Psychoanalysis of Iago

In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the character Iago lacks a superego which allowed his id to run free and this caused him to lack any form of sympathy and to become a sociopath. This led to him hurting everyone he could and to his eventual downfall. He also tried to justify his actions throughout the play to reinforce his righteous ego. First to understand Iago and his actions we must look at what the id, ego, and superego actually are. According to Freud these are different divisions that make up your mind. The id is the primitive side of your mind. Its only purpose is to seek out and obtain pleasure. The id will do anything it has to obtain it goals no matter how amoral or dangerous its actions may seem. Freud states that the superego is the complete opposite of the id. The superego’s goal is to apply moral values to obtain one’s wishes. The superego imposes guilt, shame, self-doubt, and anxiety to control one’s actions. The ego is the section of your mind you are most aware of. The ego’s goal is to compromise between the two other sections by using logic. It tries to satisfy both the id and the superego. Sometimes the ego becomes overwhelmed and to protect itself it must deploys defense mechanisms. This relates to Iago because he lacks a superego which tells him right from wrong. Since his superego is no longer functioning the ego does not have to compromise between the two sides. However his ego is not useless it still has a purpose. It uses logic to get what his id wants that’s why Iago always has a plan to obtain what he desires and it also justifies his actions. His ego also justifies his actions so he can live with himself. Therefore Iago’s id and ego are operating as they should and it is his superego that is absent. Without a superego and left with his id in control, Iago has all of the traits of a sociopath according to the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. The first trait that Iago has