Why this statement couldn’t be anymore wrong. iago

Why is Iago guilty you may ask? Well he’s a manipulative sociopath who should be responsible for his heinous crimes.

Iago is one of the main characters in the dramatic play Othello, by shakespeare. In the play, Othello, the main character, was in love with a beautiful woman named desdemona, but not only did he have the girl, he had a very honorable and desirable position as a General. Iago grew jealous and plotted against Othello so that he could gain power for himself. Iago is manipulative and deceiving, that’s why he’s responsible for all the deaths in the play Othello.     Some may argue that Iago shouldn’t be punished but receive mental help. They believe that Iago shows signs of antisocial personality disorder, and isn’t a sociopath.

This statement couldn’t be anymore wrong. Iago was completely aware of his actions and emotions at that time, he even stated that he felt guilty. The critics are trying to diagnose him as a psychopath, or, someone suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. To oppose this, none of Iago’s actions where abnormal, he did everything with a reason behind it. What he did, he did out of jealousy and ambition.

He stated in Act I, scenes i and iii, “ Though I do hate him as I do hell pains, / Yet, for necessity of present life, / I must show out a flag and sign of love—  / Which is indeed but sign.” and “ I hate the Moor,/ And it is thought abroad, that ‘ twixt my sheets/ ‘ Has done my office. I know not if ‘ t be true, / But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, / Will do as if for surety.” This is Iago stating to himself that his jealousy was based on Othello.  He wanted what Othello had, and power craze drew him mad.

Rather than a phycopath, this information backs up someone with a personality disorder who has extreme antisocial attitudes, behavior and a lack of conscience.     Iago lacks any conscience and takes risks with little regard for his actions. Many sociopaths are responsible for violent actions and outbursts. For example, Iago had violent intentions towards Othello, but when he appointed Cassio as the lieutenant, he became extremely agitated. He stated in act v, scene ii, ” .

.. Live Roderigo, / He calls me to a restitution large / Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him / As gifts to Desdemona. / It must not be. If Cassio do remain / He hath a daily beauty in his life / That makes me ugly.” This eventually led him to try and kill Cassio by taunting Roderigo to fight him.

During this fight Iago had grew impatient and stabbed Cassio hoping to end him. This only concludes that he acted out of impulse because he wanted them dead. He clearly didn’t take into consideration that if everyone had died and no one knew what happened, that Iago would be put into question because he has the notion of going up in the lines of his work. He would be the new lieutenant if Cassio died and probably the general if he wasn’t caught. Iago’s responsible for all his actions and all the murders in the play. Somehow he single handedly managed to manipulate all the characters, and even kill someone with his own hands. To start off, Othello was Iago’s main target ever since the beginning of the play.

So, in order for Iago to get what he wanted, he had to ruin Othello’s relationships and reputation. He started off by having Othello get rid of Cassio and accusing him of cheating with his wife. While in the meantime, Iago told Cassio to go to desdemona to convince her to help get his job back. Othello was told that desdemona’s concern for cassio was because of the affair.

Knowing all of this, Iago just played along and got into Othello’s head. Once Iago had made Othello sure of the non existent affair, Othello was compelled to kill his wife. When analyzing this evidence, it’s clearly seen that Iago was the reason why Othello killed his wife, and commited suicide from heartbreak. Although, unlike iago, Othello felt extremely guilty for his actions, even though it was Iago’s fault. Don’t you think that a man who broke up a beautiful relationship and caused them to murder themselves is a dangerous person to keep around people? Furthermore, Iago should be charged for 1st degree murder.

He killed Rodrigo in cold blood. Iago had set up a whole situation between Cassio and Rodrigo only to run in at the end and kill Rodrigo. He tried covering up his tracks by playing off that he didn’t know who it was, saying “ Oh, me, lieutenant! What villains have done this?” (5. 1. 57) The real reason he killed Rodrigo was so he could keep the riches he had given to him in return of Desdemona’s attention. Sadly Iago kept the jewels for himself and never intended to give the stolen jewels to anyone. If anything, Iago should also be charged for theft.

As my final statement, i strongly disagree with this thought of Iago being labeled as innocent. He’s an evil monster who made a man feel so extremely guilty for something he didn’t truly caused. In addition to that, he is responsible for every death that occurred whether he physically committed it or not. He’s the one that lied and acted impulsively causing trouble, in the attempt to could gain power.

I plead Iago guilty on the account of him manipulating people to the point of assassination and on the account of him being a sociopath.