According to the play Othello, Iago is a bright villain who deceives every single person he encounters. He has no sense of humanity, and he is skillful and eloquent enough to confuse everyone he knows. Being jealous of Michael Cassio, a lieutenant, Iago plans to wickedly destroy Cassio’s life because he wants to take Cassio’s position. He lies to Roderigo, a gullible nobleman, to get help with his plot and to get the money he needs. Iago is also very jealous that Othello could care for anyone more than him – either Cassio or Desdemona. Therefore, he is not only jealous of Cassio but he is also jealous of Desdemona. He wants to be the only person that Othello trusts and depends. To obtain his goal of winning Othello’s favor and the position of his lieutenant, he gets attention by lying about Desdemona to start chaos. With his fame for having an honest and trustful character, no one would think he possessed this corrupted moral behavior. He is confident that he can ruin all who stand in his way, and he plays on the weakness of everyone. He pretends to be honest to ensure his plan’s success as he says “I am not what I am” (1.1.67). However, he cannot play with people and their emotions and expect to succeed in deceiving all of them because he is human and therefore, not invincible. The fact that he believes that he is invincible is why his plan becomes flawed.…
Iago’s use of reverse psychology to manipulate others. On the surface, he appears to be a loyal and worthy friend, but his wording and tone always imply the opposite of what he says. When Othello asks whether it was Cassio that was talking with his wife, Iago responds, “Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it That he would steal away so guilty like, Seeing your coming” (III.iii.41-43). Superficially, he says that Cassio is honest and good while actually insinuating that he is acting guiltily. He seems to be thinking that cassio is honest, but in reality the remark is intended to instill doubt in Othello, which he succeeds in doing.…
Discuss the representation of different types of power in Othello, The Interview (and a related text of your choice)…
Being as smart as he is, Iago is quick to recognize the advantages of trust and uses it as a tool to forward his purposes. Throughout the story he is commonly known as, and commonly called, "Honest Iago." He even says of himself, "As I am an honest man...." [Act II, Scene III, Line 285] Iago is a master of abuse in this case turning people's trust in him into tools to forward his own goals. He slowly poisons people's thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. "And what's he then that says I play the villain, when this advice is free I give, and honest," [Act II, Scene III, Line 356] says Iago, the master of…
Throughout Othello, the devil-reincarnated Iago is seen to be scheming something. As the story unfolds, we see that Iago manipulates the people around him, by helping them in hope and confidence to achieve the success of his plans to bring down Cassio and use all efforts to make himself Lieutenant.…
Iago’s character is a prime example of how acts of treachery and betrayal can alter people. Iago starts of by wanting to ruin Othello’s reputation as a great and wise general, as Iago says in (I, i,44) “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”. Iago tells this to Roderigo, showing that he intends to betray Othello, by pretending to be his friend and then corrupting and betraying him. As the play progresses, Iago’s intentions are less driven by reason, and more driven by revenge, and blind lustful impulses, “[Othello] shall fall between us…” (IV,iii,246). Iago says this to Roderigo, when he says it is evident that at this point Iago’s character has undergone deep change. For not only does he want to ruin Othello’s reputation, but now he wants to obliterate, destroy, and crush Othello’s reputation, but he also wants to obliterate, destroy, and crush Othello’s entire life. This change in character is mainly due to the fact that the treacherous and betrayal acts that Iago has committed have altered his ways of thinking and have…
It is claimed that the pen is mightier than the sword; however, the tongue wields a power that bests them both. The power of words, which like a snake, is able to slither through one’s ears and deeply lodge its fangs into the heart, slowly sending its venom seeping through the veins. The ability of the tongue –which gives shape and life to words—has the power to elate and bring joy, as well as confuse and destroy, an individual or even aspects of society. The Mephistopheles of this Shakespearean tragedy, Iago, uses the power of his words to slyly cast a web to entangle and quench his thirst for vengeance against those he holds responsible for his misery.…
with his actions, what Iago says also conveys him as a manipulative character. Iago has constructed a plan to exploit Othello…
There are numerous cases all through the play that exclusive bolster Iago's dishonesty. Iago utilizes Emilia to claim Desdemona's prized hanky, and as though that isn't sufficient to send him to hellfire, Iago additionally plans to utilize it as shakedown against Cassio. All through the play, characters put their trust in him when they require it most, and they are oblivious in regards to his injustice. Iago plays Cassio and Othello and they both mistakably name him a good man. It is critical that Iago is a spry mastermind in the play in light of the fact that without it Shakespeare wouldn't have the capacity to make tension at the times in which Iago's plan is…
In William Shakespeare’s play Othello “Honest Iago” (1.3.295) is perhaps the most interesting character in the play. Throughout the play he manipulates pretty much every character in order to somehow get ahead or to use them later to further execute his plan in destroying Othello. That plan comes to rise because he believes that Othello for many reasons has diminished his reputation. This is why the main motive behind all his actions is that reputation he has tried so hard to keep.…
Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits him and moves him closer toward his objectives. Iago is not like those men who loyally serve their masters all their lives and then are fired when they're too old to work. "Whip me such honest knaves" (1.1.49), Iago contemptuously exclaims. When Iago explains to Roderigo that he hates Othello, Roderigo wonders why Iago is still working for Othello. Iago then goes on to explain that he's a hypocrite, who is only pretending to be loyal to Othello. Iago seems to do a great deal of character analysis and exposition for the audience; here, he divulges his purpose in serving Othello, and the kind of man he is when he says,…
He sucks him in to his lies. Now, Othello is at a point where he can tell that Iago knows something. Iago keeps repeating that it is nothing and he can’t tell him. He says, “I do beseech you-- though I perchance am vicious in my guess, as, I confess, it is my nature's plague to spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy shapes faults that are not…It were not for your quiet nor your good, nor for my manhood, honesty, or wisdom, to let you know my thoughts” (3.3.170-80). Iago is killing Othello by telling him that he has thoughts, but he will not reveal them. Othello is getting pulled deeper and deeper into Iago’s malicious plan. The way Iago says that he often is suspicious about things and it ends up being nothing, makes Othello even more curious. He is practically begging Othello to not make him tell him, which is making him more and more anxious to…
Throughout the entire play of Shakespeare's “Othello”, the character Iago manipulates many of the other characters by appearing a certain way then hiding the truth of what he really thinks about the characters. The characters, such as Othello, believe that Iago, his (ensign???) is very honest and will never tell a lie, they even refer to him as “honest Iago” (add the act and the scene to this) because they have great faith in his character. Little does shakespeare’s characters know, but Iago has no honor and is playing them while acting two faced throughout the play.…
In the play Othello Iago states his anger towards Moor Othello to Roderigo. His anger is justified by Othello having promoted a man named Michael Cassio to a rank above him and Iago gives the notion that his wife had an affair with Othello. For these reasons Iago manipulated the people around him to the point where each could not tell the truth from the lies. Iago was able to solidify his web of deceit from flaws in their character in order to create success.…
“Othello” was a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1604. “Othello” describes a story of a well-respected Venetian general, Othello, whose life is destroyed by a deceitful and malevolent character, Iago. William Shakespeare created Iago to expose the evil cruelty lurking inside people who are not what they appear to be. Throughout the play, Iago is referred to as “Honest Iago” because he has deceived his friends into thinking he is a respectful and truthful gentleman. Iago’s ability to charm others has built himself a reputable name among the community and he is able to persuade all others into believing anything he claims. Although the characters within “Othello” are oblivious to his real intentions, Shakespeare allows the audience to see Iago’s real personality through soliloquys and dialogue between he and his accomplice. However, since the jargon of Shakespeare’s time period significantly differs from the dialect of English we use today, many people may have difficulty understanding what Shakespeare intends to convey. Three examples that reveal Iago’s intentions can be found in Act I Scene I, Act II Scene I, and Act III Scene III.…