Intro
Othello is a play by William Shakespeare about jealousy, race, manipulation, and hate among many other themes written between 1600 and 1605 between the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and the beginning of King James I reign. Fundamentally, it is a play about the danger of favourites- Othello, the play’s tragic hero, original favourite is his lieutenant but over the course of the play Iago is able to convince Othello that Cassio, his lieutenant, is having an affair with Othello’s wife Desdemona and Iago becomes Othello’s favourite. In the courts of both Elizabeth and James, the monarchs had favourites like Iago. But in Othello, Iago turns out to be untrustworthy. This could have acted as a warning to the monarch at the time against
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Iago from Othello is a central character and understanding him is key to understanding Shakespeare's entire play, Othello - not least because he holds the longest part in the play: 1,070 lines. Othello is set in Venice in 1603, but the plot soon moves to Cyprus. Throughout the 1500s-1700s, Venice was prosperous Italian city and a symbol of law and civilisation and this can be seen through the early representation of Othello, who embodies law and civilisation. Venice also happens to be renowned for its courtesans. When the English thought about Venice, they often imagined it to be a city chock full of promiscuous women. This is also represented through the changes in Othello’s character, it’s quite a “coincidence”, given that Othello's plot hinges on Othello's suspicions about his wife's fidelity. Eventually, action moves to a military encampment in Cyprus, an island sacred to Venus, the goddess of love. On the island of love, away from civilization and rationality, all hell breaks loose and Iago is able to convince Othello that Desdemona has been cheating on him. Shakespeare uses the parallels between Othello and the place he is in, and the juxtaposition of Iago to both love, law, and civilisation, in Iago’s character to show the true malevolence of Iago and to further …show more content…
In Othello, William Shakespeare uses certain recurring image clusters to present the character of Iago. One such example is the constant poison and disease imagery, portraying Iago as a poisoner and able to drip poison, or in this case his words, into other character’s heads. Fear of being poisoned was particularly prevalent at the time of Shakespeare because of the sheer easiness of it. In fact, there was even a very recent case that Shakespeare would have heard of- Rodrigo Lopez, Elizabeth I’s doctor, who was accused of trying to kill Elizabeth I. Disease could also have been used to reflect the supposed corruption of Venetian society and over the course of the play became a metaphor for the corruption of Othello’s mind by Iago. Even in the very first scene, when Iago is being introduced to the readers, Iago says “poison his delight”. This is even more significant as it is the first insight into Iago’s inherently evil nature and his cunning plan as he is instructing Roderigo in the first step of his plan to bring about the downfall of Othello. Even by Iago, Iago’s words are often presented as poisonous and corrosive, “I'll pour this pestilence into his ear”. Moreover, the use of the word “pestilence”, one of the four horsemen, brings yet another biblical translation to the original Christian audience- Iago isn’t just interested in bringing about
Shakespeare’s Othello chronicles the downfall of a noble Moor, Othello, who is deceived by a man he considers his friend, Iago. Throughout the course of the play, Iago toys with Othello and eventually leads him to murder and lose his love, his new wife Desdemona. Iago exploits the unquestioned trust Othello places in him to achieve evil ends. As such, trust is a central theme in the story.
Iago contributes to the tragic downfall of Othello, playing him like a fiddle. The human nature of Iago manipulates the trust
As consciously crafted the evil work of Iago is, the play is truly about Othello and the great
“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.
Othello’s character undergoes a significant change due to a series of events at the hands of Iago, the play’s antagonist to enhance the fact that even a valiant heroes can become corrupt. In the beginning of the play, Othello adores
Iago’s determination to destroy both Othello and Cassio represent gossip and rumour in everyday life. That being said the complication and lack of communication is simple yet brilliant. Lastly the role of women plays a big part in the appeal of the play as it shows how Desdemona enforces the idea of
Throughout the play, Shakespeare introduces poison, herbs, and medicine to depict how words affect a person and bring out their inner flaws or desires. Poisons reflect how all of the characters’ actions, reputations, and affections are governed by what they have heard, or what is said about them, not their own opinions. Words are Iago’s poison, which he employs to manifest ideas of self-deprecation in Othello’s mind, causing him to seek revenge. At the beginning of the play, Othello is confident. But underneath his air of eloquence and dignity, he secretly internalizes insults about his race.
In William Shakespeare’s Othello the two main characters are Iago and Othello. The entire story centers around Iago 's plan to achieve revenge on Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. Throughout the story Iago tries to convince Othello that his wife Desdemona has cheated on him with his lieutenant Cassio. Iago’s plan is successfully and easily executed. Othello is tricked into believing that desdemona has been unfaithful and in the end he kills her.
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
During the Elizabethan Era, drama began to flourish in Western Europe. Plays have become more violent and dramatic as well as new ways of driving a performance. William Shakespeare’s Othello involves a man named Iago who wants to get revenge on Othello who is known as ‘the Moor of Venice’. Iago is able to get Othello to fully trust him and manipulates Othello to believe in false claims which eventually brings both of them to their downfall.
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.
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.
Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Othello embodies a pivotal point in the play, as it is a transition act that grounds the foundation of Iago’s development as an antagonist and the play’s development as a tragedy. In fact, Othello is written by William Shakespeare in the early 17th century. In Act 3 Scene 3, Iago begins his insinuations of an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, which petition Othello to consider the likelihood of Desdemona’s infidelity and Cassio’s disloyalty. In this particular scene, Shakespeare makes meticulous use of linguistic and dramatic techniques to characterise Iago as an scheming, deceptive and hypocritical antagonist.
Othello’s life transforms the second he steps into Cyprus. Iago’s motives are devastating as he plan’s to take Othello’s position, regardless of the cost. Iago plants the seed of deceit and unfaithfulness when he hints of an affair involving Othello’s love, Desdemona and Cassio. An overwhelming feeling of jealously takes a hold in Othello’s life. Othello is no longer the well spoken, and respected army general that everyone knew him to be, but instead a short tempered man with little respect for
Othello is a Shakespearean tragedy produced around the seventeenth century. Othello is a well-known play that is still read and praise today. America and other countries are full of Othello’s and Iago’s, men willing to do anything to gain power and prove a point. Iago is a well-known Venetian soldier, who is upset about not being chosen as Othello Lieutenant. Iago had some financial issues and this position would’ve solved all those problems.