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Iago's character analysis in othello
Iago's character analysis in othello
Theme of appearance and reality in William Shakespeare
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Words can be beautiful, destructive, and manipulative. Language is central to all our lives, and arguably the cultural tool that sets humans apart from any other species. Language enables us to express our wishes, feelings, likes, dislikes, and ideas; it can be a symbolic function. Language also plays a role in how we affect other people, and how we make others feel, achieved just by our choice of words. By observing the language and the behavior of other people, one is provided with valuable information about personality type. If one listens closely they can better understand a friend’s temperament. By paying close attention to others, how they speak, how they dress, and facial expressions, we can better understand the wants of those around as and how they function as a person. The play Othello is full of rich dialogue with characters speaking eloquently and exquisitely to one another, “Yet I 'll not shed her blood, Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental …show more content…
His own insecurity becomes apparent in thinking that his beautiful Desdemona, a "heavenly sight" (281), has been unfaithful and the circumstantial evidence which preys so heavily upon Othello. Macaulay argues that in Othello, a reoccurring theme is the obsession with appearances vs reality. The character Othello believes that his outwardly appearances correlate with his inward appearances. She asserts that Othello truly believes he is a man of character and self-worth and that others view him as so too. Because of this blind assumption in how others perceive him, Iago can easily manipulate him and Othello can manipulate himself. Both Othello and Iago speak in soliloquies so the audience can better understand their characters and also have insight to Iago and Othello and their
...entally to mete out her demise. Empathy is felt for her as she realises self-worth is the polar opposite to the superficiality of social standing. She finds peace of mind and is reunited with Angel, when Hardy tears her away with death, typical of tragedy. Othello’s military role and social worth do not majorly affect his relationship. Instead, Iago’s ruthless self-interest in enhancing his own appearance within society and disinterest in the welfare of others, kindles the doubt between Othello and Desdemona. The relationships that collapse are those of the characters whose judgments fail them as another controls them. From the study of these two texts and reference to Pride and Prejudice and The Franklin’s Tale, we can now see that it is more strength of self and mind, than efforts to uphold an appearance, which affects love and relationships within all the texts.
Appearances can be deceiving as often what appears to be real is in truth an illusion. This notion is presented in Othello as it explores how appearances and societal perceptions are often fraudulent in comparison to true. This is evident when the antagonist, Iago employs dramatic irony stating that, “Men should be what they seem”. Here, Iago is hypocritical as he is perceived to be honest by the Venetians. However, this social façade is only masking his duplicitous nature. Iago’s character is further revealed through the use of metaphor, “The Moor has already changed with my poison”. In this instance Iago is attempting to conjure up the insecurities of Othello, such as Desdemona’s fidelity and devotion to
In the beginning Othello is seen as a calm collected man when put into an awkward situation, such as being ridiculed by his wife’s father in thinking that Othello has used some sort of magic to gain Desdemona 's infection. Othello’s calm collected ways start to deteriorate after he is convinced by Iago, a deceiving evil man that Desdemona has slept with Cassio. Othello’s self control no longer exist once he is fully convinced that it is in fact true that Desdemona has been unfaithful. His sense of what is real and what is not real is thrown out the window. Othello starts to become extremely jealous of his used to be beloved Cassio, and after considering giving back his spot as liternuanat he denies him that. He starts to become cold and distant towards his wife, and starts to call her out of her name. As Othello continues to lose control the people around him start to doubt his abilities of being able to protect Cyprus, and even his wife starts to doubt him, and agree with her father. No one knows who this man is anymore, he has started to act in an insanely matter. He can longer be his true self and take on the responsibilities of being general as he starts to crack. With Othello being faced with evil, him being calm is no longer an option for him because he can’t face the fact that the person he loves so dearly is cheating on him. Going back the they handkerchief, the symbol of his love for her. Othello seeing Cassio with Desdemona’s handkerchief sets him over the edge becoming truly convinced that his wife has betrayed him. Even when Desdemona and her maid Emila, Iago’s wife, has told him countless times that she has not been unfaithful, he is so far gone from reality that he does not believe either one of them. With the state of mind he’s in he cannot bear the thought of another man touching his wife. Othello and Iago plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. After he
In a passage from William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago dramatizes a subsequent conflict between Othello and Desdemona when he warns the former of a green-eyed monster, the manifestation of jealousy. As the play progresses, Othello becomes more like this beast that Iago told him about. Instead of being the honorable and respectable character he was, Othello now displays a more questionable personality, one that causes him to doubt his wife of infidelity. Even though Iago does play a role, it is mostly due to Othello’s insecurity that transforms him into a monstrous person.
The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare is a great work by a great author. Shakespeare was correct in titling it The Tragedy of Othello because Othello lost so much. In the literary sense, a tragedy is the downfall of a character through that character's own flaws. The way most people see a tragedy is a story where there is much suffering and loss, and a not so happy ending. No matter way one looks at it, literary or public sense, this was a correct title. The main character, Othello, brought his own downfall upon him through his flaws, caused the suffering of many people, and he himself loss very much. All of these factors pile up to equal a big tragedy.
Iago wanted Othello’s position and used others to shame Othello and gain stature. Iago dressed himself up a trustworthy man and worked his way into Othello’s trust with tricks and lies. He wore a very convincing mask; often temporarily defending the person he was trying to ruin to further his honest visage. He says to Othello, “Men should be what they seem…” (3.3.127) through these methods, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio, an officer, was having an affair with Othello’s beautiful wife Desdemona. As a vicious result, Othello is driven mad with anger and sadness and throttles Desdemona in their bed. The death and want left by Iago’s deception is vast hurting everyone involved most frequently on a mortal level. When the truth finally comes out, Othello, in his grief and remorse, ends up stabbing himself with a dagger. In the end, many die due to Iago’s deception, through villainy or despair, and none gain what they truly want because of it. This just goes to show that the mask of deception that a man wears can cause an unbelievable amount of harm, bodily and worse,
In Othello, Iago uses his fine reputation as an “honest man” and Othello’s insecurities to manipulate him and carry out his master plan of destroying Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona. Iago’s insight towards the other characters’ weaknesses enables him to let them know exactly what they want to hear, which helps him gain their trust. He plays upon the insecurities of others to maneuver them into carrying out the actions he needs done in order to fulfill his own desires. In looking at Othello, we will consider the Othello’s blind acceptance of “the truth” as it is presented to him and find that when we blindly take another’s “truth” and accept it as our own, we merely become tools utilized by the person who gave us that supposed truth and give up the power of being ourselves—we fail to assert a self.
Implicitly targeting Othello’s doubts about marrying Desdemona and insecurities about her actions with infidelity, Iago eventually impacts Othello enough that the General himself confides in Iago about his own wife. Earlier in the play, ‘honest Iago’ needs to first gain Othello’s confidence and he does so by expressing his loyalty to Cassio, “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth/ Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, while Othello is present in a conflict (2.3. 203-204). Then, later in the play Iago baits Othello by suggesting that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Immediately, Othello wants more information; however, Iago nervously responds with, “…vicious in my guess-/ As I confess…” and tries to calm Othello by saying, “My noble lord-” (3.3 46-47, 93). When voicing his devotion to Cassio, Iago immediately begins to play on his false reputation as ‘honest Iago’. He enables Othello, and his fellow characters, to think highly of him and to respect that even when his partner, Cassio, has not been following orders, Iago would even endure physical pain and have his “tongue cut from [his] mouth” and proves his locality (2.3. 203). This leads to when Iago responds to Othello’s queries, about
Othello: The play's protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a "free and open nature," which his ensign Iago uses to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy
Language and imagination are among the most dangerous weapons Iago has at his disposal in Othello. Jealous and angered by Othello’s - his commanding officer - passing over him for a promotion, Iago develops a fierce, antagonistic perspective the aforementioned character; this sentiment quickly corrupts his volition, and he subsequently concocts a plot bent on destroying Othello. He renders this revenge scheme credible by concealing his true feelings behind a facade of loyalty and trustworthiness, and fabricating a fictitious story concerning the infidelity of Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Until the play concludes, Iago utilizes purposeful rhetoric to drive his agenda, and also a mastery of deception to mislead the minds of his targets.
The Importance of Language in Othello In the extract being analysed there are numerous instances where
In the play “The Tragedy of Othello” by Willian Shakespeare, Othello Changes from an intelligent and confident person to a senseless and insecure person. This change in his personality occurs mainly because: Iago plans to ruin his relationship with Desdemona, he was an Outsider, he had bad judgement when it came to trusting people and failed to see reality, his negative thinking about himself and his relationship with Desdemona.
The character Othello, from the tragedy Othello, is portrayed as faultless in many ways in the beginning. However, as the story goes on, many unattractive qualities are revealed through Othello’s actions. One flaw of his is that he is too trusting. Othello believes Iago’s lies and so unable to trust from then on. Such as, when he believes Iago when Iago tells him that Desdemona gave Cassio her handkerchief, although this is quite untrue. Later on, he does not believe Desdemona when she continually tells him that she is not cheating on him, as his trust has been destroyed. Another equally important flaw of his is jealousy. Othello is jealous of the suspicious relationship between his lieutenant Cassio and his wife Desdemona. This is ironic because there really is no such affair between the two. Othello has many flaws which allow him to seem more humanlike and connect to society.These many flaws of Othello allow for more genuineness to be seen within him, and as a result he appeals more to the public. Authenticity is imperative for the public to connect with the character Othello and really enjoy the Shakespearean tragedy. Othello is...
This deception then reveals the meaning of the work as it displays how the perception of appearance versus reality can be drastically changed through the manipulation of one’s words. Iago’s main motivation in his use of deception is his thirst for revenge. Angry at Othello for not naming him lieutenant, Iago plans to ruin Othello’s life by ruining his happy marriage with Desdemona. Iago’s first attempt at this begins when Iago tells Brabantio that his daughter was drugged with magic and stolen by Othello. By Iago acting like a loud drunken fool, Brabantio becomes enraged with embarrassment, and lashes out on Othello and demands his punishment.
Othello believing Iago of Desdemona’s infidelity so quickly, shows his insecurities. In Act 3, Scene 3 Iago starts planting his plan on Othello to make him believe that Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago brings up the fact that Desdemona is very young and many other young men would be happy to be married to her but she decides to marry Othello. When Iago says this Othello begins to wonder “Why did I marry” to himself (3. 3. 283). Othello’s insecurities begin to show when he starts wondering why did Desdemona really married him. Desdemona is young and beautiful so Othello doesn’t understand why she would choose him over a younger man. Othello’s insecurities about his own physical appearance bring suspicion about Desdemona. Later Othello says “Haply, for I am black” (3. 3. 303) suggesting Desdemona may have cheated because he is black. Othello saying this shows that he is self-conscious about being black. He believes that because he is black Desdemona would possibly cheat. Othello insecurities with himself cause him to lose control and fall into Iago’s plan. Othello turns from being successful to murderous due to his insecurities. His constant doubt that Desdemona could actually be in love with him controls his thoughts and he begins to believe that she is cheating. Othello’s insecurities consume him to the point that he makes the ultimate mistake of killing