In the play, Iago feeds Othello lies about his wife Desdemona. Iago’s false words enraged Othello and Othello begins to think poorly of his innocent wife. Othello angrily turns to Iago and yells “ O, devil, devil!” (IIII.i.273) in frustration with his loyal bride. Iago is getting into Othello's head so much that Othello fails to see the truth. As the play goes on, you see Othello’s actions become violent. As Desdemona approaches Othello, Othello strikes her causing her to cry and leave the room is sadness
Iago will do anything in his power to keep a spotless reputation and to ruin Othello entirely. He wants to keep his good reputation so he can get money and power out of it. Iago thinks to himself, “Now whether he kills cassio or cassio him or each do kill the other / every way makes me gain” ( Shakespeare 5.1.12-15). Iago believes that as long as either Rodriego or Cassio dies he will come out the good guy. Iago wants to be the good guy so he looks like a hero. Being the hero
The cruelty Iago is able to incite in Othello and Roderigo reveals their deep passions and overwhelmingly trusting natures. The fact that Othello is so vulnerable and susceptible to Iago’s poisoning sheds light on his lurking insecurities about age, race and appearance, which Othello is ultimately unable to ignore. Likewise, Roderigo’s willingness to sacrifice all money and morals by Iago’s bidding reflects his naive passions and an overall lack of personal strength. In stark contrast with Othello and Roderigo, Desdemona, the primary victim of Iago’s cruelty and yet the only one who dies completely unaware of it, turns out, somewhat ironically, to be the only one whose inner self is completely unaffected by Iago. On the eve of her death, even after being horribly mistreated by Othello, she firmly upholds her values of loyalty and obedience, and her belief that no woman would ever wrong her husband. This reveals in part her naivety to the point of foolish ignorance that she met her downfall with, but more importantly, the incorruptible purity and innocence that Desdemona
The devil is known as the most deceptive creature of all. He is able to bring evil and tempt others into doing wrong just to see the lack of order and reason. Iago, throughout the whole play, tricks Roderigo, Othello, and Cassio into believing his tales and acting on them, but does not leave any question to the audience whether or not he is aware what he is doing is wrong. Whenever Iago creates a new scheme he says aloud his entire plan only after people have left the stage. Not only is this for the audience to understand that his words are kept to himself, but for him to be alone on stage parallels the devil’s solidarity in Hell. The ease which comes with performing his plots is purely second nature and part of his identity because he is one with the devil. Part of Iago’s transfer of evil to cause disorder is when he fully intends to spark Othello’s jealousy in love. The telling of Iago to Othello that Desdemona laid “naked with her friend in bed” plants a devil inside Othello’s brain (4.1.5). The devil continues to haunt Othello and causes him to act without reason, like an animal with no conscience. Pointed out by Gonzales, by Iago doing the thinking for Othello, the “final result is a devil’s head guiding the body of a raging animal” (Gonzales 45). Because the devil is the most cunning animal or creature, the transformation of Othello’s own identity from one of faith in his wife to complete
Untruths and misdirection’s are normal in the public eye, and numerous people veil their actual goals with a lacquer. In Shakespeare 's play Othello, the character Iago is the same as those tricky people. Behind his façade as a dependable ensign and companion, Iago is a multilayered, tricky and manipulative scalawag, coming up with disarray and bringing about setbacks toother characters for requital. Iago utilizes his deft and shrewd key demonstrations of control to undermine each character’s shortcomings. He misuses Roderigo’s love for Desdemona, Cassio under the appearance of companionship, and toys with Othello’s mind by playing on his self-question. Clearly, Iago controls the general population around him by utilizing their shortcomings:
In the book Othello, Iago is a very manipulating man, throughout the book he manages to manipulate three main people, Roderigo, Cassio, and Othello. He uses all their weaknesses to bring them down. Iago wants revenge on Othello, because Othello overlooks Iago and his abilities, so Iago manipulates these three characters to get back at Othello in the long run. He comes up with a very good plan to get each other to turn against one another. So in the end he ends up getting what he wanted, revenge. Many characters fall into Iago 's web of deception throughout the book.
In the play Othello, we meet many characters that range in personalities. In this play, a character by the name of Iago is the villain. He is a 28 year old man who, in my opinion, needs psychiatric help. His role in this play is totally based on manipulation and destruction of Othello and basically all of the other characters in the play. He talks to himself about things he could, should, and does to people, as well as his vigilant hate for Othello. Why does he hate Othello so much? He first believes that Othello passed him over for a higher position as lieutenant and gave the promotion to Cassio. Second, he thinks that Othello may have slept with his wife. He cannot prove the latter but has such a deep hatred for Othello that he does anything to cause destruction to Othello as well as the rest of the characters. He is full of hatred and evil and loves nothing more than causing pain for others.
Here, Iago acts as if Desdemona is Brabantio’s property: he tells Brabantio that he was “robbed,” when in fact Desdemona left of her own free will. Then Iago adds even more insult to injury–––he describes Othello as an “old black ram” who is “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe,” which only serves to dehumanize both Desdemona and Othello. It is as if Iago views women and people of color as no better than barnyard animals. Not only does he paint Brabantio an image of his daughter having sex, Iago repeats the word
Rhetoric is an incredibly powerful tool capable of seducing even the most obdurate of people. As one of the most illustrious playwrights ever, Shakespeare was no stranger to the power of rhetoric. Rhetoric served as the fountainhead of Shakespearian allure. We watch the dramatic works of Shakespeare because we enjoy having our emotions manipulated; we enjoy the catharsis and self-reflection that accompanies a trip to the theater. Shakespeare truly was a master manipulator, but his manipulation was generally beneficial. While Shakespeare uses rhetoric to create art, Iago uses it to cause destruction and pain. Shakespeare’s Othello can be used as a means of exploring the dangerous power of rhetoric and gaining insight into the ethical role it
In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare we are introduced to Othello who is the protagonist and faces a lot of obstacles, one of them being betrayal. Throughout the whole play we witness betrayal from many of the characters through their irrational behavior and actions. However the biggest betrayal we see is from Iago, who is the antagonist, in other words, the villain of the play. Iago plans on having his revenge and betraying Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Rodrigo and even his wife, Emilia. Betrayal is wrong and something that can’t be forgiven, at
When he does not get the position he wants and also heard that Othello has been sleeping with his wife Emilia, Iago’s manipulation increases. Iago plans his scheme based on, “[Othello] has done my office, I know not if’t be true/ But I, for mere suspicion in that kind/ Will do as if for surety” (I. III. 431-433). This use of manipulation is all based on an assumption that Othello has slept with Iago’s wife, and this assumption leads to even more horrible events. Iago also manipulates Othello with jealousy. When Othello is gone at war, Iago tells him that Cassio and Desdemona were getting too close. At first Othello does not believe him, but by Iago saying “nothing,my lord; or if- I know not what” Othello starts to question if it is true (III. III. 39). Iago constantly uses his “innocence” to make Othello jealous and start to assume that it is true. These actions eventually lead to a tragic event. Iago’s manipulation has driven Othello insane, leading to Iago’s plans on his last night. Othello tells Iago to go get some poison to kill Desdemona, but Iago refuses and just tells him to strangle her in her bed (IV. I. 223-229). Iago’s manipulation has not only lead Othello to believe the rumor is true, but has lead him to kill his own wife as well. Iago even manipulates Othello to strangle her, which is a much personal and vengeful death than poison. All of this manipulation results in Desdemona’s death,
In the tragic play, Othello, William Shakespeare creates the true wickedness of the character, Iago, through his devious plans created to cause the demise of Othello. Shakespeare crafts Iago’s evil characteristic through the way he manipulates others in order to carry out his plans and his unfit motivation for his maliciousness.
Iago is a unique and complicated character. He is intelligent in that he is able to manipulate people and events in his favour, which he thrives on throughout the play, classifying him as the antagonist of the play. Driven by jealousy and hatred, Iago plots against Othello to destroy his character and reputation. Knowing that if he foolishly attacked such a respected man directly, he would be sentenced to death. As a result, he devises to use other people to obtain what he desires by influencing the characters in the play to suit his plan.
In many stories, there are villains who seem to control how the characters act by manipulation. These kinds of villains use multiple techniques to get what they want and to execute their plans. The techniques are used to affect the characters in a negative way in favor of the villain. In Othello, the antagonist Iago, plays that role. Iago affects the characters’ lives in a negative way by his honest reputation, his ability to “read” people, and how he “proves” to be Loyal.
Kolin observes that Iago stands out among Shakespearean villains since he is the only one to survive his own monstrous acts (25). Unlike Richard III, apart from telling stories, Iago carries out a downright fraud through other means of manipulation, which makes him the most evil and intelligent character. To be exact, Iago is a puppeteer who sets up scenes to deceive the “credulous fools”—Othello, Cassio and Desdemona (4.1.45). Iago talks to Cassio about Bianca while telling Othello that the subject of their conversation is the Moor’s wife. He is so smart and careful that he even gestures Othello to come closer when Cassio is about to illustrate how Bianca entangles him. Another obvious example of the handkerchief is Iago’s major tool in deceiving Othello, which symbolic meaning is largely subverted. Boose further explains this, writing that Iago makes use of the token of love to create falsity as he first puts the object in an erotic context and transforms the motif of marital consummation into an evidence of adultery