Human nature is perceived as a delightful entity. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, several characters demonstrate the dark side of human nature and display how simple it is to get carried away with emotions. This includes Iago, who only cares for himself, Brabantio who has many doubts, and Roderigo who lacks intellect. Firstly, Iago demonstrates the dark side of human nature by being self-centered. He is manipulative and tells Othello to “observe her [Desdemona] well with Cassio” (Shakespeare, 3.3:197). Iago feeds Othello with countless lies and makes him miserable with something that is not factual. He is determined to get revenge and he does not realize Iago stands insincere. Furthermore, Iago is selfish when he tells Othello, “I am yours for ever” (3.3:479). He betrays Othello yet still let’s him depend on him for his own …show more content…
He is jealous of Othello, show in, “I confess it is my shame to be so fond/but it is not in my virtue to amend it” (1.3:316-317). Roderigo is desperate for Desdemona and Iago takes advantage of this and makes him do thing such as kill Cassio. Roderigo does all of Iago’s dirty work and makes his plan successful. Also, Roderigo is unintelligent and realizes too late that his “money is almost spent” (2.3:364-368). Iago makes several false promises to Roderigo and he does not expose Iago because he is desperate for love. If Roderigo exposed Iago when he said he would, a lot of misfortune would not have occurred. Therefore, Roderigo demonstrates the dark side of human nature by being jealous and unintelligent. To conclude, the dark side of human nature is demonstrated by Iago who is selfish, Brabantio who is doubtful, and Roderigo who lacks cleverness. William Shakespeare’s Othello shows how easy it is to let emotions take over one’s mind. Human nature is not necessarily as pleasing as some may think because many people are controlled by their
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Show MoreOthello’s confidence for a loyal man to maintain honesty and morals are contradicted through Iago’s actions: “in a man that’s just / They are close dilations, working from the heart, / That passion cannot rule” (3.3.123). Iago, due to the understatement to his name, is not perceivable as hateful. Othello’s willingness to sense Iago’s distress, and to believe his accusations, is because of the lack of awareness Othello has for his vengeance. Iago is of such little power and relevance within societal ranking that if he were to have intentions to sabotage anyone, which he does, are not considered, thus making him easily trustworthy to those of greater dominance. Society’s view of an individual determines how others consider and surmise their persona, though these conclusions may be false.
Iago, the notorious villain in William Shakespeare's play Othello, is a complex character whose actions and motivations have been a subject of fascination for literary scholars for centuries. From an archetypal criticism perspective, Iago can be analyzed as the embodiment of the outlaw archetype, a recurring pattern in literature that represents the darker, hidden aspects of the human psyche. In Othello, Iago's character exhibits traits and behaviors associated with the outlaw archetype, including manipulation, deception, jealousy, and a lack of morality, which ultimately lead to his destructive actions and the downfall of those around him. One of the defining characteristics of the outlaw archetype is its ability to manipulate and deceive.
Iago does not know for certain what he is accusing Othello of yet he vows to act as if they are facts. While one could attribute Iago’s disdain for Othello to many things, namely, feelings of envy towards Cassio, sexual interest towards Othello, or simple racism; the mere fact that there is no clear motivation for Iago’s actions is a clear indication that Iago cares very little for his relationships and does not wince at the thought of treachery and the vicious backstabbing of those closest to
In this essay, the novels Othello and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be compared and contrasted to determine the connection between the two on the basis of the essence of evil in the context of mankind. These two novels both portray evil as a subdued yet easily activated—under the right circumstances—and self-conscious nature of humans. They show this through the connection between Iago and Othello in comparison with the connection of Jekyll and Hyde, the transition of the main characters’ mentality, and the “evil” character committing suicide at the end of the novels. These three examples define each of the two novels discussed in this essay’s perspective on the concept of evil and the way it infests every human as well as its effects on human behavior and mindset.
Psychopaths have attributes of detachment, insincere speech, selfishness, and violence. In the tragedy, Othello, the playwright William Shakespeare constructs an antagonist with such traits. This evil character, Iago, is known for being one of the most sinister villains Shakespeare has even written. Through Iago’s psychopathic manipulations and detached persona, Shakespeare shows that psychopaths are not redeemable in the play.
Shakespeare opens the play Othello with a small scene between Iago and Roderigo. This is a short scene, however, you learn a lot about the characters within this scene. The play starts out with an argument between these two gentlemen and during the argument you can make assumptions about each of these characters just from the way they interact with each other and how they interact with others in later scenes. In the beginning you see Roderigo as somewhat of a fool compared to the other characters in this play. Iago is very deceitful and uses Roderigo’s cluelessness against him multiple times right from the beginning.
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.
Discuss Shakespeare 's Use of Imagery in Othello to Reveal Character A lack of empathy makes for a true villain. In Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello, the nature of Iago’s character is revealed through the use of animal, plant, and devil imagery. Iago is revealed to view others as less than him, manipulating them with a lack of conscience, and having a desire for the destruction of others.
Using the character of Roderigo, Iago manipulates him into doing everything he wants. At the beginning of the tragedy, Iago and Roderigo are talking poorly about Othello. Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona, is upset due to hearing that Othello and Desdemona have recently married. Iago, who just found out Othello did not give him
In the play Othello, William Shakespeare creates an elaborate tragedy with various in depth characters, enhancing the story with powerful characterization. Iago, the main antagonist of Othello, exemplifies Shakespeare’s use of characterization to create in depth and complex characters. Using his manipulative nature, intellectual mind, egotistical attitude, and dishonesty, Iago controls the other characters in order to achieve his goal, leading Othello to succumb to an overwhelming jealousy causing his downfall. In order for Iago to gain control of the characters in the play, he manipulates Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, and more to believe false information and turn on one another.
“Othello” written by William Shakespeare revolves around this protagonist who is depicted as strong and powerful. To everyone he is known as Othello or the Moor. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays numerous counts of jealousy and manipulation around many of the characters. It is mainly illustrated through Iago, the antagonist of the play, who manipulates other to their downfall. Iago who is known for always being true and honest towards others has easily earned the trust of everyone around him, thus giving himself an advantage on his schemes.
As it has been presented throughout the whole play, the hatred Iago has towards Othello has always been to get rid of him due to him being awarded Lieutenant. However, it seems that once Iago got promoted to Lieutenant shortly after Othello’s death, he stills seems to feel hatred. It maybe because Iago does not like himself and always was jealous of Cassio and Othello’s actions and how they were. Therefore, telling lies and creating schemes to make himself believable which he successfully does with Othello. They have known each other for a long time and the reason he trusts Iago because he is noble, smart with his words to allow others to have trust in
Similar to Iago in Othello, Iago brilliantly deceives everyone around him with his confidential plan to take revenge on Othello even if that meant multiple casualties: “So I will turn her virtue into a pitch / And out of her own goodness make that net / That shall enmesh them all” (2.3.340-343). Through a metaphor comparing Iago’s plan to a net, Iago explains the utilization Desdemona’s innocence and ignorance to ensnare everyone in one trap of deception for his own benefit. Like Buxton, when Roderigo almost found out about his plan, Iago did not stop his plotting and eventually fooled everyone until the end.
According to Keyisjian “Iago convinces Othello he is full of” “love and honesty, qualities that Othello admires” (Shakespeare 3.3.116). This is to earn his trust and to undermine him. This was one of the strategies that Iago uses to deceit the characters in the play. He is also very sneaky when he does it.
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.