Othello Essay On Iago's Personality

Iago demands the audience's complicity we cannot help being fascinated by him

In Shakespeare's Othello, the character of Iago is constructed to demand the audience's complicity despite the corrupt nature of his actions. an Elizabethan audience may have responded in a negative fashion to Iago's manipulative behaviour but in contrast with this, the post Freudian audience would be fascinated by the psychological aspect of his character.

Iago is undoubtedly the most psychologically intriguing character carefully presented by Shakespeare through his exploitation of the other characters in order to compliment his master plan. In the opening of Othello, Iago convinces Roderigo to join him in plotting against Othello by using Roderigo's love for Desdemona to provoke ill feelings towards Othello. However, he
His hatred for Othello is initially generated from his insecurity about his own social status. He stresses "we cannot all be masters" emphasising his priorities and disagreement with his ranking. This shows that his ruthless deceptive ways are as a result of his emotional insecurities and that despite his ability to manipulate murder, he is a not a heartless villain. Another point to back this up is his jealousy towards Othello when he becomes suspicious of him and Emilia. "He has done my office" drives Iago into a trance whereby he is desperate to make both Othello and Emilia pay for their supposed actions. However, his murder of Emilia could also be as a result of his permanent hatred of women as he refers to women as "villainous whore" which shows his need to attack others in order to make him feel better about himself. All of these factors contribute towards his ultimate insecurity which is his jealousy of Cassio and most importantly Othello. He himself personifies the "green eyed monster" which drives him into becoming the villainous character he