Iago is the villain in this play. He is jealous of Michael Cassio's position as Othello's lieutenant, which Iago thinks that he deserves the position more. Iago tells Roderigo that he is taking advantage of Othello, that is the one and only reason why he is serving under Othello and is forced to be his flag-bearer instead of his second in command.
Iago , along with Roderigo shows crafty and devilish ways of coming up with a plan of waking up Brabanzio, and telling him he has been robbed. They tell him that the Moor is sleeping with Brabanzio's daughter Desdemona. Brabanzio thinks they are lying and calls them out as villains.
Iago likes to cause trouble and "stir the pot" or create drama, in act 1.2 he talks to Othello asking him if he is legitimately married to Desdemona.
Also when the senator and his men come find him , Iago tries to easily manipulate him and tell him by "advising" him to go turn himself in. Othello responds to that telling Iago that he has a clear conscious, so he has nothing to worry about.
I just don't like Iago's character. I understand why he is jealous of Cassio and has devilish ways about him, but i just don't like him. I haven't read this play all the way through before , but I hope Iago's character does not turn out worse.
New Paltz Students Blogging about Shakespeare
3 comments:
I agree that Iago's character is interesting. He seems to blow an understandably upsetting situation way out of proportion. He is an incredible manipulator, and his cleverness allows him to use all the people around him to his advantage. He treats the other characters' lives like a game of chess, playing them all with a master plan to win. While Iago's actions are awful, he is owed some credit for his cleverness and ability to interpret/understand situations and characters. I think it's interesting to compare Iago's character to Othello. The reason that Othello's speech at 1.3.127 is so effective is because it's so honest and emotional. He is eloquent and his language is clever and articulate- Iago and Othello share this quality. However, Othello uses this skill to romance the girl he loves, while Iago uses it to be spiteful. I think that this difference in their motives reveals a lot about their characters, and I'm interested to see how that will play into the further development of their characters and the plot.
Hello Hannah, I do agree with you. Iago is jealous of Othello for the reason on not being promoted, but he also has heard rumors of Othello sleeping with his wife. Later in the play we see Iago changing this story and saying that it was Cassio that has slept with her. In reality Iago has someting deep inside of him that keeps him from being understood. This same characteristic makes him very disliked. Kelly is quite accurate when she says that Iago and Othello are similar. They do both capture attention when they speak, although I am not sure that I agree that Iago speaks well.
Iago is definitely in his own category when it comes to Shakespeare's villains. His lack of care and symapthy for just about everyone is the play, including his wife, is incredible and some what unbelievable. It seems pretty ridiculous of him to go through such extremes in order to make the other characters in the play miserable, but Shakespeare can be pretty extreme. It is easy for Iago to play these games with the other characters because i feel like no one really questions him or his actions. Iago is clever and sneaky, making it easier for him to deceive others and to get the revenge that he wants.
Post a Comment