¶ … 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is in love with Desdemona, while Iago is his faithful soldier, who has been as Othello's side for a long time, but was superseded by Cassio, Othello's subsequent choice of an admiral for himself.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...
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;…
