From the start of the play, Iago expresses his jealousy of both Cassio and Othello. He is jealous of Cassio for securing the job of lieutenant Iago feels he deserved, and jealous of Othello not only from the promotion of Cassio, but also from his belief that Othello has slept with Emilia. This insecurity and jealousy he feels leads him to commit acts of revenge. As he becomes fixed on the idea of revenge, Iago speaks in a soliloquy he will not be satisfied "Till I am even with him, wife for wife, or failing so, yet that I put the Moor At least into a jealousy so strong that judgment cannot cure". Roderigo’s jealousy also starts from the very beginning of the play.
“…I have done the state some service, and they know’t”. Iago is the most heinous villain in Shakespeare. Shakespeare is successful in giving Iago the prefect satanic characterises of a villain. It is Iago's jealousy of anyone who acquires anything that seems better than that which he acquires himself; this is the driving force of the play. As the momentum builds with the force, Iago's jealousy enables him to incite the same sense in others, to use them to his own advantage, in other words; their disadvantage.
In his play Othello, Shakespeare uses the plot, characters, and ultimate destructive ending to all to show the reader his opinion that all revenge is improper. Shakespeare first set a plot in which Iago could cause chaos without being suspected and get his revenge. Everything started with Iago not receiving an incredible promotion. Iago was a choice to be promoted to lieutenant but Othello chose Cassio over him for the job. Iago became furious since he believed he would make a better lieutenant than Cassio.
There isn’t a shred of the Othello from Act one left by the tragic ending of the play as highlighted by Lodovico “thou Othello, that wert once so good.” The mere possibility of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness and the question of her fidelity are unbearable for ‘valiant’ Othello, he would rather “the general camp, Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body” than to have doubts floating in his mind. These suspicions planted by Iago eventually corrupt his mind and blind his sense of reason that leads to his tragic downfall;
Pia Brinkschulte February 20, 2012 ELA 30S Mr. Grynol Othello In Shakespeare’s Othello, the main antagonists Iago, starts off from being simply jealous, to turning revengeful and obsessive, making perversive decisions for his need of power and control. Critic A.C. Bradley suggests that this longing to satisfy power is Iago’s main motivation and driving force for his acts and behaviour throughout the play. The chief reason for Iago’s vindictiveness is that Othello chose Cassio over Iago to make him his Lieutenant. Iago feels rejected and despised, he is very bitter towards Othello who downgraded his service and experience in favour of the arithmetic skills that Cassio has. Because Iago’s career path is blocked by a mere lack of paper qualification he first begins to start developing feelings of revenge on Cassio who stole his job.
The ironic aspect of this statement is that Iago is definitely not a faithful servant to Othello, he is trying to destroy his life. Iago also explained his resentment towards Othello, in which he chose the ‘one Michael Cassio’ as his military deputy instead of Iago. Iago claims he's far more qualified than Cassio, who lacks Iago's experience on the field of battle. Iago seems quite jealous. Othello counts Iago as his wise and loyal so called ‘best friend’ ‘honest Iago’, Iago hides his true emotions and identity, acting duplicitous towards him without Othello even knowing.
The main representation of madness is within the character of the protagonist, King Lear. Through him, Shakespeare shows us true insanity and how it waxes and wanes due to outside influences such as love and rejection. At the commencement of the play, Shakespeare presents the seeds of madness through Lear’s vain demands for appreciation. Lear states that he was ready to express his “darker purpose” (I, i, ln36) when he begins to divide up his kingdom. From an outsider to the drama’s perspective, is obvious that the ‘darker purpose’ is related to Lear’s mad insecurities, which go
Jealousy and deception are central themes in many of Shakespeare’s plays, and are often what leads to the hero’s downfall. There are a number of key scenes in Othello that represent these themes of jealousy, deception and tragedy throughout the play. In Act 2 Scene 3 Iago uses different techniques in order to deceive Othello and change his opinions of Cassio. Iago says: ‘I would rather have this tongue cut from my mouth, then it should do offense to Michael Cassio.’ Iago is setting up his later deception, as he is tricking Othello into thinking that he likes Cassio and would never speak ill of him, which enables him to seem more believable when he later deceives Othello about Desdemona’s affair. This deception is confirmed when Othello says ‘I know Iago, thy honesty, and love doth mince this matter, making it light to Cassio.’ Othello is suggesting that Iago may not tell the whole truth as he wants to protect Cassio.
187-8.) This pretense of madness Shakespeare borrowed from the earlier versions of the story. The fact that he has made it appear like real madness to many critics today only goes to show the wideness of his knowledge and the greatness of his dramatic skill. In the play the only persons who regard Hamlet as really mad are the king and his henchmen, and even these are troubled with many doubts. Polonius is the first to declare him mad, and he thinks it is because Ophelia has repelled his love.
There is no doubt in « Othello » as to the role Shakespeare has given Iago, he is the villain, masterful at deceit he generates most evil in the play. The clever soldier, his incredible acting allows him to be two or three completely different people. During most of the Act the audience finds itself constantly trying to find a motive for Iago’s actions but finds none that can justify what he is about to do. What does seem to come back again and again is his view on women which he sees as sex rapacious and a danger to his machiavellian plans. Scene 1 offers us a good preview as to what Iago is going to do for the rest of the Act and ultimately the rest of the play.