Write a 4 page essay on William Shakespeare's Othello. Iago: Analysis of a Villain.The tragedy Othello by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal and madness, driven by the manipulations of one of

Write a 4 page essay on William Shakespeare's Othello. Iago: Analysis of a Villain.

The tragedy Othello by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal and madness, driven by the manipulations of one of the worst villains in literary history. While the protagonist, Othello, is the central character in the play, it is Iago who is the most prominent character within the work. The development of Iago is highly defined, the villain shown special care in creating a character that is filled with dark betrayal and terrible manipulations. While more terrible things have been done by villains, it is because he is trusted and uses that trust to destroy those with whom he has relationships that he is seen for his treachery to be one of the worst villains. Iago, the antagonist in the Shakespearian tragedy Othello, is probably the most intriguing villainous characters within the Shakespearian plays. The tragedy Othello was written based upon an Italian short story titled Un Capitano Moro, or The Moorish Captain. The story is found in a collection of stories written by Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio titled Gli Hecatommiti which was published in 1580. In the story, the character of Iago is simply called ’the ensign’, but his role is the same. He instigates the death of the captain’s wife through his own villainy. It is unclear if the story was published in English during Shakespeare‘s lifetime which makes it curious that the story was presented within one of his works, although there is also some speculation that the story was based upon actual events, therefore the exact origins of the story as written by Shakespeare is not perfectly clear (Earle 317). Iago is trusted by Othello. This trust is the basis upon which he creates his villainy. However, Iago’s villainy is based upon betrayal. He appears to be one thing but is very much another. According to Bloom, “In Iago’s speech duplication is the linguistic inflection of the duplicity that is his character, a ‘doubleness’ self-canceling rather than self-affirming, concealing his real self from the others” (Bloom 71). It is his dual nature, his appearance to have moral ground where he is doing nothing but destroying morality, that defines his character. As he convinces those around him through breeding mistrust, he is creating a world in which all of those things that made life secure could no longer be trusted by those over whom he has influence. Iago asserts a great amount of control over the lives of other characters. Shakespeare uses a literary device, as much as Iago uses a psychological method of maintaining his control over those he is manipulating. Iago uses a dialogue that repeats different aspects of his intended manipulations, an interplay between characters that is shortened and quick. Iago uses language to gain control over the direction of Othello’s thoughts, creating an internal dialogue that he has specifically inspired. According to Bloom, “Put simply, Iago is in control and Othello is not. Iago knows what he is doing with language. Othello appears to know not what language is doing to him” (71). Through his knowledge of how to manipulate, Iago uses this control too create circumstances that will end badly for those he influences. One of the more discussed and least agreed upon concepts about Iago’s character is that of his motivation. Iago has superficial motives for the things he does, but it is difficult to discover what has made him go to such lengths to assert his will over the other characters within the story in order to affect the outcomes. The story begins with Iago showing spite over that loss of a promotion that he feels that Othello should have given to him. In this same space of time, Iago first professes his love for his captain, Othello, and declares that he has complete loyalty to him. However, once Othello is no longer on stage, Iago shows his true feelings and discusses how much he hates him. This ‘two-faced’ confession reveals the core of the character of Iago.