It is very easy to blame Iago for all that occurs throughout the play. He clearly is the reason for all of the tragedies at the end of the play. Iago is the the villain in the play but he shouldn’t be the only person blamed. Othello, Cassio and other characters should be guilty for the tragedies as well.
Iago sets everyone up in the play and makes them think that he is helping each of them while he is really tricking them into what he wants them to do. He does this all because he wants a higher ranking job. Othello is a very jealous person and is sensitive when it comes to Desdemona that Iago is able to trick him into thinking that she is cheating on him with Cassio. Iago takes advantage of Cassio’s youth and gets him drunk which winds up with him getting fired from his job. Iago then encourages Cassio to request to get his job back from Desdemona. He convinces Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are very close making him jealous. He gets help from his wife Emilia who finds Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to him. Iago takes the handkerchief and puts it in Cassio’s room to prove to Othello that Desdemona was there. Othello puts way too much trust in Iago and believes everything he is telling him. Othello becomes very angry and wants to kill Cassio. Rodrigo also in love with Desdemona finds out that Cassio loves her too. Iago uses this to convince Rodrigo to kill Cassio and both of them ultimately are killed. Othello then tells Desdemona that Cassio is dead and wants her to admit to cheating with him but she denies it all. Othello’s jealousy and trust in Iago is too strong and he doesn’t believe her and kills her before Emilia realizes and tells Othello what Iago has done. Iago in the end is jailed and refuses to give his reas...
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...eason. She doesn’t know what he wants with it but steals it for him anyways. She helps Iago set up Cassio for sleeping with Desdemona and uses the handkerchief to convince Othello that its true. Emilia helped Iago without asking or even suspecting anything and should be blamed for some of what happened.
Iago is the clear villain in the story and can easily be blamed for the tragic events. He is helped by people’s jealousy of others and their trust in him. He takes advantage of these things and uses them against them. He is responsible for what happened but shouldn’t be the only person blamed. Othello, Rodrigo, and Emilia are characters that should also receive some blame. Othello’s jealousy leads him to kill his wife. Rodrigo’s jealously leads to him killing Cassio and Emilia’s unawareness leads to Iago convincing Othello that Desdemona is in fact cheating on him.
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
Like every Shakespearean tragedy there is often an untimely doom that ends the life of the "hero" or main character of the play. The main character’s doom only becomes the outcome when they are unable to better the wrongs they or others had committed. However, in this Shakespearean tragedy the person who drives the participants of this play to their doom, isn’t the main character Othello, but Iago, the motiveless character whose jealousy and rage drives him to commit crimes towards the people who believed him and considered him a trusting friend.
Othello is a story of trust, and tragedy. A story of love, and loss. Who caused the aforementioned tragedy, and loss? Why, ‘honest’ Iago, of course. Iago is begrudgingly an ensign in the Venetian military, Under the command of The moor, Othello. Iago loathes the moor, for he chose Michael Cassio, a far younger, and less experienced man to be his lieutenant. Iago vows revenge on Othello, and swears to ruin his life. Now, Iago’s need for power is what drives him to do the awful things he does to Othello, Cassio, and all the others around him.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, the main characters suffer a tragic demise at the end. While it is clear that somebody is to blame for the unfortunate events, the main culprit behind the tragedy remains unclear. Three different authors, the humanists Baldassare Castiglione, Juan Luis Vives, and the Puritan preacher William Whately would all disagree on which character is to blame. While Castiglione would put Iago at fault for his misogynistic words and actions, Vives would say that Brabantio is the one to blame for his lack of control over his daughter Desdemona, and Whately would argue that Othello could have avoided this whole ordeal through forgiveness. While these different writers
Although Iago is the villain in Othello, possibly the worst villain in any Shakespearean tragedy, he cannot be held completely responsible for Othello’s wrongful actions and Desdemona’s death. He only has the intention to create suspicions, but it is Othello whose demon, his jealousy, instigates his actions.
Given these statements, Othello, Iago and Roderigo are the people who are responsible for Desdemona's death. Iago for planning the whole thing. He uses any chance, he gets to arouse Othello's anger and jealousy to make Desdemona and Cassio seem guilty. Planting the handkerchief...which is the symbol of faithfulness.
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.
Iago intends to orchestrate the demise of Cassio and Othello. On the surface, winning a promotion was the catalyst for Iago’s rage but bringing down only Cassio does not satisfy his bloodthirsty rage. Although Iago is cunning and ruthless in his pursuit to ruin Othello, the plot spins out of his control and only gains traction when his wife, Emilia unknowingly helps him. At this point Iago is poised to fail but the possession of Desdemona’s handkerchief provides a key piece of “ocular proof (Shakespeare)” that Othello requires to be convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity. Iago loses control of the situation. His stated purpose is to suppl...
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 definitely to blame for the misfortune that occurs in the story. Iago disseats every character in the story. Iago’s main reason for doing so was that he felt mistreated and overlooked when Othello assigned Cassio his right hand man. So the only true character Iago truly despises is Cassio. Iago dislikes Othello, but ultimately would rather be his buddy then his enemy. Iago sees Othello as a good guy, but simply sees Othello’s pick of Cassio as just a lapse in judgement. So Iago takes it upon himself to change what he saw as wrong. The only problem is
Iago was the main character who caused all the destruction at the end of the play, however there was always some worries going along in the play because Othello was a black man and he was married to the young, very much younger than him, Desdemona. Who also is a white lady. Neither the less this essay is not about Othello and Desdemona. Iago had Othello believe that Cassio was having an affair with Desdemona. There isn't really any conclusion or reasoning for Iago's doings, perhaps besides the only reason which he knows. And that reason none of us know of. The only conclusion i can come up with on why Iago has done what he done is because he was looking out for himself. This reminds me of a saying i use to always hear. "Nothing is going to happen for yourself unless you make it happen yourself." I don't know if Iago knew what the outcome of his doings would be, which was death for him, but i do believe he did the things he did because he was looking out for himself.
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.
responsible for Othello’s behavior but Emilia is responsible the person who takes the handkerchief and causes these events to take took place therefore she unwittingly is responsible for Desdemona’s death.
In conclusion, I feel that Othello is to blame for his downfall completely because he could have prevented the deaths of three people including him from happening by not letting rumours and assumptions getting the best of him and having faith in his wife. If he had even bothered to ask Desdemona if any of what Iago said about her was true, he could have seen what a distasteful man Iago really was and not have been fooled and driven to insanity and Desdemona could have at least justified herself properly. He must have had the same doubts in his head from the beginning of the relationship as he instantly believed the lies, because if he hadn’t, he would have questioned Iago more than once. Jealously is a powerful motive.
Iago has been to blame for the downfall of Othello because he is the one that created the jealousy within Othello. Iago started this because he was jealous of Othello because he was not made lieutenant, and Cassio was. Iago has been selfish and takes it upon himself to get revenge against Othello.