Iago in William Shakespeare's Othello
Iago has many motives for destroying the other characters in the play.
One of these is jealousy. Iago is jealous of Othello, Desdemona,
Cassio and even his own wife, Emilia. He is jealous of Othello for
many reasons. Iago wants the power and the respect that Othello has.
We see this in Act 2 scene 1 where Iago says ‘the moor- howbeit I
endure him not- is of a constant, loving, noble nature’ which hints
that he wants what Othello has as they are both opposites and these
attributes may be the ones he will need to gain power. Iago is jealous
of Othello’s marriage with the senator’s daughter as it gives Othello
even more power and an attractive wife- he envies Othello for his wife
as he states ‘I do love her too’ which suggest that Iago may have
feelings towards Desdemona making him more jealous of what Othello
has. Also Iago is crude and racist and always calls Othello the ‘moor’
which is a racist term. This could be the reason for his jealousy as
he finds the fact that Othello is above him quite unnatural. In his
soliloquy, Iago states ‘he’s done my office’ referring to Othello,
which means Othello has slept with his wife making him even more
jealous, even though he does not know if it is true or not. Iago is
also jealous of Desdemona. He wants to be in her place- he wants to be
an influential person to Othello- he wants to be closer to him thus
closer to power. He twists the fact that Othello is passionate and
obsessed with Desdemona to his own advantage. We see this when Iago
states that he will ‘put the moor at least into a jealousy so strong
that judgement cannot cure’ meaning that Iago will use...
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...om Cassio) with his words and need not use them
anymore. We are left to make our own minds up about why Iago did it.
There are hints here and there but still we do not know him well
enough to conclude what his reasons were from the evidence we receive
throughout the play. We cannot even be sure that Iago was telling us
his true thoughts in his soliloquies about Othello and Cassio having
slept with Emilia. May be he is motiveless: he just invents reasons to
be bad. We do not hear of the affair situation anywhere outside Iagos
soliloquies. He does say himself ‘I am not what I am’ so does this not
mean that anything he seems to be he is not and everything he says is
a lie. I believe that Iago is the character with the most depth that I
have ever encountered- so much depth that it becomes almost impossible
to analyse him.
At the same time, he condoles his victims, showing true empathy. Iago struggles with what seems to be multiple personality disorders. He is constantly flopping between several different viewpoints. To the faces of his fellow characters, he seems to show support and act as a loyal friend. On the other hand, he is very two faced, speaking with himself about the awful things he has done or plans to do to the people around him.
Iago has everyone fooled into believing that he is a noble honest man. Without this
He killed Roderigo in the dead of night while the two of them were planning an attack on Michael Cassio. It was Iago’s hope that both Roderigo and Cassio would die that night, but sadly only Roderigo met that fate therefore convicting Iago of attempted first-degree murder. Letters later found on Roderigo and testaments told from onlookers suggest Iago conspired to rise against Othello and take power from the very beginning. Two women from the spectating audience of the trial rose and testified they heard Iago exclaim something along the lines of “For, sir, It is as sure as you are Roderigo, Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago. In following him, I follow but myself. Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, But seeming so, for my peculiar end. For when my outward action doth demonstrate The native act and figure of my heart In compliment extern, ’tis not long after But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.” (Shakespeare, Act I, Scene I) to Roderigo in Venice a few weeks before the
to any extent to obtain it. Iago is merely jealous at this point and jeal...
...ves the characters. Iago is the protagonist of Othello through strong leading actions, strengths complimented through flaws, and a humor that manipulates the audience’s feelings.
In the play Othello, there are many jealous and selfish characters. Each of the characters at one point or another let their jealousy take over. It seems like they all have these plots and plans on how to hurt another character in the play either physically or emotionally, as an act of selfishness, so that they can feel better about themselves. One main character who seems extremely jealous in this play is Iago. Infact, probably the most jealous. Many bad things happen because of Iago. The first bad thing that Iago did, was tell Barbantio (Desdamona's father) that Desdemona has married Othello, the Moore. Iago was mad at Othello, because Cassio had made Othello a higher position and not Iago. Iago thought that he was the one who qualified for the position as general, not Othello. Iago was jealous because of this, so he decided to tell Barbantio about Desdemona and Othello. This was bad, because Barbantio did not know yet, and something like that should have been said by his own daughter, not someone who was not part of the family. The way Iago went about telling him was also bad. He called to his house in the middle of the night. He yelled it to Barbantio from downstairs into his window in a rude manner. " quote from Othello here." He wanted Barbantio to be upset about what had happened, and most of all, he wanted Barbantio to be mad at Othello and do something bad to him.
Iago is often referred to as "honest" Iago. This is because he is hiding behind an "exterior of the plain soldier and blunt, practical man of the world . . . " ( Tragedies 19). "Iago is the exact opposite of whatever he appears to be . . . " ( Eagleton 69). Iago's mask has grown to his face and is irremovable" (Evans 117). When a person appears to be so honest yet is so deceitful it seems hard that the person would not be exposed for whom they really are. "Iago does not put his mask on after the action commences, he has presumably worn it from birth onwards- or at least from the start of his military career" (117). It also seems hard to believe that Iago does not eventually believe what he says. "Step by step, Iago falls into his own gap of being, changing as he hears himself plot, improvising a drama that must destroy the dramatist as well ...
Iago would most commonly be referred to as dishonest, however beyond that he is also downright amoral and uses other’s weaknesses to manipulate them into doing what he pleases. From the very beginning we see how Iago manipulates Roderigo by pretending he is looking out for his best interests in the matter of Othello’s elopement with Desdemona. He makes Barbantio angry with Othello and Desdemona by telling him about their elopement then lying about the consummation of their relationship. He then leaves Roderigo to take responsibility for his (Iago’s) actions. In the meantime he goes off to inform Othello that Roderigo is accountable for telling Barbantio about the relationship and saying horrible things about Othello. Iago later brings Roderigo back into his quest for revenge when he tries to get Cassio fired from the position that Iago originally wished to obtain. Although Cassio knows it is against his better judgement to drink, Iago manipulates him into getting drunk then stages a fight between Roderigo and Cassio. He even goes as far as to try to make Cassio look bad by telling Montano that he gets drunk regularly. Upon Iago’s explanation of the situation Othello promptly fires Cassio from his position and Iago becomes more respected in Othello’s eyes. Roderigo is a prime example of how Iago uses people to fulfil his desires. Iago convinces Roderigo that he could win Desdemona’s love away from Othello and the only man that stands in the way is Cassio. In this way when he plans to humiliate Cassio it seems as if he is doing it to help out Roderigo when, in actuality, he is seeking revenge on Cassio for taking his position.
where credit is due, Iago is very intelligent and he knows how to get his way.
Act 1 Scene 3, Iago tells Roderigo that he shouldn’t be an inane man to even think of taking his life for a female.
...them even knowing. Iago doesn’t have to put forth much effort to manipulate Othello and act upon Othello being consumed by jealousy. Othello is now in this mindset that he thinks what Iago wants him to think, completely disregarding the truth and his own opinions. With very little evidence Othello is filled with jealousy.
This adds to Othello’s jealousy about Desdemona and so he keeps asking more questions about what Iago may know
Iago cannot be the only one to be blamed. If Othello has a bit more
Proof of Iago 's evil is easy to come by, but he is no more evil that when he uses his wife as a pawn in his twisted revenge plot. He calls
Characters in the play see Iago as trustworthy but in reality he is underhanded, two-faced, and scheming. (Smith, 2000)