Furthermore, in Othello the author, Shakespeare, uses Othello’s and Desdemona’s death to illuminate the various consequences of love and the power of vengeance. The author develops important themes leading up to and after Othello’s death scene. The play serves to show the audience the myriad of consequences love yields. Due to Othello’s distrust in Desdemona, he believes that Desdemona “must die, else she’ll betray more men” (V.ii.6). Othello’s severe distrust towards Desdemona is largely because of Iago’s attempt to convince Othello of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio.
Pride, greed, and lust drove Iago to poisoning Desdemona 's father and eventually ruining the marriage between Desdemona and Othello. In his play, he approach the problems the world faces in a comedic manner. People let greed and lust persuade them to do crazy things. Othello and Iago are foil characters in Othello. Iago let his vengeful ways and deceitful motives alter his decisions while Othello appears in the opening acts as the very personification of self control”(Harbage).
To Othello, Iago is more reputable now causing Iago is, at this point, reputable, meaning Othello will to believe anything that Iago says even if it is a lie. Iago’s psychopathic manipulations of Cassio then ultimately cause his downfall once Othello discovers that Iago has been dishonest, his punishment of torture and imprisonment at the end of the play is his downfall. Iago’s Throughout the play, since Iago is trustworthy to Othello, Iago plants seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind. In Act Five, scene two, Othello shows the audience how he believes that Iago is “most honest” (Shakespeare 1302). After he kills Desdemona, Othello explains his reasoning to Iago’s wife, Emilia, justifying that “Cassio did top her, ask thy husband else” (Shakespeare 1360), meaning that he killed his wife because according to Iago, Cassio and
Othello is presented as a respectful and honorable prince loved by all, but unexpectedly he grows an enemy, Iago. Iago vows to get vengeance on Othello because Othello made Cassio his lieutenant instead of Iago. Iago then takes control of fate in the play as he diabolically invents a plan to manipulate Othello into believing that Desdeomona was having an affair with Cassio. Furthermore, Othello’s tragic flaw was that he was gullible, therefore eventhough Othello was infatuated with Desdemona he chose to believe in Iago’s lies about Desdemona’s “affair”. For example, throughout the entire play, Othello committed irrational actions voluntarily because he was overtaken by jealousy that Iago developed with lies.
His lies cause himself to look like the only honest person Othello knows. He clouds Othello’s judgement with a mixture of emotions so that Othello figures he must kill the woman he loves so dearly (Beier). Nevertheless, Iago feels no remorse for his deceptions while the remaining characters are outraged and livid. His reaction shows that while his actions are wrong, he feels justified because he was wronged by Othello
Attempting to destroy someone’s life because of jealousy is cruel. Another instance of how Shakespeare conveys that jealousy is the motivation behind committing malicious acts is when jealous Othello decided to kill Desdemona for being “unfaithful” stating, “For to deny each article with oath cannot remove
The concept of jealousy is explored by William Shakespeare in the play Othello. Jealousy is a clear indication on how one fears and insecurities can be exploited and manipulated by those who are envious. Deceit can turn one against those whom they love and overwhelmed with emotion that it results in losing sanity and death. The theme of jealousy is prominent throughout the play and motivates character’s actions. Jealousy is so powerful it not only destroys others’ lives, but can lead to one’s own self destruction.
Question: What motivates Iago? Is it possible to provide a coherent explanation for his behavior in Othello—or not? Explain the significance of your interpretation. Iago’s Motivation and Explanations In Shakespeare’s play Othello, Iago is shaped to be the evilest character, who crafts his great conspiracy with cleverness and insanity. Feeling overlooked and dissatisfied to Othello promoting Cassio instead of him, Iago starts to plot his revenge.
Shakespeare and Golding have both created villains that add tension to their stories. Tybalt appears throughout the play to only act villainous to protect his families, “solemnity.” At different times in the play we can truly see Tybalt’s explosiveness which sometimes has devastating consequences. Modern audiences would take this as villainy whereas Elizabethan audiences might’ve understood it as courage rather than evil. On the other hand, Roger appears to be an extended metaphor, depicting the evil Golding believed festooned in all humans. Golding creates Roger as psychotic a character the audience truly dislike.
In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the play is a tragedy constructed by the antagonist Iago; also known as a two-sided character. Throughout Act I, Iago is more of a complex character, who is racist, manipulative, jealous and two-faced. He continuously complains he hates Othello, all because Othello didn’t appoint him as an officer. Iago plans to take Roderigo’s money, and convince Othello that Desdemona had an affair with Cassio. Iago’s two-sided character served the purpose of strengthening the plot and character development throughout the play.