William Shakespeare made two great plays: The tragedy of Julius Caesar and The tragedy of Othello (The Moor of Venice). In those plays there were methods of manipulation used by one of the characters in each play. Before I go far, allow me to provide you some feedback on both.
Julius Caesar is an exceedingly determined political leader in Rome and his endeavor is to become an autocrat. A soothsayer presaged him that he should “beware the Ides of March.”(1.2.21).The prediction came true and Caesar was assassinated due to the scheming of Marcus, Brutus and Cassius. Caesar’ friend, Antony gave him a great funeral.
On the other hand, Othello is a vastly admired general in the service of Venice. Iago is Othello’s pushy friend. They promoted Othello which made Iago deadly jealous. Iago’s jealousy brought him to an evil and spiteful operation against Othello. Ultimately, Othello became jealous and disbelieving his wife, Desdemona. He informed Iago he will kill his wife in this sentence: “I will withdraw to furnish me with some swift means of death for the fair devil.”(3.3.474) fina...
When the Soothsayer says, “Beware the ides of March.”(I.ii.18). He is setting up the death of Caesar, allowing the reader to realize that the date will be very significant to the play. This dialogue already sets up the stage for the plot to progress rapidly. Although, once Caesar leaves the stage, Brutus and Cassius are shown. Brutus begins to speak of his worries, “[...]I turn the trouble of my countenance/Merely upon myself. Vexed I am.”(I.ii.37-38). Brutus’ next few lines expresses his conflicts, showing his weakness towards Cassius. Cassius is able to easily swoop in and influence Brutus, without having to break a sweat, to follow through with his conspiracy to kill Caesar. The superstition does not actually come true without the actions of Cassius and Brutus. The exhibition of Brutus’ fear and the manipulation of Cassius, both set up the play to continue and also enhances the foreshadowing. The second warning given to Caesar is from Calpurnia. Caesar repeats what is spoken to him, “She dreamt she saw my statue/Which like a fountain with an hundred of spouts/Did it run pure blood[...]”(II.ii.76-78). Caesar is shown to heed this warning and it does describe what will happen on the ides of March. He repeats this to indicate his belief in his wife. Although, Decius manages to convince him to come. He states, “It was a vision fair and fortunate:[...]/great Rome shall
Many people associate the ‘Ides of March’ with the play “Julius Caesar.'; That particular day, March 15th in 44 BC, Rome lost not only a future king, but also a strong political and military leader. Julius Caesar’s life, his accomplishments, and his unfortunate assassination have etched out a place in textbooks worldwide. Caesar’s childhood was filled with many changes in the Roman Empire.
Throughout the play he repeatedly manipulates the rest of the cast to fit his plan. He convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful, and he does so not by outright accusing her, but by stringing together seemingly hesitant stories that allow Othello to come to the conclusion on his own. This is perhaps why he is so hellbent in her slaughter: he believes that he was the one who came to this conclusion. Iago is incredibly subtle in his accusations in only a way that a psychopath could be. Even as Othello attempts to refute the claims against Desdemona, Iago finds a way to interject, claiming that she hasn’t always been honest; “She did deceive her father, marrying [Othello],” (3.3.206). Iago is insanely skilled in his methods of manipulation, and the fact that he claims that “what [he has] spoken / Comes from [his] love,” convincing Othello that his goal is pure. This eventually leads to Othello executing his wife; however, his feelings towards the murder are not as you would expect. Iago has twisted and corrupted Othello so much so that he is justifying the slaughter of his wife as a sort of honor killing, imposing his own narrative upon the atrocious act. Iago’s competency at the arts of manipulation is a telltale sign of psychopathy; however, this is not his only psychopathic trait. There are still many more that further exemplify his psychopathic
Iago gave the impressions to betray Othello as a friend, and his marriage with Desdemona. Othello is given hints that his new wife Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio and is no longer loyal to Othello anymore. Othello once referred to Iago as “Honest Iago”, because he knew at the time that he co...
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it? Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged.
... a lowly one. In Aristotelian tragedies because of “peripeteia” (reversal of fortune, for better or for worse) the hero gets what he wants, but what he wants results in his destruction. Othello has allowed Iago to poison his ear with the green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head like Godzilla. The seeds that Iago planted took root and grew. ‘Iago flamed the flame of jealousy, which was already imbedded in Othello’s personality’ (Enoch, 191, p.38). Any evidence presented was circumstantial, not solid. Othello’s mental state had become compromised, resulting in a psychotic episode. The result was the death of an innocent, his wife Desdemona. In his last speech, Othello justifies his murder of Desdemona by claiming that he is not easily jealous and he loved too much (V. ii.). Before committing suicide, Othello fiercely endeavors to maintain his idealized image.
In the play Othello, there are many jealous and selfish characters. Each of the characters at one point or another let their jealousy take over. It seems like they all have these plots and plans on how to hurt another character in the play either physically or emotionally, as an act of selfishness, so that they can feel better about themselves. One main character who seems extremely jealous in this play is Iago. Infact, probably the most jealous. Many bad things happen because of Iago. The first bad thing that Iago did, was tell Barbantio (Desdamona's father) that Desdemona has married Othello, the Moore. Iago was mad at Othello, because Cassio had made Othello a higher position and not Iago. Iago thought that he was the one who qualified for the position as general, not Othello. Iago was jealous because of this, so he decided to tell Barbantio about Desdemona and Othello. This was bad, because Barbantio did not know yet, and something like that should have been said by his own daughter, not someone who was not part of the family. The way Iago went about telling him was also bad. He called to his house in the middle of the night. He yelled it to Barbantio from downstairs into his window in a rude manner. " quote from Othello here." He wanted Barbantio to be upset about what had happened, and most of all, he wanted Barbantio to be mad at Othello and do something bad to him.
As Iago's role in the play begins to define itself, the plays main theme, which is jealousy, also begins to develop. Iago's role is unclear to the reader in the first scene. He appears to be an honest, trustworthy soldier who was angry because he was overlooked for a promotion. However, the reader later finds out that he is a "malignant and destructive plotter" and would do anything to destroy Othello and anyone close to him (Epstein 381). The fact that he is an evil character remains undetected by the rest of the characters in the play. "The other characters actually call Iago honest fifteen times throughout the entire play" (Campbell 156). Iago is jealous and resentful of Othello in everyway and uses this festering hatred to infect and destroy Othello. He filled Othello's mind with thoughts of deceit and betrayal until his unwarranted jealousy towards his beautiful, trusting, and innocent wife blinded Othello himself.
In everyones life there is always the one person who you think you can trust, and later come to find that they have been playing you all along. This is the exact case for Othello. Iago, whom Othello thought was a person he could trust, betrayed him in many horrific ways.As you read the famous Shakespearian play, Othello, the Moor of VeniceI, you come to realise pretty quickly that Iago is the evil charecter in this play. The readers do not actually get to see a good side of Iago, if there is any, because he is constantly using and playing people. Readers will also come to learn that no matter how evil Iago may be perceived as that he is very much a coward, using other people to do most of his dirty work for him.
Iago takes on many different persona’s to enact his plan of revenge upon Othello. He plays the friend, a trustworthy and credible source of information for Othello in his feat of drama with his innocent wife, Desdemona. He also plays the wingman for Roderigo who is madly in love with Desdemona, encouraging him to make advances towards her to woo Desdemona away from Othello. Iago even persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio with his lies about Cassio and Desdemona’s affair. “...you may take him at your pleasure: I will be near to second your attempt, and he shall fall between us.” Iago promises to assist Roderigo in the murder of Cassio and he will be rewarded with Desdemona’s love (Navigators.) Iago’s true persona, though, is a heartless, woman-hating villain who would go to great lengths to get revenge against Othello for preferring Cassio over him for the military promotion.
...scene of Caesar; however, Antony never shows at the murder. Also, Antony compares the conspirators to irrational and beastly animals, and he retells the scene of Caesar’s death. Multiple people deceive others in order to manipulate them. Decius inaccurately explains Calphurnia’s dream, and he motivates Caesar to travel to the Capitol; as a result, Caesar dies. In a manipulative oration given by Antony, he manipulates the plebeians; the capricious plebeians decide they want to kill the murderers of Caesar. In the end of the play, Antony claims that Brutus exhibits an honorable man, and he explains that he favors Brutus. Octavius ends the play, and he agrees with Antony’s declaration of the honor of Caesar. Although manipulation frequently never ends in death, people today use manipulation for one’s own advantage: abusively, deceptively, cunningly, and aggressively.
Shakespeare develops the character Iago into an instigator and evil man. Iago attempts and succeeds to convince Othello that his wife has had an affair with his friend Cassio. We see Iago beginning his plans at the very start of the play. “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at, I am not what I am.”(Oth 1:1:64-65) He immediately tries to start trouble with Brabantio and Othello over the marriage to Desdemona. Iago want to get in Othello’s way because he was passed over for general and Cassio was chosen instead. We see from the start how he plots against Othello and he involves several characters in his plans. “And what’s he then that says I play the villain? When this advice is free. I give and honest, probal to thinking, and indeed the course to win the Moor again? For tis easy Th’ inclining Desdemona to subdue in any honest suit; she’s framed as fruitful…”(2:3:295-300).
Iago is a very strategic and clever person, and he despises Othello because Othello appointed Cassio as a lieutenant over Iago. He plans to ruin Othello’s life by ruining his relationship with Desdemona. He starts off by telling Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, of Othello and Desdemona’s secret marriage. Iago goes to
William Shakespeare masterfully crafted Othello, the Moor of Venice as an Aristotelian tragedy play. The main protagonist of the play, Othello, is the perfect example of a tragic hero. Shakespeare was influenced by Aristotle’s concept of a tragic hero and used Aristotle’s principles to create Othello. William Shakespeare attempted to create an Aristotelian tragedy play with a tragic hero and succeeded in Othello, the Moor of Venice by weaving in pity and fear into each line and action. The power of pity and fear creates the upmost tragic situation and follows in accordance of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. Othello makes the ultimate act as a tragic hero by killing himself at the end of the play. “Othello, more than any play in the canon, has a fascinating and contentious performance and reception history,”
Shakespeare uses Iago and Othello as the main characters of the play, showing how Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife is cheating on him. Iago, or “honest Iago”, the villain of the play, a perfectionist at manipulation, that manages to influence people into thinking his deceitfulness is an act of honesty. He spends all of his time plotting against Othello and Desdemona, eventually convincing Othello that his wife has been cheating, despite the fact that Desdemona has been completely faithful. Othello, Venice’s most competent general, and the protagonist of the play. He was a noble and respected war hero, and a loving husband, however he was the target of Iago’s atrocities, which lead him to become an irrational, violent, and insanely jealous husband who murders his own wife at the end of the play.