The Snake
Mahatma Gandhi explains the destruction of revenge: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”. (IC: “Quote.”) “Eye for an eye” is a metaphor for revenge. It means if something is stolen, it should be stolen back. In this case, the things being stolen are eyes. The second part “makes the whole world blind” means that revenge will not solve problem. Instead, it creates problems. In Othello, the evil Iago manipulates Othello into ruining his own life in the name of revenge. He tells Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him. He presents Othello fake evidence time and time again until he is convinced. Othello is so angered that he murders his own wife, who has done nothing wrong. Only after she is dead, Desdemona is proven innocent. In immense guilt, Othello commits suicide. Iago finally gets his revenge. The character Iago, in Shakespeare's Othello, goes from being manipulative and two faced by subtly controlling people into ruining Cassio’s career to being cunning and malicious by outright destroying Othello’s career, lover and life with violent deaths.
In Othello, Iago is a manipulative person in Act 1. He manages to convince Roderigo into selling all his land instead of committing suicide. In Scene 3 of Act 1, Roderigo is very upset because Othello and Desdemona are still together. There was hope when Montano found out about their marriage; nonetheless, the two remained married. (IC; CA, IC) Roderigo loves Desdemona and seeing her with Othello makes him want to die. Iago pulls Roderigo’s puppet strings and gets him to save money instead. He convinces Roderigo that Desdemona is the type of a girl that would marry a man for money; thus, he should save all the money he can. (IC; CA, IC) Then she will lov...
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... are both dead. In a way, they are both blind. Through Othello, Shakespeare is trying to show readers a lesson about the nature of humans. Even though the need for revenge is great in humans, revenge is still destructive. (DC, IC) The need for revenge is shown through Iago, who is engulfed in blind hatred and obsessed with gaining revenge on Othello. He did not stop until he succeeded. The destruction of revenge is shown through the outcomes of both Othello and Iago. Othello is tricked into murdering his own life and kills himself. He will never know why he was tricked. He lost his wife, career and life. Likewise, Iago throws away everything to get revenge on Othello. He also lost his wife and career. The only thing he has left is life. Sometimes, life is not always better than death. A life lived is a better than a life tortured.
Works Cited
Shakespeare
Othello
“I am not what I am,” proclaims one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most enigmatic villains, Iago, in the tragedy Othello. Iago’s journey for revenge enables him to become capable of immoral acts, and whilst his malevolence excites us, we are no more intrigued by his attributes than we are of the play’s tragic hero, Othellos’. Rather, both characters’ confrontation with jealousy and their subsequent moral demise as a result of failing to control such an emotion provides the true excitement for audiences. Iago’s spiteful manipulation of Othello makes him a multifaceted character — whose corrupt attributes make the audience examine their own morality. However, the same can be said of Othello; his failure to withstand Iago’s ‘pouring of pestilence’
	The first scene of Act I illustrates Iago's use of manipulation. Iago knows that Roderigo is upset about losing Desdemona to Othello. Iago himself is angry at Othello for being passed over for promotion to lieutenant for Michael Cassio. Realizing that by playing on Roderigo's jealousy he can gain an ally to work against Othello. Iago does this in a subtle manner. He explains to Roderigo that he was passed up for promotion by Othello. While doing this he makes Othello look inferior by reinforcing the fact that he is a Moor. By pointing out that Othello is a Moor Iago causes Roderigo to become even more jealous, because of the fact that he lost Desdemona to someone who he feels is of a lesser race. It even seems that Iago is toying with Roderigo when he reveals that he is a fraud when he says, "I am not what I am." (I.i.62) By using these tactics, Iago has almost gained total control of Roderigo.
In the first scene we are thrown right into the action with the argument between Iago and Roderigo. This first argument shows us how Iago is cunning and sly because he has already manipulated a weak Roderigo into paying him for something he hasn't even done yet. Roderigo who is obviously weak and simple has asked Iago to help him woo Desdemona in exchange for money, he thinks Iago has not done this because Desdemona is now at this moment marrying the moor. Yet Iago manages to convince Roderigo of his sheer hatred for Othello and swindle him out of his money. As he later exerts in his soliloquy at the end of Act I.3 ' thus do I ever make my fool my purse' this shows his attitude to Roderigo he is just money for Iago a pawn in his plan. This attitude shows how to a certain extent Iago primes the character he will use later in his plan showing a consistent strategy, he knows he can use Roderigo in the future so keeps him on his side instead of being rude and sharp with him. You can see that Iago finds Roderigo tedious but keeps him a friend for his money and possible use in the future.
At the end of Act 1 scene 3, we are aware of Iago's jealousy of
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? Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged.
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.
The play "Othello" by William Shakespeare is based on an Italian story in Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi (Groliers). In "Othello" we encounter Iago, one of Shakespeare's most evil characters. Iago is an ensign in Othello's army and is jealous of Cassio's promotion to Lieutenant. Through deception and appearance, we see unfolded a plethora of lies and clever schemes. The astonishing thing about Iago is that he seems to make up his malicious schemes as he goes along without any forethought. Noted writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes Iago's plan as "motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity" (Scott 413). Iago seizes every opportunity to further advance his plan to his advantage. Greed plays a major role as a motive for his various schemes. Throughout the story, Iago portrays himself as a Satan figure. In many ways, Iago can compare with Satan.
Towards the tail-end of the play, Roderigo, fed up with Iago’s counsel and frustrated by his lack of personal progress, approaches him with the intention of severing all ties. Iago, though, manages to maintain a leash over of him by playing on his jealous desire for Desdemona, promising him that he will have her in love in the coming days. This proves to be enough for him to convince Roderigo stay, and he resumes his manipulation. Despite his strong affinity for Othello’s wife, any romantic progress is halted due to Iago’s persistent interventions; he knows that merely mentioning the potential for a relationship between the two is enough to persuade him to do his bidding. While this seems desirable to Roderigo, in actuality, Iago is using his imaginative fantasies against him, and preventing any real advances in his journey for Desdemona, effectively destroying any possibility of this
As a result, he uses his craftiness and his “power of language” to take revenge on Othello. Although his plan foils, he causes Othello to kill his wife Desdemona and commit suicide, all the while he deceives and exploits other characters for his plan. In Othello, Iago demonstrates his power of language through his manipulation of Roderigo, Michael Cassio, and Othello, for his use and liking. After witnessing Desdemona proclaim her love to Othello and Brabantio, her father, acknowledging their marriage, Roderigo, suitor of Desdemona, tells Iago that he is going to drown himself.
In this tragedy, Othello, Shakespeare, has created a villain who behaves in this manner. Iago’s hatred, method of revenge, and vengeful hatred are the reasons for the lives lost in this play and the reasons that led to Iago’s downfall. Iago’s hatred of Othello and Cassio causes him to seek revenge, and he is able to succeed because his victims are too innocent to suspect him. Iago is a Machiavellian Shakespearean character who cunningly convinces his victims of his full moral support and proves his innocence in a way that his victims do not suspect him. When Cassio finishes his conversation with Desdemona about how he will not have his job back, Iago unfolds his mischievous plan against Desdemona when he says that, “so will I turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all” (Shakespeare, 49).
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.
Saint Peter, an evil creature slithers in the dark, damp cold cell, of a Cyprian prison. A snake like, cold blooded, creature that belongs in the depths. of Hell. Saint Peter, my husband Iago is nothing more than a villain, manipulator and murder. He is the snake I speak of. Iago must never be allowed to enter the gates of Heaven and must be condemned to Hell. His unforgivable treachery and betrayal has led to many a death including my own. Iago’s anger corrupted his soul thus transforming the man I once loved into the villainous snake he is now. His vengeful, vindictive ways began when Othello made Cassio Lieutenant over him and it grew after rumours spread of my alleged affair with Othello. He had said to Roderigo
Evil masterminds are always successful in their diabolical schemes, but each one does it in their own special way. Some may be highly ranked and powerful, but some may be simple people in a simple community. In the play Othello, the simple ancient, Iago is very successful at his schemes. Iago is able to get the trust of everyone around him, and to appear honest. He is also driven to continue with his schemes and to never quite.
One person Iago deceives is Roderigo. Throughout the play, Iago tells him that he hates Othello and that Roderigo should make some money so he could give gifts to Desdemona, who he admires from afar. Thinking that this is sound advice, Roderigo does just that. However, Iago is actually keeping the gifts that Roderigo plans to give Desdemona for himself. Eventually, Roderigo begins to catch on to the act and confronts Iago, but he falls right into Iago’s trap again when he tells him that killing Cassio will help him win over Desdemona. Roderigo is then lead to his death by the hands of "Honest Iago."
Iago states that the only reason he spends time with Roderigo is for his own wealth and pleasure. His plan is to continue giving Roderigo unfulfilled promises. Iago continues to manipulate Roderigo. He convinces him that Desdemona will soon grow tired of Othello and begin to search for a younger, handsome man to fulfill her desires. Continuing to build on Rod...