Considering Iago as a "Villain" in the play Othello, Iago has a prominent role in the downfall of Othello and those around him. People could say that Iago's actions make him out to be a simply scheming liar and purely an evil character. Others say Iago's talent for understanding and manipulating the desires of those around him that makes him both a powerful and a compelling figure that represents some greater force.

We see early in the play that Iago is the manipulative character that lacks smart decision-making. At the point in the play, Iago has planted these seeds and immediately needs to find how far he will influence Rodrigo and how he will utilize his influence and become more powerful. He immediately gets fools Rodrigo and tells him Desdemona is now crazy about him. Rodrigo doesn't consider what he tells him at first but Iago keeps persuading him and manipulates his naive thoughts. Iago keeps feeding fibs to change his mindset to discus, giving him bad feelings towards Casio. Othello, Cassio, Rodrigo, Emilia, and Desdemona were nobody just victims of Iago. His persuasiveness mixed with his illusions had everyone fooled. He was the only individual by himself idea and strength are what he was searching for.

Iago explains his tactics to Rodrigo. He tells us that he does not follow Othello out of love or duty but because he feels he can exploit him for his own personal gain "in following him I follow but myself;/Heaven is my judge nor I for love and duty". This quote explains a lot about Iago mindset, and how he willing to exploit people for personal gain and that heaven is his only judge. Iago doesn't believe he needs a reason. He doesn't explain himself and doesn't care whether he is understood. He understands human weaknesses and vulnerabilities enough to exploit them. But that's not empathy. He doesn't get a promotion that he wants because Othello favors someone else.

These feelings Iago takes are general jealousy. By placing Othello through the similar beliefs he himself had gone through, Iago takes revenge by sadistic joy, inflicting pain and suffering to others. Iago is a strong character who is able to manipulate others emotions. Although Iago does his best to get Othello to fall into insanity, Othello is to a fault because of his naivety and envy. He lets himself be controlled by Iago and does not facts check what he says. Iago doesn't need a reason. He doesn't explain himself and doesn't care whether he is understood. He understands human weaknesses and vulnerabilities enough to exploit them. He doesn't get a promotion that he wants because Othello favors someone else.

We can understand Iago a lot from his circumstance, Othello is the leader, holds a higher position than Iago, also stronger in physical circumstances than Iago. This is the significant incitement to Iago's sadistic emotions conquering such a strong individual gives him much higher gratification than other common people. Forward, Iago's hate towards Othello is from racial favoritism.

I would definitely say one could see him as a scheming and a liar more than a greater force. He has manipulated everyone around him and used people's downfalls to boost himself my own personal gain. Time and time again he has shown that he is willing to Play with people's emotions And lie to put a further narrative.

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The Significance of the Missing Handkerchief

In the play of Othello written by William Shakespeare, symbolism is expressed all throughout the reading but it is the importance of a solemn handkerchief in which ties the story all together. The handkerchief throughout the story plays huge roles, depending on who's possession it is in, the mood within the story shifts.

Iago, a bitter man, gets introduced early on in the play and appears to be upset with Othello for being passed up on as a lieutenant in the army. Also assumption were made that Othello has slept with his wife, It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office and in return has the idea of a wife for a wife (pg 53). I believe that the importance in that quote is to give the reader a sense of feeling as to how angry Iago must have felt. In his his mind for another man to sleep with his wife is bad news, but more interesting enough he believes that it is as if somebody just came into his home and made themselves comfortable. So in order to get back at him he tries to use Desdemona's handkerchief against them.

Being that it is a prized possession it adds that much more suspense when Desdemona loses it or gets her possession stolen from her. Like any man should react, when Othello spotted Cassio (the man who was awarded lieutenant over Iago) with the handkerchief in his possession, he was outraged. He began to question Desdemona's loyalty. A quote that stuck out was, Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed (pg 130).   In which Othello then replies to Iago with, By heaven, I'll know thy thoughts (pg 130). Before the handkerchief went missing everything was green, not a problem in sight. After it had gone missing, everybody began to feel all sorts of ways. It pretty much describes everybody for having no values, everybody within themselves is dishonest and does things for the benefits of themselves. There is no morality to the actions that were taken and clearly no good intentions.

In the case of the good friend of Desdemona, Emilia, the handkerchief meant more about pleasing her husband than returning it to her. When Desdemona has dropped it, Emilia had an opportunity to return it back to her but knowing how much it meant to Iago she wished to do nothing more than please him and collect it for him. I am glad I have found this napkin; This was her first remembrance from the Moor.

My wayward husband hath a hundred times

Woo'd me to steal it; but she so loves the token Heaven knows, not I; I nothing but to please his fantasy (pg. 140). Like noted earlier, everyone was always thinking about what was in their best interest when they had possession of it. In a way the handkerchief itself showed that lovers would go to any extent to have it in their possession. They who possessed it, possessed love.

The handkerchief is important because of what it means to each of the characters and something so little is able to cause a huge impact on each of their futures. To the main character(s) in Desdemona it represents her love and willingness to commit and fight for Othello regardless of any situation. As for Othello it is a token of trust between one another, and serves as a family jewel. Othello's backstory on it explains, That handkerchief

 Did an Egyptian to my mother give;

She was a charmer, and could almost read

The thoughts of people. She told her, while she kept it,

'Twould make her amiable, and subdue my father (pg 160). It is almost as if it is magical and possessed unearthly powers. Also it is meant to be to passed down for generations to come and never be lost or gifted. So when it becomes misplaced all starts to fumble as if a curse has been casted. So being as superstitious as Othello must have been he could have been losing his mind when the news about it was broken.

As for Desdemona, everything had been plotted against her once it went missing. It was never intended for her to misplace it but in that era nothing else mattered but word of mouth. She was as innocent as a toddler with no idea what was happening her love for Othello was everything. She could not believe the accusations on which were being made against her, Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse Full of crusadoes; and but my noble Moor

Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness

As jealous creatures are, it were enough

To put him to ill thinking. (pg. 156). Here Desdemona is in her fighting stage where she understands not the situation she is in, and rather have lost any other of her possessions than something that held so much value between Othello and herself. One can only feel sorrow for Desdemona since anything done towards her was simply just out of envy, jealousy and hatred towards Othello.

All in all the handkerchief is the backbone for what unfolds throughout the whole story. As it switches hands there are different outcomes as well as reasons behind wanting to possess it. What is true about the ownership of it is, once it left the hands of the rightful couple then the symbolism behind it was not so much based on love as it was prior but now was associated with betrayal and deceit.

Works cited

• Shakespeare, William. Othello. Playshakespeare.com, 2014. 

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 The play Othello by William Shakespeare was recorder on  Elizabeth era. The play introduced Othello as a strong and firm man. His stature, tall, dark, African Moor, combined with his personal charisma. A brave soldier from Africa and currently supreme commander of the Venetian Army. In times when Africans and other minorities settled in Europe raise their protest over the constant attacks they suffer in a supposedly tolerant and liberal society, it indicates that perhaps in the depths of the common European fear of foreigners continues to subsist. Racism and xenophobia is also present in the figure of Othello who, despite his great blood and royal blood, is never fully admitted into white society.

The marriage between Othello and Desdemona is considered as much by Brabantio as by Iago against natura and monstrous. Desdemona is a beautiful white woman and a Venetian debutante; It is the pride and joy of his father. But he refuses to marry the wealthy and handsome Venetian with whom everyone expects him to marry. Instead, she escapes with Othello, a black man, older than her and a stranger from Venetian society. In any case, it turns out to be a brave move, Desdemona not only defies the hopes of his father, but also challenges a society that is against interracial marriages. Ay, there's the point. As, to be bold with you, Not to affect many proposed matches Of her own clime, complexion, and degree, Whereto we see in all things nature tends. Foh! One may smell in such a will most rank, Foul disproportion thoughts unnatural   But pardon me. I do not in position Distinctly speak of her, though I may fear Her will, recoiling to her better judgment, May fall to match you with her country forms And happily repent. (3.3.268-278).

Iago suggest that there something unnatural about Desdemona of she would decide to marry a black man instead of a man who is her own complexion. Also, unfortunately Othello confronts racism he is deny to possess white privilege because of the color of his skin. This topic is interesting to mention because for many critics it is crucial in the development of the tragedy since in it they find the key to the actions of Othello. At the beginning we are presented as honest, brave, honest man and then another completely opposite facet will appear that questions us and provokes a cognitive dissonance. This new facet is of a malignant, uncontrolled, vengeful, murderous being. In him a deep change of personality appears.

Iago feels betrayed and despised by Othello who gave him the position of lieutenant ascending him to Casio and not to him. As a result of this, Iago will be devising different ways to take revenge on both. In it are represented the ambition, the desire for revenge, the capacity for manipulation, evil, cold and insensitive machination. Iago wishes to take revenge on Othello and tries to try to get Othello to take revenge on Desdemona. To achieve this, several characters fall into their clutches and are handled at will, constantly manipulating Othello and we are witnessing the transformation that they are suffering through. It is fascinating the way in which Yago is setting the plot, as the spider with its fabric waiting for its prey to fall: Othello, Casio, Rodrigo, Emilia, Desdemona, all are at the mercy of the puppeteer Iago. Iago, like water, adapts to the place where it is and enters through the interstices of the other's mind to copy it. There is a special Yago for Othello, another for Casio, another for Rodrigo and a different one for Emilia or Desdemona.

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Othello, The Moor of Venice is one of William Shakespeare's greatest works. This play was first performed in 1604. The author, William Shakespeare, was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare's plays are very popular because of life, revenge, love, death, jealousy, betrayal, murder, grief, magic and mystery. With this in mind, Othello by William Shakespeare is a significant poem because of love, betrayal, and jealousy. Othello is also a significant play because Shakespeare uses foreshadowing and dramatic irony.

In the beginning of this play we quickly find out that Othello is in love with Desdemona and they later get married. An example of foreshadowing comes at a point where Othello is talking to himself, Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul/ But I do love thee! And when I love thee not;/ Chaos is come again (3.3.91-92). This foreshadows Desdemona's death in the play. Othello is completely in love with Desdemona but Iago gets in Othello's head and told Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him. Iago played it all so well that it would make any man not trust his woman. Throughout the play we realize that Iago is a smart, manipulative man. An example of dramatic irony takes place in act four, scene one where Iago tries to convince Othello that Cassio has been sleeping with his wife by telling Othello to hide and watch as Cassio jokes about his past affair with her. The dramatic irony creates suspense as we watch Iago's evil plans unfold and influence other characters. This is one of the four most significant elements in this play.

In this play Othello's greatest flaw is jealousy. At the beginning of this play we learn that Othello promotes Cassio over Iago, so this makes Iago furious and very jealous. Iago is a very smart man and at one point he manipulates Othello and tells him not to be jealous and goes on to say, O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on" (3.3.167-168). In the end jealousy leads to Othello killing his wife and then ultimately kills himself. This is another one of the three most significant elements in this play.

Othello is also a significant play because of betrayal. In this play Iago betrays Othello, Roderigo and his wife Emilia. At one point in this story Iago says, And nothing can or shall content my soul/ Till I am evened with him, wife for wife./ Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor/ At least into a jealousy so strong/ That judgment cannot cure (2.1.277-281). The first example of betrayal we see in this poem is Iago and Roderigo. Iago and Roderigo have a friendship going on where Roderigo gives money to Iago in return for Iago convincing Desdemona to fall in love with him. Iago ends up killing Roderigo after getting everything he wanted and his unsuccessful plan. Iago also betrays Othello by telling him that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Iago even betrays his own wife, Emilia, by telling her to steal the handkerchief. Emilia blows Iago's cover when she finds out about his evil plan, so Iago kills her as well. This is the last significant element of this play.

In conclusion, Othello is a significant play because of love, betrayal, and jealousy. Shakespeare does an amazing job using foreshadowing and dramatic irony. The moral lesson in this story is to be careful of the people we trust.

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I-III

In the first two acts Othello shows that he is an extraordinary person by showing us how far in the ranks of the military he has risen after overcoming many obstacles. While racial slurs are said to him by many he keeps a level head in every situation. Othello also professed his love for Desdemona even though he knew of the consequences that would follow, and despite his race he associates with high ranking men around him.

Iago's motivations to destroy Othello, Cassio, and Roderigo is revenge based. He is jealous of their military rank because the Moor overlooked him on position for Lieutenant. His motto for life is we choose our own fate. Roderigo is handled differently because Iago appeals to his desire of Desdemona and manipulates him into thinking he will end up with her. With Othello and Cassio, Iago gets Cassio drunk and into trouble with his boss which happens to be Othello by getting into a fight with Roderigo. Which leads to Desdemona intervening and making Othello jealous. Iago only does this to get revenge.

The technique Iago uses is deception. With him manipulating Othello into thinking Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona, and making Cassio believe, while he is drunk, that Desdemona will take his side in defending him over Othello. It makes each party get mad at the other by having a woman they all share feeling for take the side of another. Roderigo does not take much effort from Iago to convince him if he does things he will get Desdemona.

Throughout the entire play she remains loyal to her husband despite the accusations of being unlawful against her. Where Emilia is experienced, takes the world for how it is,and older, Desdemona is extremely naive and believes everything could be like a fairytale. After Othello is already suspicious of her activities concerning Cassio she tries to bring up again how he should be forgiven which really makes him mad. She is not close to being discreet about it by lying about her handkerchief which leads Othello to believe Cassio is truly her secret lover. She lies to make him less upset with her but in the end he only gets more heated and storms out on her. 

IV-V

One of the most impactful moments where fate is involved is when if Othello had been born white there would have been no objections to his and Desdemona's relationship. If he had been white her father would have been proud of Othello where as he is ashamed to have his daughter associating with him. An example of chance was the Turkish fleet being destroyed in the storm. If they had not been destroyed Othello would have had less time to worry about Desdemona and her affair and more of focusing on not dying at the hands of said fleet. The coincidence is when desdemona loses her handkerchief and Othello accuses her of being unfaithful because he believes she gave it to her secret lover

The difference between Othello and Desdemona that Iago plays on most is

that of color, and, reading the play today, we may be tempted to see the play as being centrally about race relations. However, only one other character, besides Othello, makes much of this difference in color. Which one? Is this character sympathetically portrayed?

 The character more suspicious of human nature is Othello.

 In Othello's final soliloquy he talks about his mishaps and all of his sins he has caused and how he has mistakenly killed his wife for no reason. He uses his words to convey to the audience, more likely the male audience, that he was justified in his actions. In his soliloquy he mentions how he loves Desdemona and implies he does not know how bad his actions actually were. In the end othello is more obsessed with the way he will be remembered to the masses rather than seeing how what he did was wrong. He eventually compares himself to a savage outsider which shows how internally he has admitted to the racism of others around him.

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In “Othello” by Shakespeare, animal imagery is used throughout the play to make scenes more dramatic. This tool is commonly applied in numerous amounts of his plays, and many of today’s authors still use it. Animal imagery can make the play easier to comprehend, and can show how the characters, mainly Iago, think. It distinguishes the characters, and also shows variation between them. To be called an animal in a derogatory way had a lot of negative meaning to it, especially because “The Great Chain of Being” had a big impact on the Elizabethan lifestyle. Iago does everything in his power to try to destroy Othello's life for his own satisfaction, even though Othello didn't do anything to deserve it. In Shakespeare's play, Othello, animal imagery is a powerful tool used to further amplify the vulgar mindset on Othello's relationship with his wife, Desdemona.

 The commencement of the whole animal imagery pattern started at the moment when Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was introduced. Iago is trying to prove to Desdemona’s father that she is no longer pure by representing them as animals. “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” (I.I, lines 90-91) Othello and Desdemona have two very distinct differences - race and age. By including this comparison, it reveals two crucial variations between the two characters, with Othello being black and old, and Desdemona being youthful and white. By putting a concoction of rough, bestial images in Brabantio’s mind, Iago is trying to get him to turn on Othello. This is because interracial marriage wasn’t viewed as normal, and Desdemona is also younger than Othello. He wants to make Othello appear much worse than he actually is. By being called a ram, Othello is apparently worth a lot less than human, because according to “The Great Chain of Being”, animals are far less than royalty or humans.

Although Iago is the person that uses animal imagery the most, Othello starts to apply it to himself. Iago uses animal imagery to put a crude image in Othello’s mind to get him to believe that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio. After some time of mentally torturing him, Othello begins to believe all the false statements about Desdemona sleeping with Cassio. After all self respect has been lost, Othello then says, “I had rather be a toad… and live on the vapour of the dungeon than keep a corner in the thing I love for others’ uses.” (III.III, lines 286-289) Othello believes that since his wife is supposedly sleeping with Cassio, he is only worth as much as a toad is - very little. Othello is so mad and disappointed at Desdemona that he would rather be anything else than who he is right now. But little does he know that this whole scheme is all fake.

When Iago uses animal imagery, he tries to make everything sound a lot worse than it actually is. Many of the times he will use them in a crude way, and will use it to further emphasize what he is trying to say. If Iago describes things that are happening by using bestial images, it will make other characters even more mad, and that's just what he wants. Since Othello is black and is married to a white, younger woman, he is pretty easy to make fun of. But Iago tries to ruin his life as much as he can, but the reason why he is doing all of this is because he thinks Othello slept with his wife. He has no proof, but Iago feels that Othello deserves whatever mental pain he has caused him. By comparing him to animals like black rams and barbary horses, it shows that Iago can’t simply just insult Othello, but has to show how similar his animalistic behaviors are.

The use of animal imagery can be a very helpful tool in Shakespeare’s play, “Othello”. It can help to understand the characters better, and it can also emphasize what some characters are saying. It can distinguish the characters and give of good variation of who the characters are. By including animal imagery in “Othello”, it can help the reader understand what is being said because of how they perceive the animal being talked about. It is supposed to show how Othello is corrupting Desdemona, and make him seem like he does animalistic acts. Animals were seen as less than human in the “The Great Chain of Being”, so to be called an animal in a derogatory way had a lot of negative meaning to it. 

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