Compare Richard Iii to Iago

Both Richard iii and Othello have two of Shakespeare strongest villains. Iago from Othello shows his strength of manipulation from the very beginning of the play Shakespeare shows how strong this character is and that without his strength and power throughout the play Shakespeare would have had trouble portraying a story. Also it would have been the same throughout Richard iii, due to his power of making people do exactly what he wants them to do.

Iago is introduced and he is portrayed as an evil manipulative man this is taken to an extreme extent through put the play. From the very beginning Iago referred to as ‘honest’. Othello, and virtually all of the other characters, refer to him as ‘honest Iago’ which prepares the audience for the over dramatized scenes at the end of the play. Critic A.C. Bradley claims that ‘when people think of Iago the word ‘honest’ pops to mind’ emphasising this. In no other play is a character so associated with a single word. It is this impression of Iago as incredibly honest that allows him to trick and fool the other characters with such ease. All the way through Iago shows his great manipulate skill- He controls the characters around him like puppets in his attempt to get his revenge on the Moor.

Similarly in Richard iii, Richard (duke of Gloucester) is the character that manipulates and bullies people in to doing what he wants in order to gain absolute power. From the beginning of the play, Richard makes no secret of his motivation. He is determined to become King and will let nothing get in his way- he even goes to the extent of killing his innocent nephews, the Princes in the tower. He continues this throughout the play even though people know that he has manipulated people so he could get into the position he is in. But despite his open allegiance to evil, he is such a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play the audience (at least to begin with) sympathise with him, or are impressed with him.