Jealousy and betrayal are two words that often go hand in hand, especially in a relationship. In a relationship, the act of envy usually leads to betrayal when a person is being attentive of the other’s success and achievements. These type of relationships always have unpleasant endings that can be as bad as claiming the lives of innocent people around them. This shows how jealousy, betrayal, revenge can negatively impact people’s lives and can lead to a series of tragedies in the life of a hero. A good example of this is in Othello by William Shakespeare, it is shown Iago is infuriated with that fact that Othello is in the upper class while he is stuck in the lower class. A Marxist analysis is shown here because Iago does everything in …show more content…
Iago continues to feel hatred towards othello for the wrong reasons.
Iago is very good at saying the right things to people, misleading them to get the reaction he wants out of them. He is clever in his diction to avoid confrontation that can easily erupt. Haim Omer and Marcello Da Verona in their article “Doctor Iago’s treatment of Othello” provides an example of Iago’s manipulation when he and Roderigo confront Brabantio about his daughter. Brabantio does not believe what the two say about Desdemona, calling it absurd, and he becomes angry because he has been woken up in the middle of the night. Omer and de Verona recognize that Roderigo immediately starts to explain and justify his accusations, which only angers Brabantio even more. Iago, on the other hand, responds by actually complimenting Brabantio. Brabantio yells, “Thou art a villain” to which Iago responds, “You are a senator” (I. i. 115-116). The father is blown away by this surprising comment and it causes him to step back and re-examine the situation, which eases his anger and causes him to believe the two storytellers, especially when he finds Desdemona missing from her bed chamber. Here Iago is trying to get brabantio on his side on believing the things being said about desdemona. He is getting in his head and manipulating him by even complimenting him.
Iago is clever at the timing of what he says. He knows exactly what to say and when to say it to get a rouse out of whomever he wishes. He
He is clever in his diction to avoid confrontation that can easily erupt. An example of Iago’s manipulation is when he and Roderigo confront Brabanzio about his daughter. Brabanzio does not believe what the two say about Desdemona, calling it ridiculous, and he becomes angry because he has been woken up in the middle of the night. Roderigo immediately starts to explain, which only angers Brabanzio even more. Iago, on the other hand, responds by actually complimenting Brabanzio. Brabanzio yells, “Thou art a villain” to which Iago responds, “You are a senator”. The father is taken aback by this surprising comment and it causes him to step back and re-examine the situation, which eases his anger and causes him to believe the two storytellers, especially when he finds Desdemona missing from her bed chamber
In the play, Othello, jealousy and envy are prominent themes from the beginning to the end. As the play starts to unwind, you can see jealousy is the major cause of all the drama in the play. Jealousy or envy is a feeling of discontented or resentful longing by someone else’s possessions , qualities or luck. Iago becomes engulfed by jealousy and it causes him to corrupt Othello. They are two men that cause similar crimes but we sympathize for Othello and hate Iago because they have different attitudes towards their crime.
Rhetorical strategies are continually used to get a point across or to manipulate another. Iago uses many devices to put false accusations into Othello’s head. In lines 330-447 in Act 3 scene 3, Iago uses rhetorical question, imagery, and sarcasm. He questions Othello and makes him think the worst between Cassio and Desdemona, and then his use of words adds color and a picture, so it has to be right. Last his sarcasm creates the assurances Othello needed to be duped.
Iago also knows that Roderigo will do anything for Desdemona’s love. Iago says, “Thus I do ever make a fool my purse” (1.3.355). Iago tells this to Roderigo which means that he is willing to manipulate anyone as long as he gives him jewels and money. This quote makes him look brilliant because he knows that Roderigo has a lot of money and will do anything to be with Desdemona. I agree when D. Madison says, “In Othello, he knows just what to say to sound innocent. Iago is the ultimate master of manipulation”. Iago uses his knowledge wisely and uses it to manipulate others for his own satisfaction, and knows how to manipulate them because he has analyzed them before, and that is what makes him so good at being evil. Iago is fully aware what he is doing and has no sympathy for anyone like he says himself; “And what’s he then that says play the villain, When this advice is free I give, and honest” (2.3.299).
Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in
Iago says, “O wretched fool That lov’st to make thine honesty a vice! O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world, To be direct and honest is not safe. I thank you for this profit, and from hence I’ll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence” (3.3. 385-390). Othello has just told Iago for him to prove Desdemona is cheating and if he can’t his life is worthless. Iago replies with the lines above showing the role he plays when with Othello. He manipulates Othello into feeling bad for him by crying about being so honest and not taken seriously that he will never try to help a friend out. The irony is that Iago is causing a scene about Othello not believing that Desdemona cheating on him, when it is a
Throughout this passage, Iago’s main techniques of deception include lies, syntax and diction, and hoodwinking Othello into thinking his way. By quickly averting his conflict with Othello at the start of the scene, he easily avoids confrontation
Iago also uses language to create the desired effect he wants to be perceived, when he talks to Brabantio about Desdemona and Othello, he does not merely say that they are in love and are sleeping together, he uses crude, insulting language to describe Othello, ‘making the beast with two backs’(I,I,107-108) with his daughter.
Throughout the play jealousy is shown within almost every character, ago mostly causes everyone in the play to be jealous of someone by doing what he does best, manipulating everyone and getting them to do his dirty work. Jealousy plays a big role within the play, and influences almost every decision made by each character at some point in the play. Sadly, the decisions made due to the characters being jealous are mostly bad, the play mainly shows how jealousy affects Iago, Othello, and Roderigo. Iago at some point gets each character to believe everything he has to say and talks them into doing anything he wishes them to do all for the sole purpose of revenge and jealousy
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago gains the trust of Roderigo by manipulating him so he can gain wealth out of him. Iago brings back the hope to Roderigo, who already thought of committing suicide, by saying to him that soon enough Desdemona will not find any interest in Othello. All that Roderigo has to do is to keep the income going for Iago if he wants Desdemona to be with him instead of Othello. For that to happen they have to plan on revenge on Othello by making him think that his wife is cheating on him.
Jealousy is a powerful drug. When someone is jealous, one can only imagine how far someone would go because of it. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, there were several characters that went through different ways of processing their jealousy. Iago’s jealousy provokes his idea to get back at the people he felt was not deserving enough of the things they had or their happiness. His plans succeeds but by the end, no one wins. Iago’s jealousy forms at the beginning of the play which causes Othello’s jealousy towards the end and because of it, it results in people hurt mentally and physically.
Iago is a powerful predator who exploits those around him by infecting their perceptions of truth with carefully chosen fallacy. His skill in finding the proverbial chinks in others' armor allows him to skillfully weave his machinations of destroying Othello into their minds and actions; by manipulating character's perceptions of Desdemona, Iago gains the leverage he needs to exploit each character. No one is impervious to Iago's seething purpose; even Othello falls prey to Iago's suggestions and insinuations about Desdemona. Iago's constant presence as the stager, as well as his ceaseless - but subtle - reinforcement of events through narration, allows him to be the pivotal force that directs
355,] By playing on his hopes, Iago is able to conjure money and jewels from Roderigo, making himself a profit, while using Roderigo to further his other plans. He also thinks stealthy on his feet and is able to improvise whenever something unexpected occurs. When Cassio takes hold of Desdemona's hand before the arrival of the Moor Othello, Iago says, "With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio." [II, i, 163] This language demonstrates the evil inside Iagos goals of retrieving absolute power. He actually even says of himself, "I am an honest man...." [II, iii, 245] Iago slowly corrupts the characters thoughts, creating ideas in their minds without implicating himself. His "medicine works! Thus credulous fools are caught...." [II, i, 44] "And what's he then that says I play the villain, when this advice is free I give, and honest," [II, iii, 299] says Iago. In turn, people rarely stop to consider the fact that old Iago could be deceiving and manipulating them; yet they are convinced that he is "Honest Iago." From these quotes from Othello it is proven that the dialogue used between Iago and the others is manipulative causing an evil outcome.
The central idea jealousy is supported by the literary element conflict. For example, Iago was a very deceitful character throughout the play Othello. Othello was a victim of Iago’s deceit, by believing Iago was a loyal and honest individual. Othello thought Iago was a truthful and well respected friend that would never lie or betray him. In actuality, Iago was deceiving Othello with fake friendship. Another example is, Othello’s internal conflict. He struggles with believing that Desdemona is faithful to him, but Iago’s manipulation is vastly too much for him to overcome. After Iago has warped Othello’s mind, he comes to the conclusion that the only answer is to kill Desdemona by suffocating her with a pillow. Othello soon realizes that she and Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant, had been loyal to him. He could not live with himself, so he drives a dagger into his heart. All the conflict is fueled by Iago’s jealousy. His manipulation and deceitful tactics were all inspired by his jealousy of Othello
In the story of Othello, all of the conflict, violence, and harm that occured was a result of jealousy. Iago, one of the victims of jealousy, made a hypocritical statement to Othello where he called jealousy a green-eyed monster. This monster known as jealousy not only consumes the people that it hates, but also consumes the person itself. Jealousy is the culprit for any character that had died in the story. Jealousy fueled each scene to the next in Othello and the more that is added, the more damage it does as seen with its effects on Roderigo, Iago, and Othello.