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 towards their tragic endings.
Iago is not your ordinary villain. He is smart and an expert judge of people's character and uses this to his advantage. For example, he knows Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and figures Roderigo would do anything to have her as his own. Iago states, "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse." By playing on his hopes Iago is able to swindle money and jewels from Roderigo, making a substantial profit and making him a pawn in his plan. Iago is also quick on his feet and able to improvise when the unexpected occurs.
Being of smart mind, Iago is quick to recognize the advantages of trust, thus using it as a tool in forwarding his goals. Throughout the play he is often referred to and known as "honest Iago." He even states, "I am an honest man..." Trust is a powerful emotion that can easily be abused. As seen with Othello who, "holds (him) well/The better shall (Iago's) purpose work on him." Iago's use of his trust is greatly abused and beneficial only to him. His "med'cine works! Thus credulous fools are caught..." Iago slowly poisons people's thoughts, implanting ideas in their heads without implication to himself. Iago, a masterful deceiver, says, "And what's he t...
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...to be a person "of exceeding honesty, (who) knows all qualities, with learned spirit of human dealings." Iago does know all about human dealings, but he is far from honest. He uses the trust Othello puts into their friendship to turn him into a jealous man. Iago told Othello that his wife was cheating on him thus Othello thought he was killing for justice. He even said he "loved not wisely but too well." When the opportunity occurred Iago was lurking, waiting for the chance to take advantage of Othello. Iago succeeded in destroying all he sought out.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Bradley, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice" The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stanley Wells & |Gary Taylor. New York/London, W.W. Norton Company,1997. 2100-2174
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
As Othello's most trusted friend Iago has the upper hand when it comes to influencing Othello. When Othello passes Iago up for the position of lieutenant he claims to be angry; he is ready to seek revenge. Othello and Iago have been through countless battles and Othello feels as if he can trust “Honest” Iago. When there is a problem Iago is there to lend a helping hand. Iago uses his trusted advice to manipulate the mind of Othello and other main characters. He even calls himself honest, “As honest as I am” Iago uses these words to convince his credibility (Othello, Shakespeare, Act II Scene I Line
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ethnomusicology: a short introduction is about describing the growing discipline of how ethnomusicology researchers are going about studying different music from around the world, looking for perceptions in both humanity and music. Ethnomusicologists believe that all people are musical, not just people that label themselves as “musicians” and that there is music in all beings. This thinking causes a lot of debate in which ethnomusicologists argue that we must first study all forms of music such as its Geographic’s and history in order to answer any questions. Not only are traditional forms of music acknowledged but also more contemporary musical forms.
Over the course of history, music has developed from a personal, academic pursuit to an extension of a global marketplace and an attribute of this global community. In order to better address this conversation and the surrounding idea, Feld utilizes the platform he has developed to pose the argument that music has long been cultivated as a means of communication and interaction. This relationship is developed and analyzed as a case study in this article, which happens to be in discussing a traditional lullaby first developed in the Solomon Islands, which was in turn recorded by a European pop group that sold millions of copies of a rendition of the song. Furthermore, the article goes to show the trend of music to be redistributed and developed in the sense that it is later reused by a popular jazz musician in Europe. Feld then begs the question about the nature of the redistribution of music and whether this facilitates a hybridization of music or an alienation and artistic degradation of the original work for the indigenous artists.
“Together the matrices of race and music occupied similar position and shared the same spaces in the works of some of the most lasting texts of Enlightenment thought..., by the end of the eighteenth century, music could embody differences and exhibit race…. Just as nature gave birth and form to race, so music exhibited remarkable affinities to nature” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 14). Radano and Bohlman pointed out that nature is a source of differences that give rise to the different racial identities. As music embodies the physical differences of human, racial differences are not only confined to the differences in physical appearances, but also the differences in many musical features, including language, tonality and vocal expression. Nonetheless, music is the common ground of different racial identities. “In the racial imagination, music also occupies a position that bridges or overlaps with racial differences. Music fills in the spaces between racial distinctiveness….” (Radano and Bohlman 2000:8) Even though music serves as a medium through which different racial identities are voiced and celebrated individually, it establishes the common ground and glues the differences
Monson, I. (2010).Freedom sounds : civil rights call out to jazz and Africa. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Henderson, T. "Modern Latin American History Lecture." Auburn University Montgomery, Montgomery, AL. Sept. 2011. Lecture.
In Othello, Iago is Shakespeare’s most malicious character and serves as a vehicle to these two themes. Iago despises Othello; he has a strong will to destroy Othello’s life, yet the motive behind his plan goes unexplained. Iago is a great manipulator of the tongue and lies to everyone in order to advance his plan; however, every character in the play considers Iago an honest character, and Othello even associates Iago with light and eyesight. Othello continuously asks Iago to explain or make something clearer. Until the very end, Iago appears to be honest and helpful to the other characters, but underneath this seemingly harmless façade, Iago is a demon with the strongest will; he will stop at nothing until he ruins Othello’s life. Iago uses a positive appearance to enact his
“ O, that’s an honest fellow “, “You advise me well.... goodnight. honest Iago “ - “....that’s an honest fellow “ “ I know thou’rt full of love and honesty ”. Iago has everyone fooled into believing that he is a noble, honest man. Without this public perception of being honest he could never get Othello to believe that Desdemona was cheating on him. Othello would have probably killed him if he didn’t have the public perception.
Iago is a man wronged by Othello in the fact that he was not chosen to be Othello’s lieutenant, which is what put the dastardly idea into Iago’s head to trick them all and bring them to their knees. As Iago tells Roderigo within the first act and scene of “Othello”, Despise me if I do not. Three great ones of the city,/ In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,... ... middle of paper ... ... n the end of the play.
Iago is a twenty- eight years old Caucasian married man and he is a soldier in the Venetian army. Iago is viewed as modest, honest, and a good friend to people in public. People refer to him as “honest Iago” which leads them to trust him. Iago plans to destroy Othello by manipulating him to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him with his promoted lieutenant Cassio, a position Iago wanted to have.
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.
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, the evil villain of Shakespeare's Othello, is more than just a villain. In many ways he is the most intelligent and appealing character in the play. Iago shows superiority over the rest of the characters in the play. He has the ability to manipulate the characters in the play, therefore controlling the play with every sequence of events. His intelligence shines through his ability to deceive, his ability to strategize, and his ability to twist the truth. Iago is appealing to the characters of the pay because he gives them what they want. Iago is appealing to the reader as well. His character is totally unconflicted about being evil, making him known to some authors as the villain of all villains. Iago is, in many ways, the most intelligent and appealing character in the play.