Preview

Iago's Character In Othello

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
174 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Iago's Character In Othello
Many characters in the Shakespearian play, Othello, are deceived by the clever and flattering Iago. Early on in the play, Iago is trying to get his plans against Othello into motion. He meticulously chooses vulnerable characters to help carry out his vengeful scheme. Roderigo is one of the many susceptible characters who fall for Iago’s tricks. Iago catches Roderigo in a very vulnerable state and carefully plants his own scheme into Roderigo’s mind. Iago wants Roderigo to keep fighting for Desdemona despite her marriage to Othello. He tells him “Seek thou rather be hazed in compassing thy joy then to be drowned without her” (1.3 353-355). Iago flatters Roderigo by making him believe he has a chance with Desdemona and to fight for her using

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Othello: Iago's Villains

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In almost everything you read or watch there is a villain. Villains have been used in stories for a very long time. One particular villain, Iago from the play Othello by Julius Caesar, is a very famous villain. Iago was an extremely bad guy in this play and was always up to no good. The character Iago and his traits have influenced many more modern villains. Iago influenced other villains with his criminal traits of being evil, egotistical, and dishonesty.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare has created the character of Iago as the villain of the play. He drives the plot as he schemes and manipulated other characters. He fascinates and terrifies the audience with his revengeful plotting which he has no real motivation for.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The only things that human beings need to survive in this world are: food, shelter, and relationships. Humans by nature cannot successfully exist on their own, for that reason they are instinctively inclined to crave relationships with others. Whether a relationship be romantic or strictly platonic, it is crucial that one develop a proper foundation before trusting wholeheartedly. The foundation of a relationship, much like any other type of foundation, protects it from threatening outside forces, such as people with malicious intentions, or simply the trials of life in general. There are a myriad of useful qualities that can make up said foundation, however, several important examples are: knowledge of a partner’s character, open communication…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Roderigo was a very gullible man and he is jealous for what wasn’t his. He believes whatever Iago told him. Roderigo loves Desdemona so when he heard the news from Iago he was heartbroken. “What a full fortune does the Thick-lips owe If he can carry’t thus” (1.1.68)! Roderigo was jealous of Othello for getting marry to Desdemona. Iago used this time to tell Roderigo that they can break Othello and Desdemona up by calling for her father. “Call up her father. Rouse him. Make after…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Iago’s contribution to an unstable mood shapes the theme of jealousy taking over or acting as a consumer because Iago illustrates that jealousy can be the driving force behind abhorrence as it grows bigger and bigger. Iago continues to exact revenge on Othello and other people are being affected negatively as they fall with Othello. As Iago and Roderigo are fighting, Iago steps aside and says: “ Now, whether he kill Cassio,/or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,/ Every way makes my gain. Live Roderigo,/ he calls me to a restitution large/ of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him/… If Cassio do remain,/ he hath a daily beauty in his life/ that makes me ugly. And Besides, the Moor/ May unfold me to him.” (V.I.13-22) Iago is thinking of killing Roderigo because he might be a threat…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Does Iago Show Honesty

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Roderigo, a gulled gentleman, is the main character susceptible to Iago's villianess plot. During a personal conversation, Iago learns of Roderigo's lustful nature toward Desdemona, Othello's wife. Immediately, Iago discovers Roderigo's weakness, love, and employs a plan, manipulating him to do his bidding. As Roderigo's only friend, Iago promises him that he can have Desdemona, even though she is married and joining Othello on a trip to Cyprus. Iago and Roderigo's toxic friendship is shown when Iago uses Roderigo's money for his own self, and in keeping with the friendship, Iago will never run out. To ensure the beginning of his plan, Iago reassures Roderigo that his job is easy. All he has to do is assume a disguise, go to Cyprus and "Put money in thy purse" (1.3.351-352). In…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the onset of Othello, the audience is unknowingly subject to Iago’s manipulative customs. Despite being a stereotypical Shakespearian antagonist, Iago is a complex, two faced, yet three dimensional, character. Despite being an eponymous play, suggesting Othello’s importance, his absence in light of Iago’s presence allows the audience to be influenced and therefore misled by Iago’s representation of Othello…

    • 1063 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    You have heard that a psychopath has a hard time understanding a person’s emotions. Well, it is true. A psychopath is also conning, manipulative, has superficial charm, grandiose self worth, and poor behavioral self worth. I have read Othello, by Shakespeare, and I believe Iago is a psychopath. There is proof he has a lack of remorse and guilt. Although Shakespeare has never stated that Iago is a psychopath, quotes and evidence lead to him being one. I have also read articles with important information, and evidence that shows how Iago acts like a psychopath.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Iago In Othello

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Shakespeare’s play Othello exhibits many modern Freudian psychology theories, specifically through the character of Iago. Iago is a character who shows typical characteristics of a psychopath. Iago’s behaviour and intentions can be explained through modern Freudian psychology, and emphasised through the critical writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Fred West, who, respectively, argued Iago’s “motiveless malignity” and Shakespeare’s “profound and accurate portrayal of a psychopath in Iago”. Through this report, I will discuss how Freudian psychology can be used to further understand how Shakespeare’s Iago can be defined as a psychopath.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Othello, however, is the man Iago intends to galvanize. Iago makes many inferences that Cassio is not a faithful man. He tells Othello that they may be having an affair, which is far from the truth. Othello, outraged, confronts Desdemona “Fetch me the handkerchief! My mind misgives,”(3.4.103-104). Iago puts Othello into a stage of psychological warfare. Othello desires Cassio’s “blood, blood, blood!”(3.3.512). Othello, once considered a wise man, is now irrational due to the insidious…

    • 76 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analytical Essay Othello

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Othello begins with the confinement of Roderigo in Iago. Roderigo so desperately loves Desdemona and he pays Iago to woo her away from Othello. This scene is significant in that it immediately portrays Iago as a villain. Along with his actions, what Iago says also conveys him as a manipulative character. Iago has constructed a plan to use Othello as a thief by saying that Othello has stolen Desdemona’s heart using witchcraft. Iago cleverly manipulates Roderigo to confront her father, Brabanzio. He tells Roderigo, “Call up her father, Rouse him…poison his delights…do, with like timorous accent and dire yell,” Iago does not actually care that Roderigo loves Desdemona and wishes to be with her. His intentions are not to help Roderigo seek Desdemona but…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the tragedy of Othello, Iago draws out the true nature of Othello, inch by inch. He tangles the Moor into a web of lies, hatred and deceit- which leads to devastating consequences. Reputation is the most outstanding theme in this play as it visibly classifies characters and it defines relationships between each of them. At the conclusion of Act 2, Shakespeare uses various methods to present Iago to the audience, and reveal his ideas and thoughts, the most effective being a soliloquy.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Roderigo is identified as easy to be manipulated. Roderigo is gullible; he believes everything Iago tells him and does everything Iago tells him to do. At the beginning of the play, Roderigo alerts Brabantio, under Iago’s command, about Desdemona eloping with the Moor. He sails with Iago to Cyprus and later serves as a pawn in Iago's plan to ruin Othello and Cassios’ lives. At the instruction of Iago, Roderigo starts a fight with Cassio while Iago sits back and watches during the general celebration. Later, he attacks Cassio in the dark and wounds him, while Cassio manages to wound Roderigo back. Iago has tricked Roderigo into giving him all his money in an attempt to negotiate with Desdemona and thinks the tasks Iago assigns to Roderigo are intended only to remove Cassio as a possible rival toward Desdemona. Although his actions are cruel and evil, he does display a measure of sympathy in the way that he is so easily manipulated and ultimately betrayed by Iago, who later stabs the wounded Roderigo in the dark in order to hide his involvement in Cassio’s assault.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rofderigo In Othello

    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page

    Roderigo is a gullible weak minded fool who deserves everything he suffers. This perception of his character is unquestionably influenced by Shakespeare’s masterful employement of not aonly language but his placement of rofderigo against other stronger characters. Roderigo is invariably and cleverly framed against iago n most of the scenes in which he appears in Othello. The strength of iago’s personality and his adroit handling of sarcasm and irony act as a shrewd foil that effectively highlight Roderigo’s weakness of character whie also illustrated towards the nd of act 1 scene 3. Rpderigo bemoans that with desdemona apparent devotion to Othello he stands no chance to win her. The hyperbole within “I shall incontintely drown myself” clearly…

    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Othello, Shakespeare tells the story of the soldier Othello, a noble and respected man, whose insecurities enable him to fall prey to the overwhelming power of jealousy. Through manipulation and lies, Othello changes from a kind and faithful husband into a man completely taken over by jealousy, resulting in his downfall. This shift in Othello’s character is done by the antagonist, Iago. Iago’s cruelty to not only Othello, but all others around him, reveals his villainous personality. Iago acts through selfish reasons alone, and stops at no lengths in order to get to what he wants. Through the character Iago, Shakespeare, in his play Othello, explores the concept of the evil nature of man and argues that one who is motivated purely by greed and the desire for power will ultimately face the consequences of his or her actions.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays