Iago In Othello

1305 Words6 Pages
Explain how Iago presents himself to the world. What is beneath the surface of his public identity? Why does he hate Othello so passionately? What makes Iago so effective at manipulating people? What do other characters, besides Othello think of him?

Othello was one of William Shakespeare's greatest plays ever written, and arguably one of the greatest stories ever told. While having many parallels to Romeo and Juliet, another of Shakespeare's great writings, they couldn't be further apart in terms of characters. One character in particular , Iago who is the antagonist of the story plays a very important , sinister role in the lives of Othello and Desdemona. Iago who many people perceived to be an honest man when it couldn't be further from the truth and in Othello's cased it proved to be a deadly mistake for trusting him. It is very interesting in the way Iago was able to live such a drastic double life which I will explain in the way he did it by the way he presented himself, what made him so effective at manipulating people, why was his hatred for Othello so strong, and what do characters, besides Othello think of Iago. Iago was able to make create such an elaborate lie and execute his plan because of his pure hatred for Othello, this hatred was so great because there were multiple factors that were causing his ill will towards the Moor. Othello's appointing of Cassio as his lieutenant is what initially triggered these feelings towards him. There were several reasons Cassio's appointment enraged Iago to the point of madness, first Cassio was a Florentine and Iago found it despicable that a Florentine could and would be named lieutenant to the general of Venice. He also found it unfair that a man such as Cassio who was not a soldier or warrior but an arithmetician, was considered to be a better suitor for lieutenant than himself who had been through battles
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