Character analysis comparing Othello and Iago in Shakespeare's play

¶ … Iago and Othello are taken from the play Othello penned by Shakespeare, a master at depicting psychological and personality nuances among characters. Othello is the same sort of a play that personifies vengeance more than any other emotion.

There are some fundamental differences between the character profiles of Iago and those of Othello that shall be discussed here. The plot of the play revolves around Othello who is the protagonist in this tale, sharing his limelight with Iago, who has more lines and wrecks more havoc than any other villain in Shakespeare's characters. (Rosenberg)

Othello is the moor who is in love with Desdemona, while Iago is his faithful soldier, who has been as Othello's side for a long time, but was superseded by Cassio, Othello's subsequent choice of an admiral for himself. While this might not have been the only reason of Iago's jealousy, it does add to the reason why he behaves the way in which he was portrayed to behave. (Stone)

Othello

Othello is a moor, who is a representation of what is noble and good in men. He is personified as a dark noble leader who loves the naive Desdemona, a fair lady whom he thinks he doesn't deserve. It is partially this feeling of insecurity that fuels his rage against his innocent wife and leads him to believe that she was cheating on him with Cassio.

Othello, is a character depicted by Shakespeare as being naive and unreflecting, who easily gets incited by Iago and falls prey to Iago's vengeance without a cause. In fact critics have argued that Shakespeare was constrained by the stereotypes and ethnic discrimination that was a norm at the time in an in-depth portrayal of a dark man. (Stone)

Othello is a contradiction of his own noble values which he abandons as soon as Iago tells him that Desdemona is cheating on him.

Othello, at the core of his being is an uncharacteristically trusting and unsuspicious moor, who has complete trust in Iago's intent for giving counsel to him. Moreover, as Othello is insecure about his relationship with Desdemona, he, in his naivety is easily led asunder by Iago. All Iago has to do is to whisper in Othello's ear and stage a simple scene to have Othello going after his wife to kill her.

Once Othello does kill her, his temporary rage subsides and with the help of Emilia he sees the wrong of his ways. But by the time it is too late for him to remedy his fallacy.

In a way Othello also describes repentance when the mistakes that have been done cannot be corrected and represents repentance, which Othello is unable to seek, and damage he is unable to repair. (Witzel)

Iago

Iago probably is one of the most interesting characters created by Shakespeare. Iago fought beside the Moor, and is portrayed as loving Othello dearly. However, the vileness in his heart takes over him for several reasons; one of these being vengeance at not being given the position, with Iago thought was rightfully his. Other reasons, as stated by critics are that Iago was jealous of Othello's nobility, Desdemona's childlike innocence and Cassio's beauty, all of which made him feel lesser about himself.

Portrayed as a jealous man, Iago is often referred to as a malevolent man who acts as such due to the wickedness of his heart. Some analysts have also gone on to say that Iago was a homosexual who is in love with Othello and jealous of Desdemona and hence taking it upon himself to ruin their lives. Caught in the drama is Cassio, who is mercilessly used but not killed by Iago.

Iago's character portrays wickedness of heart and a man who is unable to control his emotions. Moreover he is a reflective soul who knows the minds and souls of these people inside out speaking some phrases and words that give an insight into how well Shakespeare knows the psychology of humans and how easy it is sometimes to fool them by addressing the insecurities in their hearts. (Witzel)

Summing up Iago's premise and his profound insight into life, his dialoged aptly reflects his personality where Iago exclaims that:

"If the balance of our lives had no tone scale of reason to poise another of sensuality, the blood and baseness of our nature would conduct us to preposterous conclusions. (I.iii.329)"

Annotated Bibliography

Rosenberg, Marvin. The masks of Othello: the search for the identity of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona by three centuries of actors and critics . Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 1992 .

The book is an avid source on how the three main characters in Othello are portrayed by the playwright. These three characters describe human nature, at its best in terms of Desdemona, an innocent girl, Othello a clear hearted man but who suffers from Jealousy and Iago who is wickedness personified. The book has helped analyze the characters of Iago and Othello from various perspectives.