IAGO
(ee-AH-goh)
Fictional
character in Shakespeare’s Othello Common clues:
Emilia's husband; “Othello” villain; Shakespearean
villain; Enemy of the Moor; Storied traitor; Cassio's rival;
Verdi villain; Play plotter Crossword
puzzle frequency:
6 times a year Frequency
in English language:
26255 / 86800 Video: Iago's
monologue
Iago:
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.
Othello
Act 3, scene 3, 155–161
Iago
is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago, one of
Othello's best friends, spends most of the play attempting to
bring about Othello's downfall out of jealousy. He eventually
does destroy Othello's reputation (which leads the Moor to kill
himself), but sets the stage to his own doom when his wife Emilia
reveals the whole of his plot. At the end of the play Iago is
ordered imprisoned and executed by Cassio, Othello's chief
lieutenant.
Lawrence
Fishbourne and Kenneth Brannagh as Othello and Iago.
Iago
is one of Shakespeare's most sinister villains. Shakespeare
contrasts Iago with Othello's nobility and integrity of
character. He has more lines in the play than Othello does - the
most any of Shakespeare's non-title characters has.
Iago
fits into the character type of the malcontent because of his
bitter and cynical view of what he sees in the play.
While
the play suggests motives for Iago's hateful scheming, many
readers feel that a deeper root remains hidden. Iago cites
suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful to him with Othello
or bitterness that Othello passed him up for a big promotion.
Whatever his deepest motivation, his hatred towards the Moor is
unwavering and moves the action of the play forward. Some modern
directors interpret Iago's hate as racism.
The
role of Iago has been played in theatre by many famous film
stars, such as Ian McKellen, Christopher Plummer, Laurence
Olivier and Kenneth Branagh.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Iago".
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