Iago, Manipulating Villain
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), one of the great writers of the 16th century wrote the play Othello around 1599. Shakespeare's Othello recounts the tragic consequences of hatred, jealousy, revenge, and exploited and misplaced trust (Bloom 13). The story opens-up in the city of Venice, and this is where the evil unfolds around Othello by the hands of the malignant Iago. George Williams, one of Shakespeare's critics, states, "Iago, one of the best-written villains in English literature, constitutes the corrupting force that destroys the harmony of Othello's life and thereby creates the conflict that drives the play's plot (96)." Iago thrives on chaos and confusion and uses these elements to calculate how to ultimately destroy Othello and all others that cross his path throughout the play. Iago's power to manipulate is wh
I hate the Moor,/ And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets/ 'Has done my office. I know not if't be true,/ But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,/ Will do as if for surety. He holds me well./ The better shall my purpose work on him. To get his place and to plume up my will/ In double knavery-How? how?-Let's see./ After some time, to abuse Othello's (ear)/ That he is too familiar with his wife./ He hath a person and a smooth dispose/ To be suspected, framed to make a woman false./ The Moor is of a free and open nature/ That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,/ And will as tenderly be led by th' nose/ As asses are./ I have't. It is engendered. Hell and night/ Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light (I.iii.436-447). The chaos in the play begins in the opening scene where Iago vows to take revenge against Othello for choosing
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Approximate Word count = 577
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
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