How does Shakespeare present Iago as the devil in Act 2 scene 3 of Othello? There are numerous vast and complex characters that Shakespeare creates in the play Othello; however one of the most complex is the character of Iago. Shakespeare here has created a real villain, who twists and turns his way into manipulating, poisoning and corrupting others around him. Iago has no thought for those who get in his way and is hell-bent on achieving his goal at any price. His very existence is for the destruction of the truly innocent.
From this anger comes the main conflict of the play. Iago plans to ruin Othello and Cassio by carrying out a plan based on lies and deceit. This plan will make Iago the only person that Othello believes he can trust, and Iago will use this trust to manipulate Othello. Foremost, Iago first plan to ruin Othello is to use Roderigo s weakness to help him remove Cassio from his lieutenant position, which will in turn lead to both Othello s and Cassio s demise. Iago tells Roderigo to "put money in thy purse" (Shakespeare 53).
Loneliness puts The Monster in a mentally unstable position. He believes that he is a monster for the reason being he was created by one. In comparison, Othello’s betrayal is demonstrated throughout the play, but especially through Iago when he confesses to the audience his plan to manipulate and destroy Othello’s love life with Desdemona. Although Othello trusts Iago with anything, Iago hates the “Moor” and is willing to do anything to destroy him. Iago feels that the best way to do so is by manipulating Othello telling him that his wife is cheating on him with Cassio, who Iago coincidently hates as well.
He also tells the murderers that Banquo is blameworthy for their tragic, unhappy lives. After angering the murderers, Macbeth switches to a more sarcastic tone and manipulates the murderers so they will feel like they need to prove themselves men, worthy of Macbeth’s presence. By asking questions, Macbeth leaves a gap between him and the murderers and waits for them to fill it. He asks “Are you so gospeled/ To pray for this good man and for his issue/ Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave/ And beggared yours forever? (3.1.98-101).
Allusion | Literal Meaning | How it Develops Theme | Sources | I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant (3,2,14) | I would whip a man for making a tyrant sounding too much like a tyrant. | Demostrates Hamlet’s insanity because Hamlet once was described as a kind and gentle person, but now Hamlet says he will whip the players if they overact this scene at all. Hamlet is becoming out of control and abusive. The word, Termagant, refers to, “an imaginary god held in Christendom to be worshipped by Muslimsand described as very violent”. (Billy and Connor 81-82) | - Billy and Connor, Allusions, Tangient LLC, Web.
Fire imagery embodies Romeo’s rash anger after the death of his friend Mercutio, “And fiery-eyed fury by my conduct now! Now Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again ” (3.1.124-125). Romeo’s fury and thirst for revenge clouds his reason, he breaks the peace set by the Prince by killing Tybalt. The consequence for his blind rage will be banishment, and to Romeo this fate is worse than death. Later in the play, Friar Lawrence says to Romeo, “Like powder in a skilless soldier's flask, Is set afire by thine own ignorance, And thou dismembered with thine own defence” (3.3.132).
Othello is the story of a Moorish general of Venice, whose life is torn apart through deceit and his own faults and insecurities, leading to tragedy. The presence of the devil is quite clear in Dr. Faustus; Faustus makes a deal with Lucifer, and has Mephostophilis, another devil, as his servant. However the presence is not quite as striking in Othello. However what I intend to look at is the possibility of Iago being a representation of the devil throughout the play. To do this I will look at the language of the play, looking at references to the devil and what they can show us.
[Act I, Sc. iv, 90], it could be interpreted that he is speaking of a threat of war, but when looked at as symbolic, nothing could better sum up Claudius' corrupting effect on the kingdom which is brought on by his unpunished crime. His evil acts carry him to the throne and pollute the people around him causing chaos, sorrow and death. The image of rotting along
However, Claudius had a chance to make a choice, but since his desires for power and treasures were so overwhelming, he chose the murderous path. Knight states "Claudius cannot be blamed for his actions/ they are [rather] forced on him," (Knight, 6-7) and he argues that Claudius's murderous actions and plot of killing were backed up by self-defense to protect from Hamlet from taking away his throne and love of his life. Knight argued that his human sins of greed and envy foreshadowed his rightful judgment which leads him into these behaviors of wanting everything for himself. Furthermore, Knight claims that Hamlet is "inhuman, whose consciousness is centered on death/ As King of Denmark he would have a thousand times more dangerous than Claudius" (Knight, 9-10) because of the impact of finding out the truth
Madness in Hamlet and King Lear The subject of madness is a major theme in two of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies, “Hamlet” and “King Lear”. In both of these plays, a character feigns insanity to carry out a motive - Hamlet and Edgar respectively. However, while it is made quite clear to the audience that Edgar is only pretending to be a mad beggar (“Whiles I may escape I will preserve myself, and am bethought to take the basest and most poorest shape that ever penury, in contempt of man brought near to beast”), it is somewhat less clear whether Hamlet has crossed the line and lost control of his “antic disposition”. Shakespeare gives evidence which suggests that Hamlet is sane by having three other men also witness the manifestation of the ghost of Hamlet’s father. If Hamlet were to have seen his father’s ghost by himself, there would be a greater argument for him being insane from the outset of the play.