Othello and Iago in Shakespeare's Othello

A detailed Summary of Othello and Iago in Shakespeare's Othello

"How is Iago the PERSONIFICATION of evil? Be sure to define evil and cite specific examples, references, and incidents that support your definition of evil."

Iago is Satan incarnate. Although Othello honestly believes that Iago is one of the most truthful and faithful servants he has ever had, Iago is truly innately evil because Iago constantly plots against Othello and repeatedly conspires against everybody in the play. Because of Iago's evil characteristics, he does not deserve the trust that Othello bestows upon him. Iago demonstrates all of the greatest traits of evil; he lies, misleads people, wears two faces, and he frames and manipulates people any chance he has. Evil is Iago and Iago fits the definition of evil: morally bad or wrong; wickedness. Iago is inherently evil.

Through out the Shakespeare play, Othello, Iago displays numerous characteristics synonymous with evil characters. One of Iago's such traits is his consistent lying to numerous people through out the play. The majority of Iago's lies are through omission, he does not tell the whole truth. More than anybody, Iago lies to Othello in this manner. Iago does not tell Othello that he has been supporting all of the things that have been going astray f

Iago also conspires against Othello and everybody that could make Othello's life more miserable. He uses his wife, Emilia, to fetch the handkerchief from Desdemona. Iago does not care about anybody but himself. By having Emilia fetch the handkerchief, if anybody is blamed for the action it is not he. This way he can cover his tracks and get the things done without the risk of being caught. Iago also uses situations to his advantage. As he set up the situation with the handkerchief, he manipulated it to see that Othello suffers for being Othello. As Iago conspires against people and uses other people to do his dirty work, he exhibits a trait of evil, which proves he is evil.

or Othello. One such incident was when Iago rallied Roderigo and joined in a mutual hatred for Othello. Roderigo hated Othello because Roderigo wanted to get with Desdemona. The incident with the most significance concerning Iago's lying was that of the handkerchief given to Desdemona by Othello. As Othello discovers that Michael Cassio is in possession of the handkerchief, Iago neglects to mention to Othello that he was the main pushing force in seeing to it that Cassio comes to have possession of the handkerchief. Othello makes it very easy for Iago to lie to him. It is so easy for Iago because Othello is entirely too trusting and he's blind to Iago's attempts at knavery.

Iago is extremely misleading. He does it on purpose so it is also lying. Since society considers lying evil then Iago is yet again proven to be evil. There is situational irony in "Men should be what they seem..."(Othello; Iago- Act III sc. iii: Ln.126). This is ironic because Iago is the converse of this statement. He is exactly the opposite of what he seems. Because he is leading Othello t

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Approximate Word count = 1179
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion