The Portrayal Of Iago In Shakespeare's Othello

Words: 813
Pages: 4
Open Document
By: Saidvij
Portrayal of Iago The play Othello, written by Shakespeare, portrays Iago as a very cunning and evil mastermind next to the devil himself. Iago not only destroys the characters’ lives for fun, but also deceives them to gain self-righteous goals. Iago manipulates everyone but especially the general of Venice, Othello. Shakespeare shows the reader that Iago symbolizes emphasized characteristics of everyone. Iago is written as a selfish and manipulative person able to trick others, but is driven to failure under his own over-confidence.

Shakespeare shows the common motivation of humans, revenge, can be used to a larger extent such as how Iago portrays. At the beginning of the play, he starts off by stating “In personal suit to …show more content…
Iago is known to be very trustworthy since he is deceiving everyone. Everyone refers to Iago as “honest Iago”, however , that is the furthest personality from Iago. He always give good advice such as when Iago states “Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our/will are gardeners”(I,iii,317-318) to Roderigo. Shakespeare shows that this is another real life personality in people, but Iago just exaggerates this by giving advice to benefit his own needs. Iago manipulates the gullible, Roderigo, to complete his own tasks which can sometimes be seen in daily life. Deception and manipulation overlaps Iago’s characteristics. Shakespeare shows the true power of deceptive personalities when Iago commands to Cassio “O, they are our friends. But one cup! I’ll drink for/you”(II,iii,34-35). It shows the power of deception since Cassio believes Iago is a good friend without knowing exactly Iago wants him to drink. Shakespeare portrays perfectly how sometimes people deceive each other, with different personalities, but Iago takes it further and deceives to destroy. Iago is brilliantly fooly his friends for the greater for his
Show More

Related Documents: The Portrayal Of Iago In Shakespeare's Othello

Othello's Jealousy

living that society adopted over the course of its evolution. William Shakespeare’s writing, however, has stayed relevant throughout societies timeline as his characters, although set in olden times, have shown the fundamentals of human nature. Jealousy, being a main topic in Shakespeare’s playwriting, is shown heavily in his plays including the As You Like It, Othello and Twelfth Night. Initially, when jumping into Shakespeare’s literature, one is able to note that he bases his plays on two major…

Words 1187 - Pages 5

Essay on William Shakespeare

did not write enough roles for women in the modern theater, so let's re-engender some of the roles to give actresses more Shakespearean acting opportunities. That was the stated purpose of writer and director Tom Mallan in his 2011 adaptation of Shakespeare's Prince Hal cycle as The Mistorical Hystory of Henry (I)V at WSC Avant Bard in Arlington, Va. To give his actresses more meaty roles, he set his play in an Edwardian-era brothel with the prostitutes playing the historical characters in burlesque…

Words 1687 - Pages 7