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Iago is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello.
Overview Iago, second in friendship to Othello behind Cassio, spends most of the play attempting to bring about Othello's downfall by leading him to believe his wife, Desdemona, is being unfaithful to him with Cassio, his chief lieutenant. He eventually does destroy Othello's reputation (which leads the Moor to kill himself) but sets the stage for his doom when his wife Emilia reveals his plot. At the end of the play Iago is ordered to be imprisoned by Cassio. Description of character
Possible motives for Iago Iago has been described as a "motiveless malignance" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This reading would seem to suggest that Iago, much like Don John in Much Ado About Nothing, wreaks havoc on the other characters' lives for no ulterior purpose. Possible analysed motives include: In the exposition scene in Oth I,1, he himself states that his prime motivation is rancor at having been passed for promotion to the top post. Racism, disgust at seeing "a black ram tupping a white ewe", and supreme confidence in his ability to cause the fall of Othello and get away with it could therefore be considered quite secondary, although present. Later, in a soliloquy, it is revealed that he suspects Emilia of infidelity with Othello and Cassio. | ||||||||||
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