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In many of William Shakespeare’s works, the function of friendship plays a crucial role not just to the plot of the play, but to the main male characters of the work as well. Typically the male friendships in Shakespeare’s plays hold a very high value, and are rendered as being more important than even a marriage. These friendships present the notion that friends (men) can help a male to become a better man in society. Although it is apparent that male friendships exist within the works “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice,” “Much Ado about Nothing,” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” these bonds are contaminated by one factor: the villainous characters that are present. In an attempt to devastate the order, the villains effectively distort all male friendships, and prevent any of the male characters from becoming a better man in society.

“Othello”

In the work “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice,” the existence of male friendships is evident. The first significant male friendship introduced to the play is that of Iago and Roderigo. Although these two characters appear to be close, Iago uses Roderigo for his money. The opening lines of the play suggest this as Roderigo says “[Tush,] never tell me! I take it much unkindly / That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse / As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this” (1.1 1-4). Iago is able to successfully guise himself as Roderigo’s friend throughout the work, but in the process of doing so, he is also able take his money. In order to maintain his payments, Iago manipulates Roderigo into doing viscous tasks that creates a chaotic environment. In act two scene one, Iago influences Roderigo to start a confrontation with Cassio. By doing this, Iago insists that Roderigo wil...

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... getting everything that he has wanted. As mentioned earlier, Iago is able to influence Othello that Cassio is not a fit lieutenant by getting Cassio to be a part of an altercation, and he is also able to create an image that suggests that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio, which drives Othello to become mad. These two key moments illustrate Iago’s power and control over Othello, and prove that Othello’s character has a drastic downfall by the end of the work. Despite being manipulated by Iago for most of the work, Othello learns that “honest Iago” was deceitful the entire time, but at this point he is much too late. Othello says “Are there no stones in heaven / But what serves for the thunder? – Precious villain” (5.2 234-235). In the end, all of Othello’s relationships were contaminated because of the various acts of manipulation presented by the villainous Iago.