Iago Characterization Essay

1193 Words5 Pages
John Monroe
29 September 2008
Super Luther Do you ever wonder what would happen if Lex Luther had superpowers instead of Superman? Would superman still win in the end, proving that justice prevails over evil? Realistically, No: Luther would do away with the vigilante within minutes. Why is it, though, that superman can’t easily defeat Lex Luther, even though he has the advantage of superpowers? The answer; Lex Luther is not a normal human. What he lacks in might, he makes up for in intelligence. He may be mortal, but he still presents a formidable challenge with his larger than life qualities. This case is quite common in literature, where the villain is able to go toe-to-toe with the hero by taking advantage of larger than life qualities and outperforming the hero with those qualities. Many times, the villains may even be more influential than the heroes themselves. In Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, Iago proves far more central to events than Othello himself, even though Othello ought to be the hero of the work. Throughout the play, Iago exhibits larger-than-life qualities like audacity, deceit and cleverness, which can invoke admiration, distraught and astonishment from the audience. As the villain playing the role of the faithful servant to Othello, Iago relies heavily upon his ability act with audacity. For this purpose, he must first assert himself and be bold in his actions and intentions. Indeed, he does make a bold plan to strike at the imposing figure of Othello. He even risks Othello and Cassio discovering his plot. He convinces Othello to hide barely out of sight as he plies Cassio with questions about
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John Monroe
Bianca. Soon after, Othello frets fervishly, saying “so, so, so, so! They laugh that win!”(IV.i.123). If Othello were to lose focus and reveal himself, Cassio could easily undo Iago’s previous success by explaining to Othello that
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