In Shakespeare's play "Othello", Shakespeare purposely creates the characters Othello and Iago to be foils to each other. Both are vastly different from each other despite many similarities. For starters, Othello is a genuine, upright, kindhearted man. He genuinely means well for Desdemona, and he serves his country dutifully and with purpose. He is honest, for the most part. However, his one flaw is that he does not ask Desdemona's father for permission, instead opting to elope with her. This is a huge cultural no-no back in the day, and it proves that, while generally a good person, Othello is flawed. This is where Iago comes in.
In stark contrast to Othello, Iago relentlessly seeks power and fame through his job. He is motivated entirely by greed rather than by duty, and he is evil to the core of his being. There truly is no motive behind any of his deeds other than pure selfishness. Othello, on the other hand, was selfish in eloping with Desdemona, but it came from genuine love. Iago lies to multiple people and expertly crafts Othello's demise. We see how he manipulates Roderigo into doing his bidding, and we also see how he destroys Cassio's reputation by starting a scuffle at the party. Everything Iago does is cool, calculated, and sociopathic. He truly is the epitome of evil, whereas Othello is the epitome of good.
Is Iago the manifestation of pure evil? To me, Iago sticks out as a warning against even the most justifiable of vengeance. He feels scorn and dejection that actually may have been intended on Othello's part.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, Othello is not actually good per-se. He's a warrior, strong and honest, but I think he just decides to play by the rules from some lack of ambition or perhaps a craving for order, not out of any moral obligation.
I understand both arguments you two make, and I feel they're both well-supported. Personally, I believe Iago is an evil character who uses others' flaws to his own benefit. For example, Othello holds a lot of truth in Iago, and Iago takes full advantage of this to lead to his downfall. I believe Othello is dutifully motivated, like Chase mentioned; but I also believe that his flaw in his oblivion will lead Iago to take control. This is not entirely Iago's fault--he merely takes advantage of a flaw; however, it is "evil" to do so for personal benefits.
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