Iago Analysis Othello
Shakespeare's Othello introduces a striking and fascinating character, Iago, to all of its readers. His evilness and ambition for revenge has the ability to grasp each reader's attention and not let go. And Shakespeare wastes no time in presenting his audience with such an astounding character. As the play opens, it immediately becomes apparent that Iago is already at work. He is using his skills to, once again, convince Roderigo that he will persuade Desdemona to fall in love with him, and in return Iago will aquire a portion of Roderigo's great fortune. Nonetheless, it is not only Iago's evil ways that catch the attention of the audience; his manipulative cunningness, and his power-complex both play a major role in the unfolding of his character. Although the antagonistic Iago is the perpetuator of the evil in Othello, he is no fool. On the contrary, many scholars, both contemporary and from Shakespeare's time, consider Iago the most intelligent character in the play. This intelligence enables him to be very cunning, allowing him to manipulate nearly every character in the play to his benefit. He is also very careful in his choice of words. At the beginning of the play in Act I Scene I, while prodding Roderigo to al
It becomes evident, as you read through Othello, that Iago is obsessed with power. His power-complex involves both money and a fixation on having a position of authority. His money-loving issue is best shown in his dialogue with Roderigo in Act I Scene II starting at line 327. On every-other line he tells Roderigo to "Put money in thy purse" and "fill thy purse with money." He convinces Roderigo not to kill himself so he can continue being paid by this wealthy man. The biggest motive Iago has for his actions in the play is the fact that Othello passed him over for promotion, and the position was given to someone with little experience. Iago is greatly outraged by this, so outraged that he conspires to get revenge on both Othello and Cassio. This proves he has a power complex because he would much rather have the position of greater power, lieutenant, than the position of ensign, which was one that held great respect, love, and trust. In other words, he didn't get promoted but he still has a great job. In Act I Scene I, Iago discloses to Roderigo and the readers that "Preferment goes by letter and affection,/ And not by old gradation, where each second/ Stood heir to the first." This means that
Some common words found in the essay are:
Act Scene, Ralph Berry, Nonetheless Iago's, Scene II, Shakespeare's Othello, Scene Iago, Othello Cassio, Othello Iago, act scene, character play, iago intelligent, thy purse,
Approximate Word count = 815
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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