Analysis Of Iago

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Iago’s Subconscious Motive
Iago, the antagonist of Shakespeare’s work, Othello, is often considered purely evil or sociopathic. At first glance, Iago appears to be a static, two-dimensional villain, but he is much more. Shakespeare, renown for his awareness of the human condition, leaves many important aspects of Iago’s life up to interpretation. In published works and critical interpretations, Iago is commonly attached to a myriad of mental illnesses and personality disorders. Because it seems that Iago’s life revolves around Othello and Desdemona, it is understandable how people may suggest that Iago is in love with Othello, or that he is a psychopath with no true motives. Shakespeare never discloses much about Iago’s past, raising the questions:
His behavior can be justified by a Stanford prison experiment, conducted by researcher Philip Zimbardo at a makeshift prison in Stanford University’s psychology basement. A test group of young men were enlisted to act either as prisoners or as guards in a makeshift prison. “Many of the guards, possessing authority based only on chance assignment to a role, treated the prisoners cruelly and subjected them to incredibly demeaning tasks. Many of the prisoners became passive and lashed out with great hostility toward the guards” (Holmes, Singh, Beins, 53). In relation to Othello, Iago assigns himself the role of antihero, lashing out against the honorable and valiant Moor. “This now famous study was one of many that helped to illustrate how easily we may adopt roles and behave accordingly -- even when it means treating others badly” (Holmes, Singh, Beins, 53). Are Iago’s actions the result of biological or environmental factors? Iago is not an irrational, mentally unstable sociopath who goes around killing people for pleasure. Yet, it also can’t be agreed upon that Iago is quite physiologically sound. He is an extremist who has reasons for his misdemeanors, though they aren’t necessarily the ones he claims. Some of his faults can be connected/traced to environmental factors, his life lived unloved and self-doubt as a

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