Iago is a manipulative and sly character, and through revealing his plans against Othello in the first two acts, the audience pity Othello. Additional characters that the audience sympathizes with are Desdemona, Iago and Cassio. Othello chose Cassio to be his lieutenant instead of Iago, and because of this, Iago plans to manipulate Othello into thinking that his wife, Desdemona, is in fact cheating on him with Cassio. The first time Iago mentions his plan, he says, “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” (I.i.44). With this, he means that he plans to serve Othello to the point where he is able to take advantage of him.
At the beginning of the play Iago reveals that he hates the Moor because Othello has chosen Cassio as his second in command, preferring him above Iago. His character is established immediately through language; when conversing with Roderigo by using blunt prose "I follow him to serve my turn upon him.”. He is under Othello's command and wishes revenge on ‘the devil’ for the promotion, this seems to be the top motive for his cruelty. Iago begins to move into play the pieces of a conspiracy with a ‘peculiar end’ because he exclaims to Roderigo “I am not what I am”, this oxymoron is an appropriate feature in Iagos’ language given that he is the white devil. Despite the fact most praise him as ‘Honest Iago’ it is only the audience to whom he reveals his true self.
Shakespeare shows Othello in having a gullible and a Jealous and insecure nature. This is shown from Iago manipulating Othello and the idea of Desdemona having to love someone like him (Othello). Iago understands Othello’s weaknesses and he used that to his advantage to get his revenge on Othello by manipulating him in killing Desdemona. Iago shows Othello’s jealous nature when taking action of the plan of making it seem like Desdemona had an affair with Cassio. Iago shows that he has noticed Othello’s jealous nature from the quote, “O beware, my lord, of jealousy: it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” This shows Othello’s jealous nature by the way he takes action of the situation he believes that is going on.
Othello, the Moor of Venice ACT 1 Scene 1 • In Venice, Roderigo and Iago arguing. • Both hate a man which they are referring to as the Moor (we don’t know his name still). • We know this man is married to Desdemona the daughter of Brabantio a Venetian senator (politician). • Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and has paid Iago (the Moor’s ensign or standard bearer) to help him win her. Roderigo is upset that the Moor has married his beloved Desdemona.
His maneuvers are so effective because they flow smoothly. From the very start, Iago's manipulations are driven by the desire to take vengeance to those who anger him. In William Shakespeare's "Othello," Iago's manipulation of Othello serves as the role of evil in all of Venice and Cyprus. Othello rages Iago over the position he gave to Cassio and it is because of this Iago calls for revenge by making Othello murder his wife. In Act 1, Scene 1, Iago and Rodrigo are talking among one another in regards to Othello not choosing Iago as his lieutenant and how Rodrigo longings for Desdemona.
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in the year approximately 1603, and based on the short story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. This tightly constructed work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his beloved wife, Desdemona; his loyal lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted but unfaithful ensign, Iago. Because of its varied and current themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatre alike and has been the basis for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations. The play opens with Roderigo, a rich and dissolute gentleman, complaining to Iago, an ensign that Iago has not told him about the secret marriage between Desdemona, the daughter of a Senator named Brabantio, and Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army. He is upset by this development because he loves Desdemona and had asked her father for her hand in marriage.
Summary of the Acts: Act one: William Shakespeare’s play Othello in scene one starts off in the streets of Venice where wealthy Roderigo and Iago are arguing. Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him win Desdemona’s hand, and he has just learned that Desdemona has married Othello, a general whom Iago serves as an ancient. Iago tells Roderigo that he hates Othello too; the reasoning for this is Othello promoting Michael Cassio to the post of lieutenant, instead of Iago. The two men come to the street outside the house of Desdemona’s dad, Brabantio, and yell that he has been robbed. Brabantio, who is a Senator, comes to the window.
The second life Iago ravages is the naïve Desdemona, as he twists her virtues and purity leading to her death by her misguided husband. The third life Iago ruins is his prime target, Othello, as he takes advantage of his poor judgment, professing concern for his General, resulting in his deterioration. Iago is a destructive human being, with a thirst of power. One significant way Iago uses his manipulation on Roderigo is by jealousy, revealing Iago’s consistent abuse of his gullible friend. In the beginning of the play a conversation is heard between Roderigo and Iago.
Pariya Chanchaisri Period 6, AP English Literature Dr. Clark June 10th, 2010 Death of a Moor It is pretty clear that Othello from Othello, the Moor of Venice, is considered as the tragic hero of the play. He dismisses Cassio from his position as his lieutenant; he has an extremely weak mind when it comes to being influenced. He ends up killing himself. More importantly, he had committed his sin by putting Desdemona, his most loyal wife, on a situation where she “were best” to remain silent. But do you ever wonder the true cause for Othello to murder his most loyal and faithful wife?
In the beginning of the play, Iago explains to Roderigo that Othello and Desdemona will be undone by his wit. As he states it, separating Othello and Desdemona becomes a challenge to him and the forces of evil: If sanctimony and a frail vow betwix an erring barbarian and a supersublte Venetian be not too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her. Iago uses his wit, his scheming or cunning, to make Cassio lose his credibility in Othello's eyes, initially by coercing Cassio to lose control at the party and begin to fight. Then by making it appear that Desdemona is having a secret romance with Cassio. There were a few things that led to his downfall.
Final Draft Othello is a play about love and friendships gone wrong. Othello begins on a street in Venice, in the midst of an argument between Roderigo, a rich man, and Iago. Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him in his suit to Desdemona. But Roderigo has just learned that Desdemona has married Othello, a general whom Iago serves as ensign. Iago says he hates Othello, who recently passed him over for the position of lieutenant in favor of the inexperienced soldier Michael Cassio.
Iago explains to Roderigo that he has no respect for Othello beyond what he has to show to further his own revenge “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” (line 41). Iago’s self-conscious faulsness is highly theatrical; he plays a two-faced villain and is also the driving force behind the plot. We learn that Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him win over Desdemona, but he has just learned that she has married Othello a general whom Iago serves as an ensign. The relationship between Roderigo and Iago is somewhat close; but even though Iago tells Roderigo the truth about his character. It is ironic that Roderigo does not suspect him of double crossing or manipulation even tough he knows Iago’s true self.
Othello, a general in the Venetian army, secretly marries Desdemona the daughter of Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare’s play if full of jealousy over a woman, revenge, and deception. Some people try to point out that Othello could be a raciest play where everyone is kind of picking of Othello, the main character because he “stole” the love of Roderigo. Some major players in the play, other then Othello and Desdomona, are Iago who is the antagonist and a lower ranking officer in the Army that Othello leads, Cassio is the long time from of Othello who is later promoted to lieutenant, Brabantio is Desdomona’s father and a Venetian Senator, and Roderigo is in love with Desdomona and a secondary antagonist toward Othello. Some of the key elements to the play are Othello’s nobility, his fall from power, and the death of him and Desdemona.
The play Othello, by William Shakespeare, whose setting is initially in Venice and later takes place in Cyprus, narrates the tragedy of a well-known, admired Moor named Othello who caused his own downfall with the help of the seemingly honest Iago and took his own life after realizing his wrongdoings. As previously implied, the antagonist by the name of Iago, possesses a passionate desire to have revenge on Othello for giving the rank of lieutenancy to Cassio, a handsome-looking man who had no experience on the battlefield, when Iago feels that he deserved that position. Cunning Iago who appears to have a positive reputation then devises a plan with the help of his unsophisticated “sponsor,” Roderigo, to not only cause Cassio to lose his status but to delude all characters into believing that he only speaks truths and thus triggered many characters’ deaths, even himself. This tragic resolution enforces the central idea that judging one based on one’s reputation and past is not a wise thing to do, and what led the protagonist or the hero, Othello, to his defeat by Iago, was his flawed personality traits, despite his impeccability as shown in his past. One of the traits that led Othello to his demise was his insecurity of his own self.
Othello, one of the catastrophic tragedies by William Shakespeare, an eminent English poet and playwright, portrays the story of a general in the service of Venice; Othello, is manipulated by his ensign Iago, against his beloved wife Desdemona and his honest and trustworthy lieutenant, Cassio. Throughout the play Shakespeare tries to address the theme “jealousy” by using language techniques such as metaphors, and examples of other characters. He positions the readers in regard to this theme by informing the dangers of Jealousy, and how it can be fuelled by mere circumstantial evidence that can destroy innocent lives. In the play, ’jealousy’ is the main reason which abolishes the lives of the most of characters. A malicious character such as Iago generates jealousy in others ingeniously.
Othello is the story of a Moorish general in Venice, who elops with Desdemona, a nobleman’s daughter. Iago, a jealous villain who is out to get Othello, uses others as pawns and tricks Othello into thinking that Desdemons has not been faithful. After killing Desdemona, Othello then realizes that he has been tricked and kills himself. This play is filled with twisted schemes and plots fueled by jealousy, and murder and could certainly be classified under modern tragedy, but does it fit Aristotle’s definition? Per the definition of a tragedy that Aristotle has given, the play Othello fits most of the criteria and can be classified as such, as well as label the character of Othello as a tragic hero.
He mentions “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/ She has deceived her father, and may thee" (I, i, 292-293). He means that Desdemona may betray Othello since she has already betrayed her father, and she may turn out to be a slut. And in the end of the play, this jealousy leads Othello to suffocate Desdemona to death. Expressing his jealousy of Othello's marriage to Desdemona, Rodrigo mentions "What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe/ If he can carry't thus!" (I, i, 66-67).
Angela Kennedy ENG-450 Professor 11 Jan. 2013 Topic Analysis - Othello The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare is the story of the tragic protagonist Othello and the antagonist Iago. Iago is dominant throughout the play but the roll of protagonist and antagonist are bound together in Othello more so than in any other of Shakespeare’s plays. It is Iago and his diabolism that ruins Othello’s life, he is described as “a semi secularized devil who employs his comic verve to try destroy his virtuous antagonist” (Greenblatt 1171). The extremely talkative Iago uses his language to manipulate Othello’s rationality; he speaks like Iago, becomes hesitant, and uses shorter less fluid sentences. Examples of this change and this virtual possession of Othello must be analyzed to understand the significance of Iargo’s influence.
They include: Cassio, Bianca, Desdemona, Rodrigo and his wife, Emillia. Iago is angry with Othello because Othello appointed Cassio as lieutenant instead of him. As a result, Iago doesn’t only go after Othello, but also plots to disgrace Cassio. In order to disgrace Cassio, Iago uses Rodrigo to challenge cassio to a dual after he has got him drunk, once this plan succeeds and Cassio is demoted, Iago continues to use Cassio in his plan to avenge Othello. This is done by placing Desdemona’s handkerchief in Cassio’s bedroom.
English essay Is Iago Completely To Blame? In William Shakespear’s tragedy “Othello”, Othello is lead to downfall because of Iago. However, Othello lets his rage; jealousy and pride blind him from the fact that Iago is a deceptive, lying, manipulating character. Iago is after Othello for giving the position of lieutenant to Cassio. Therefore, both Iago and Othello are at blame for Othello’s downfall.