as the audience we see his hatred, selfishness, and jealousy. He succeeds in fooling the other characters with his “loyalty” and “honesty” and this is what makes him one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Iago is very determined and emotionless
Puppeteer 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
The Character of Iago In Othello, by William Shakespeare, one of the most intriguing characters is Iago. At first glance he seems to be pure evil, but I think his actions are much more complex. Through thought-out words and actions Iago is able to manipulate others to do things that benefit him and move him closer to his goals. This character is consumed with envy and deceit that leads to theft and killing. Iago is the main driving force in this play, pushing Othello and the other characters
the eye. Iago is a manipulative character in the play, Othello. He manipulates all of the characters in his master plan to become the lieutenant. In Othello, Iago is upset because Othello, the military leader of Venice, gave Cassio, an arithmetician who was inexperienced at war, the position of being his lieutenant. Iago began to devise an infallible plan. This plan was to manipulate Othello into thinking Cassio and Desdemona were having an affair so he could denote Cassio and give Iago the position
Shakespeare’s character of Iago in the play Othello is a controversial character which is often criticised. Shakespeare uses the character of Iago, to open up the possibility of having such varied characteristics on such a complex character. Iago in seen as being manipulative, having qualities of being a psychopath and above all a jealous character. These characteristics used by Shakespeare in Iago makes readers see Iago as having a cynical malice personality with no care for anyone else but himself
The Character of Iago in William Shakespeare's Othello " But it was no sign of stupidity in Othello. For his opinion of Iago was the opinion of practically everyone who knew him: and that opinion was that Iago was before all things "honest"." A C Bradley Iago's perceived honesty is his great and enabling ability, which allows him to manipulate and cause events without the other characters realizing. I agree to some extent with Bradley on this point, and there is sufficent evidence to
Iago is a complex character that takes evil to a whole new level in the 1600’s and plays a key role in this tale. Iago’s main goal is to get Othello and Cassio out of the army, but in the end fails to ruin Cassio’s life, only Othello’s. He uses many characters to his advantage, realizing how trustworthy and oblivious these people are. Iago cannot be relied on and has many masks, behind which he hides. He has many disguises and secrets that he hides from everyone and his acting skills come in handy
According to William Shakespeare,“The prince of darkness is a gentleman”. Iago in William Shakespeare 's, Othello, is a brilliant character capable of controlling and manipulating surrounding characters. Iago admits in his soliloquies of attempting to destroy Othello’s happiness for different reasons. Iago has an uncanny ability to exploit people who have a higher moral standard to achieve what he wants. Iago is a cynical sociopath who takes pleasure from his victim 's misery as they unknowingly