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Character analysis of Iago of William Shakespeare's Othello
Character analysis of Iago of William Shakespeare's Othello
Analysis of the character of Othello
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The Abnormal Aspect of Othello
Let us in this essay discuss the abnormal outlook on life found in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. Is a distorted view on life expressed only by the villain?
Iago is generally recognized as the one character possessing and operating by abnormal psychology. But Lily B. Campbell in Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes tells of the time when the hero himself approached “madness”:
Othello himself cries:
thou hast set me on the rack.
I swear ‘t is better to be much abus’d
Than but to know a little.
And then we find him torturing himself with the thoughts of Cassio’s kisses on Desdemona’s lips, and he reiterates the property idea in his talk of being robbed.
From this time on, Othello has become the slave of passion. As he cries farewell to the tranquil mind, to content, to war and his occupation, as he demands that Iago prove his love a whore, as he threatens Iago and begs for proof at the same time, he is finally led almost to the verge of madness [. . .] . (165)
Fortunately the protagonist regains his equilibrium, and when he does kill, it is for the noble reason of cleansing the world of a “strumpet.” On the other hand, the baseness of the villain Iago never alters. David Bevington in William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies describes the irrationality and self-destructiveness of the ancient’s behavior:
Emilia understands that jealousy is not a rational affliction but a self-induced disease of the mind. Jealous persons, she tells Desdemona, “are not ever jealous for the cause, / But jealous for they’re jealous. It is a monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself” (3.4.161 – 163). Iago’s own testimonial bears this out, for his jealousy is at once wholly irrational and agonizingly self-destructive. “I do suspect the lusty Moor / Hath leaped into my seat, the thought thereof / Doth , like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my innards” (2.1.296 – 298). (223)
Blanche Coles in Shakespeare’s Four Giants affirms the Bard’s commitment to abnormal psychology, and his employment of same in this play:
That Shakespeare was keenly interested in the study of the abnormal mind is commonly accepted among students. [. . .] The suggestion that Iago may have been intentionally drawn as a psychopathic personality is not new. [. . .] Even a casual scrutiny of a book on case histories of psychopathic patients will find Iago peeping out from many of its pages.
A surrogacy is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two kinds of surrogacy: “Gestational”, in which the egg and sperm belong to the intended parents and is carried by the surrogate, and “traditional”, where the surrogate is inseminated with the intended father’s sperm. Regardless of the method, I believe that surrogacy cannot be morally justified. Surrogacy literally means “substitute”, or “replacement”. A surrogate is a replacement for a mother for that 9-month period of pregnancy, and therefore is reducing the role of the surrogate mother to an oversimplified and dehumanizing labor. The pregnancy process for the gestational mother can be very physically and mentally demanding, and is unique because after birthing the
I would have said that it was a generous and thoughtful act of kindness for a surrogate to be willing to help a couple bring a child into this world. I would have never thought deeply about some of the moral and ethical aspects of surrogacy, until now. I have been married for almost four years, and I believe in the unity of marriage and the idea of becoming one. After reading Cahill’s argument on surrogacy, and reflected on my own moral values, I immediately took a stance to agree with her. I believe that when it comes to a child, the best interest of the child should be a top priority. I am not a mother, but I am very passionate about children, and find their lives to be so precious. Parents should always have the child’s best interest in mind when making choices regarding their child’s life. A surrogate may be doing it as an act of kindness, and that may be her intention. However, I agree that surrogacy brings a dualistic element to the relationship. I know that as a married woman I would never hire a surrogate to bear my child, nor be a surrogate to carry someone else’s child. I want children, but I would never want to be treated as the means to an end, and I would not want my child to be considered a commodity. I strongly agree with Cahill in that a binding moral obligation does come with certain choices, even if we did not choose them in the first
A psychopath easily demonstrates several discernible quirks. Iago, one of Shakespeare 's most notable characters from Othello, regularly displays unholy habits. Iago is a man who is determined to achieve his goals by manipulating and scheming plans to get what he wants. His shallow heart shows no mercy for those who oppose. A psychopath Iago undoubtedly fits the role of a psychopath because of his manipulative, emotionless and devious behavior throughout the entire play.
Before coming directly to the forming of the love-theme that differentiates Othello from other Shakespeare plays that utilize the same theme, I turn arbitrarily to Iago to inspect a distinguishing mark of his of which the relevance to thematic form in the play will appear a little later. When Iago with unperceived scoffing reminds Roderigo, who is drawn with merciless attraction to the unreachable Desdemona, that love effects an unwonted nobility in men, he states a doctrine which he “knows” is true but in which he may not “believe.” Ennoblement by love is a real possibility in men, but Iago has to view it with bitterness and to try to undermine it. (333-34)
But jealousy, and especially sexual jealousy, brings with it a sense of shame and humiliation. For this reason it is generally hidden; if we perceive it we ourselves are ashamed and turn our eyes away; and when it is not hidden it commonly stirs contempt as well as pity. Nor is this all. Such jealousy as Othello’s converts human nature into chaos, and liberates the beast in man; and it does this in relation to one of the most intense and also the most ideal of human feelings. (169)
...red. The basis of IVF, surrogate motherhood and sundry practices is allergic to morality. Further developments would only inspire other immoralities. We have to make them a tough procedure to follow. We need to construct an order before crises impose one as a necessity. By then many waters of life may have passed irrevocably under the bridge.
In the continuance of the play, Othello’s eloquence suffers because of the increasing strain coming from Iago. Othello is introduced in
“Sometimes when making something so precious, beautiful and unique, it takes an extra helping heart” (Author Unknown). To me, surrogate motherhood is giving the gift of a child to an individual who cannot carry a child themselves. I chose this topic because it interests me to see what kind of problems are linked with the journey of surrogacy. I have seen plenty of fictional movies about surrogate mothers, and I wanted to learn if any of these issues happened in real life situations. Before I began my research I thought about the ethical, legal, and social problems that could arise during the process of surrogacy. Legally, I thought you could be a surrogate
Watkinson, A. "Othello: The Ironic Interdependence of Othello and Iago." Novels for Students. 5 November 2004. http://www.enotes.com/othello/743/print
Most readers see Iago as the simple “deceptive villain” while neglecting to see that Iago represents an unprecedented flair for deception and making others suffer or, as Schwartz describes Iago, “an embodiment of the ineradicable evil in Nature and of the malevolence in human nature.” Iago’s
After analyzing the play Othello by Shakespeare, we see a wide variety of information about each character, especially Iago. From the start, Iago seems to be a man who wants to take revenge on his leader, Othello, because Othello didn't promote Iago to any higher position, but instead gave the Lieutenant position to Cassio. The feeling of revenge towards Othello was so much, that Iago was blinded by it. While it seems on the surface that Iago was motivated solely by revenge, a closer look reveals that Iago suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder.
One of the first impressions gained of Othello is that he is a great war hero. Before much else is said of him, tales of his skill and valor in battle are illustrated and he is shown to be a great and famed warrior. He naturally possesses many attributes typically associated with soldiers. From the beginning Othello is noble, quick to act, judicious, trusting, and gives much weight to the importance of duty. These are all traits that serve to make him great at the beginning of the play, and later, ironically become key elements in his downfall. These aspects can be considered the internal causes of Othello’s tragic flaw. “Othello's nature is all of one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute…. Love, if he loves, must be to him the heaven where either he must leave or bear no life. If such a passion as jealousy seizes him, it will swell into a well-night incontrollable flood.” Othello is pure an...
Commercial surrogacy commodifies children because by paying the surrogate mother to give up her child, they treat the child as an object of exchange or commodity that can be bought and sold. As any business transaction, the parents give money for the exchange of an object, the child. The parents get their desired child and the mother gets the money, but what about what thee child think about this event? The parents and surrogate mother’s action were done with self-interest. It could be argued that they wanted the best for the child. However, the first priority in the intentional procreation of the child was not the welfare of the child but rather to give it up to the parents in exchange of money. Additionally, women’s labor is commodified because the surrogate mother treats her parental rights as it was a property right not as a trust. In other words, the decisions taken concerning the child are not done primarily for the benefit of the child. The act of the mother relenting her parental rights is done for a monetary price. She disposes of her parental rights, which are to be managed for the welfare of the owner, as if they were property right, which are to be handled for personal
..., who otherwise may not be able to have children on their own, it is morally wrong. It uses a woman’s body as a machine and as a means, and women are bound to agree to surrogacy for the wrong reasons. Surrogacy is morally wrong because of the emotional trauma it can bring to the surrogate after the birth of the child. With all of these negative aspects, it is clear that other options should be considered, options such as adoptions, which have more benefits than losses.
Shakespeare’s famous play Othello is a play of love that has turned bad by the unfounded jealousy of the protagonist character Othello. Arguably the contribution of Othello’s susceptibility to manipulation, his weaknesses and the manipulation of other characters tactics such as Iago each contribute to the downfall of Othello. However, to the extent of which each is more significant varies and this is what will be analysed in this essay.