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Iago from othello character analysis essay
Iago from othello character analysis essay
Analysis of the major character iago in othello
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Iago? Or Psychopath? 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. Notably, the media parades psychopaths to be violent and erratic. Although these traits may be true in some cases, many people overlook the fact that there are many other characteristics that attribute to the term psychopath. A few examples of a psychopath …show more content…
Psychopaths literally feel nothing when it comes to violence or fear. Levy studies show that the emotional sectors of the brain are damaged. This makes them dangerous. They can not see that something is hurting or they are hurting someone.
In the light of the various descriptions of an unstable person, Iago is a psychopath with his manipulative choice of words. He tells people things that they want to hear and he says it in a manner that makes him appear exceptional. “ I humbly do beseech you of your pardon, For too much loving you.” (3.3.106) In act three, Iago pretends to be Othello’s confidant, and he wants Othello to suspect his wife is having an affair. Iago has a pseudo relationship with Othello the entire duration of the play.
Iago tells Roderigo that he can make Desdemona fall in love with him for a ‘small fee.’ Iago used Roderigo to make money. Iago also told Roderigo that Cassio was talking to Desdemona. Roderigo did not approve and Iago persuaded him to fight Cassio. Cassio ended up losing his ‘good reputation” and his position as Lieutenant, in the fight with Roderigo. Iago became the Lieutenant, just as he had
...is no remorse in his answer. In fact, he asserts and defends his behavior. He even has the nerve to kill his wife. Iago clearly enjoys inflicting pain onto others. This is proven repeatedly, as he continues to hurt, manipulate, and use others. This is also proven when Iago says, “As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad” (IV.I.117). Iago is sadistic. He does not think twice about his actions, nor does he care about the repercussions and consequences that occur as a result. This also is a symptom of a psychopathic personality, which Iago certainly displays.
The psychopath know the reasons behind acting a certain way and just don't think about the consequences. Even in the DSM-IV clear definitions of a psychopath doe not exist but the closes to diagnose is anti-social personality disorder. Dr. Hare instead developed the Psychopathy Checklist for people to diagnose psychopathy. The first part of the Psychopathy Checklist looks at the emotional and interpersonal traits of the disorder(Hare, 1993). Some of the emotional qualities that the clinician would look for is as followed: glib/superficial, egocentric/grandiose and lack of empathy.
Psychopaths are strict when committing a crime. They plan there crime before they do it. Because they think there crimes through, they are hardly found about. In the article, “Psychopath vs sociopath” it says “tendency to participate in schemes and take calculated risks to minimize evidence or exposure.” People portray them to be very violent people but it is rare for them to do violent crimes. They tend to do smaller crimes but they can be serial killers. As they feel no guilt when doing the crime, although, when they do a big crime they can be undetected for a long
A psychopath is “calculating and measured in their actions” which makes is harder for one to be identified ("Characteristics of a Sociopath."). Although there is no clinical diagnosis for a psychopath one can be determined through their characteristics and actions for one is more “likely to construct a complex scheme or plan and to carry it out” if they suffer from this mental disorder ("Characteristics of a Sociopath."). They are the most dangerous personalities in society as they have the capacity for extreme violence and the intelligence to blend into a community as an average citizen. It is the personality Iago from Othello that could be diagnosed as a psychopath as he is cold, calculating, manipulative, and is elaborate in his plans. Iago
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, renowned 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 associated with 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.
In Othello, Iago is Shakespeare’s most malicious character and serves as a vehicle to these two themes. Iago despises Othello; he has a strong will to destroy Othello’s life, yet the motive behind his plan goes unexplained. Iago is a great manipulator of the tongue and lies to everyone in order to advance his plan; however, every character in the play considers Iago an honest character, and Othello even associates Iago with light and eyesight. Othello continuously asks Iago to explain or make something clearer. Until the very end, Iago appears to be honest and helpful to the other characters, but underneath this seemingly harmless façade, Iago is a demon with the strongest will; he will stop at nothing until he ruins Othello’s life. Iago uses a positive appearance to enact his
The definition of a psychopath is a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. The label “psychopath” cannot be placed on a child who is developing emotionally, mentally, or physically. A child’s brain is finished developing way past their teenage years. Most of the time when a child would be considered a psychopath is parents did not teach their children proper respect and they lacked parenting skills. The child just repeated what they saw and knew and continued to do wrong things throughout their life because they didn’t know until it was too late.
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.
Iago is a twenty- eight years old Caucasian married man and he is soldier in the Venetian army. Iago is viewed as modest, honest, and a good friend to people in public. People refer to him as “honest Iago” which lead them to trust him. Iago plans to destroy Othello by manipulating him to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him with his promoted lieutenant Cassio, a position Iago wanted to have. Although the scandal that Iago came up with is a complete lie, Othello ends up believing him. Iago uses his ability to talk to people in order to accomplish his plan of destroying Othello because he wasn’t granted the position of the Venice army. (Sorto 1)
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
Iago is one of the most complex characters in William Shakespeare’s Othello. To most of the characters, he is “Honest Iago” (Shakespeare, 5.2.73). however, the audience knows that Iago is the furthest thing from honest. Iago is a devil bent on destroying the lives of everyone around him. At the beginning of the play, the audience learns that Iago is determined to ruin Othello’s marriage to Desdemona. He has appointed a new lieutenant, Michael Cassio. This angers Iago because he feels that he has much more military experience and should be the lieutenant. Iago has also heard rumours that both Othello and Cassio have slept with his wife Emilia. He concocts a malicious plan to ruin the lives of all who have wronged him, and consequently establishing
Iago's manipulative nature has a profound effect on the decisions made by other characters in Shakespeare's ‘Othello’. Through his relations with those around him Shakespear characterizes him as a man full of malice, vengeance and dishonesty that is wholly inspired by jealousy. Furthermore it would appear that Iago has an exceptional ability to scheme, a talent which he uses to snake his way into the lives of others and exploit them through their weaknesses. Whether he does this for profit or for pleasure is a separate issue.
Scientists consider nature as a reason for psychopathy because the way their brains are set up. One theory suggests that the one region located in the brain that is less active in psychopaths is the amygdala which is normally linked with fear. In “The Wisdom of Psychopaths” Dutton explains that studies have been done and have proven that the brain has a dysfunction. Dutton also explains a case study that he has done with the thought of killing one person over killing five. Psychopaths have no problem killing that one person. There is no dilemma in their brain; the thought of someone dying does not affect them emotionally. Other brain studies measuring different aspects of the integration of emotions with other human experiences have shown the same abnormalities when it come...
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
According to research, psychopathic behavior can take many forms not all of which are violent. Ultimately psychiatrists say that there are pieces of a brain’s emotional machinery missing. As a result making psychopaths lack empathy, guilt or the ability to simply sow remorse (180rule.com). In an interview with James Fallon, a neuroscientist and neuroanatomist, states that there isn’t an acceptable definition of the word, psychopaths and that some psychologists do not even recognize it as a syndrome (Flatow). The closest way to identify a psychopath is through the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised, commonly known as the PCL-R (Hare). This test is used to determine if an individual has a mid- psychopathic disturbance, moderate psychopathic disturbance or if they are psychopathic (Brinkley). The test is scored on a 3 point scale (0, 1, and 2) with the highest score being a 40 which denotes a prototypical psychopath (Hare). When an individual scores a 30 or above it will qualify the individu...