Explore How Shakespeare Portrays Othello and Iago as Villains in the Two Plays Essay Example
Shakespeare’s plays were written in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, where the villains brought entertainment value to the plays by their plotting. A villain is someone who is an enemy and plays a prominent part in the play. Often in Shakespeare’s plays, the villains are normally malcontent. A Malcontent is a type of person/character which is prominent in Elizabethan dramas, which is rebellious and wants to cause other people distress. Some great examples of Shakespeare’s villains are Richard III and Tamora. Shakespeare uses Elizabethan types of Villain in his plays Othello and Much Ado about Nothing and J.A. Cudden described them ‘devilish’ and an ‘evil machinator or plotter’. Throughout Shakespeare’s plays Villains are in general antagonistic; they are against the good, innocent people in the play. This normally leads to a grave misfortune of others and often death. I am going to explore how Shakespeare portrays Villains through two well known villains called Iago from the tragedy Othello and Don John from the comedy Much Ado about Nothing. These villains are particularly excellent because they are not ‘Blood-thirsty’; they are devious and deceitful and operate with ‘sly treachery’. These Malcontents play on the emotions of other characters until they stop thinking in a rational way. Throughout both plays, Iago and Don John are Machiavellian as they effectively destroy the minds of people.
Othello is a tragedy and throughout the whole play and thus Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello were killed. Although Much Ado about Nothing is a comedy it verges onto a tragedy towards the end, as Charles Gildon stated ‘Some of the incidents and discourses are more in a tragic strain...the accusation of Hero is too shocking for either tragedy or comedy’; Iago and Don John are more similar than different but there are some obvious variations that made one better than the other. Of course, they were Iago was in a tragedy and Don John was in a comedy, so there were many effects
Othello is a tragedy and throughout the whole play and thus Desdemona, Emilia, and Othello were killed. Although Much Ado about Nothing is a comedy it verges onto a tragedy towards the end, as Charles Gildon stated ‘Some of the incidents and discourses are more in a tragic strain...the accusation of Hero is too shocking for either tragedy or comedy’; Iago and Don John are more similar than different but there are some obvious variations that made one better than the other. Of course, they were Iago was in a tragedy and Don John was in a comedy, so there were many effects