Weaknesses of Human Nature Many people think that the tragedy of Othello attributes to Othello’s trust, and jealousy, or simply attributes to Iago’s provocation. But inside a tragedy, there is impossible to expose only one character’s weaknesses, and one character’s weaknesses won’t let the tragedy happen. So I going to analyze three weaknesses of human nature from the perspective of the text, and also analyze every single character’s weaknesses behaviors which arouses to the tragedy. And the process of the tragedy is illustrated by three human weaknesses, lies, blindly trust and jealousy. As Iago lies to even his wife is definitely evil or has no morals. We see from the very beginning of the play that whenever Iago speaks in a deceptive …show more content…
Iago begins the demise of Cassio when he uses his persuasion to convince Cassio to drink. This is to get him drunk and use his weakness against him which is his pride and reputation. With Cassio in this drunken state and Roderigo adhering Iago's orders Cassio is made to look like an irresponsible fool resulting in his termination as lieutenant. Iago doesn't only destroy his reputation he also uses him in his plan to think Desdemona is having an affair. Iago being the good friend he is tells Cassio to ask Desdemona to help him get his job back saying "she holds it a vice in her goodness not to do more than she is requested". Iago's biggest weapon of all would have to be Othello's handkerchief. This object means so much to Othello and when it ends up in the hands of Othello it proves to be all the ocular proof he needs to conclude Desdemona is cheating. In the end Cassio as do many others fall into the trap of trusting Iago and taking his advice which leads to Cassio being lead into a trap where he is …show more content…
Iago is able to take the handkerchief from Emilia in return for some attention he is able to tell Othello of the handkerchief and know that Othello will not doubt him. Iago is able to persuade Cassio to drink and talk to Desdemona he could convince Roderigo to give him his money and to do his bidding. Pretty much all the characters in the play end up being fooled and or deceived by Iago at one stage or another. His reasons for his horrific acts are not fully explained such as his suspicion of Othello and Cassio sleeping with Emilia, his racial hate for Othello and even the aspect of Iago possibly having homosexual desires for Othello. Whilst we never really know the full reasons for his actions the main reason would be the promotion he did not receive. In today's terms someone like Iago would be regarded as a psychopath which is probably what he was meaning reasons were not entirely necessary. In conclusion it is his charismatic and cunning persona and his deceitful and persuasive nature which is able to fool people to trust and listen to
He then tells Othello to ask for the handkerchief and if she doesn’t produce it, then she must be cheating on him. Iago also manipulates the undeserving devotion of Emilia. We learn at the end of the play that Iago “begg’d me to steal it” from Emilia. Like Desdemona’s good nature, Iago exploits his own wife for his malicious revenge.
Iago has a close friend named, Roderigo, he loves Desdemona and wishes she loved him back. Iago starts his scheme by saying “I am not what I am”(I.i.71). This is one of many warnings that Iago gives the people that he schemes against. This warning is telling him that what you see is not what you are going to get. One can also elude from this warning that he will only let you see what he wants you to see. One can see that Iago is clearly going to lie to Roderigo by that single statement. The statement alone should shoot red flags up in anyone’s mind. Once Roderigo gets Brabantio out of bed; Iago says something strange to Roderigo, “Though I do hate him as I do hell, yet, for necessity of present life, I must show out a flag and sign of love”(I.i.171-173). Subsequently warning Roderigo about how he lies to people, Iago expects Roderigo to trust him. Unfortunately Roderigo falls into the trap and trusts Iago. Well along Cassio loses his lieutenancy Roderigo is discombobulated. He begins complaining about things Iago asked him to trust him with; corresponding his money, him getting into a ...
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 tells Roderigo that he can make Desdemona fall in love with him for a ‘small fee.’ Iago used Roderigo to make money. Iago also told Roderigo that Cassio was talking to Desdemona. Roderigo did not approve and Iago persuaded him to fight Cassio. Cassio ended up losing his ‘good reputation” and his position as Lieutenant, in the fight with Roderigo. Iago became the Lieutenant, just as he had
Iago elaborates a master plan to get Cassio position as a lieutenant. Iago get Cassio drunk so he could fight Roderigo. Othello then discharge Cassio from the lieutenant position when he says, How must poor Cassio have felt? To lose all he had worked for, working up his reputation that any half-hearted human can tell he earned and deserved. Iago know that Othello who ask him about the deed because of he fame of being a honest man. Iago tell Othello about the deed winning his trust that is when Iago starts to crab Othello by his weak point his Love for Desdemona.
Although the scandal that Iago came up with is a complete lie, Othello ends up believing him. Iago uses his ability to talk to people in order to accomplish his plan of destroying Othello because he wasn’t granted the position of the Venice army. (Sorto 1) A manipulative person gives himself the full-rights to do as they please without taking the rights of others into consideration, and they go about doing so by presenting themselves in the purest image of a good moral person, while they hide the true evil inside waiting for the right moment to dominate their prey. “They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible....
The play “Othello” by William Shakespeare was written in 1604 during the Elizabeth era. Othello is one of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success in the combat zone, which gave him the reputation as one of Venice’s most competent generals. Even though he has great success in the battlefield, he has a dramatic flaw that causes a downfall in his life. The dramatic flaw that causes his downfall is jealousy. This was brought on by a simple persuasion of Iago, the evil character in the play. Even though Iago used extreme manipulation to get Othello to be jealous, Iago did not really have to try very hard to get Othello in a jealous state of mind. Othello was blinded by his jealousy which led him down a path of constant questioning of his wife and his friend Cassio. Throughout the play we see his dramatic flaw sink him deeper and deeper into a cloud of doubt which eventually leads him to kill not only his love of his life but also himself.
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...
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Iago demonstrates a mastery of manipulation over people who had previously trusted and confided in him. His sudden turn from Othello’s loyal ensign to rage-filled villain seems indicative of a man who can no longer accept his position in life. Iago’s plotting of Othello’s demise starts as idle talk of a disgruntled 28 year-old career military man passed over for promotion. Iago believes that such a promotion may never come after Othello rejects his candidacy and makes it clear that he did not believe him suitable. He sees Othello is only concerned with personal and political gain with his choice of Cassio as lieutenant. When Iago teams with love-scorned and desperate Roderigo, he begins to construct Othello’s downfall. Iago is declaring an all-out covert war on Othello, Cassio, and anyone else who gets in his way. In Iago’s first speech in Act I Scene II, he proclaims hatred for Othello and lays out his plan for seeking vengeance. “After some time, to abuse Othello’s ears that he is too familiar with his wife (Shakespeare 1473).”
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).
Othello’s true flaw is not vile, destructive jealousy, but rather pure and prevailing love. He has a very strong character of virtue and nobility that is intact up to the horrid end. Iago’s deceit and trickery are more the cause of Othello’s tragic fall than any fault of Othello himself. This innocence and greatness of the tragic hero unequaled in any other Shakespearean tragedy is what gives the play its terrible irony and passion. Othello plays on the most powerful of all human emotions: faith and love, both embodied to the fullest in the great and honest Othello.
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.
Like Roderigo, Cassio also believes in "Honest Iago," for he thinks that Iago is only trying to help him. On the night of Cassio’s watch, Iago convinces him to take another drink, knowing very well that it will make him drunk. Even though he really doesn’t want to, Roderigo puts his faith into Iago and states, "I’ll do’t, but it dislikes me." Iago’s plan goes smoothly when Cassio is make to look like an irresponsible fool, resulting in his termination as lieutenant.
Iago is seen as honest and we know when we read the play that he is everything but honest. This is ironic because honest in the play is seen as loyal, trustworthy, a man of his word, etcetera and Iago is anything but all of those characteristics. There is not character in the play that does not think that Iago is an honest man. Iago admits that to Roderigo at the beginning of the play: “I am not what I am” (Act I; Sc I; Line 35). Despite the truth of Iago’s confession to Roderigo that he is not what he appears to be, his gullible sidekick continues to trust this two-faced man and do what is asked of him.