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  • Essay / Iago as the Perfect Villain in Shakespeare's Othello

    Iago as the Perfect Villain in Shakespeare's OthelloIago, the villain in Shakespeare's Othello, is a rounded character of great depth and dimensions. Iago pursues an ever-changing goal that becomes progressively more tragic. Yet sometimes “honest” Iago actually seems honest. This essay will explore the complex character of “honest Iago”. One of the most interesting questions that arises concerns Iago's motivations. What were his reasons for killing all the leading Venetians in Cyprus? Shakespeare seems to set the stage for Iago's actions, giving him two distinct reasons to avenge Othello. The first is the fact that Othello promotes Cassio, an "arithmetic", to the rank of lieutenant and ignores Iago who is only a sergeant. Second, Iago is suspicious of his wife, Emilia and thinks she is sleeping. with every other man except him, including Othello. There are other reasons that Iago talks about in his soliloquies, the main one being jealousy or "the green-eyed monster does not appreciate the love that Othello and Desdemona share and is equally offended by it". the fact that Othello is older, but he has a young and beautiful wife, power and respect, everything Iago desires. However, all of these reasons seem false and made up just to be excuses for his nastiness. He also uses these reasons to convince Roderigo to hate Othello. The real motive seems to be just a mistake on Iago's part when he says in act five, as he waits to stab Cassio: "If Cassio stays, he has a daily beauty in his life that makes me makes you ugly..." He refers to Cassio's goodness. here and realizes that he doesn't have his gentlemanly features. They are not quite of the same class and Iago resents this, because he knows that the promotion was not... middle of paper... that the people, who have always admired him and called him “honest” Iago, realize it. Being a Shakespearean tragedy, Iago and – ultimately – evil triumph. Works cited and consulted Bradley, AC. Shakespearean tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991. Di Yanni, Robert. “Character revealed through dialogue. » Readings on Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Literature. N.p. : Random House, 1986. Mack, Maynard. Shakespeare for everyone: reflections mainly on tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Shakespeare. Othello. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Ed. Rossi. New York: Longman, 1999. 312-379. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996.http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line number.