Professor: Frances Torres
Class: INGL3222
University: University of Puerto Rico, Ponce Campus
Comparison
between Iago from “Othello” and Richard III: A brief analysis at two of
Shakespeare’s greatest villains
William Shakespeare, he’s not any other literary
figure, he is the most important figure in the English modern language and
literature. With his potential and groundbreaking writing ways, he created some
of the most memorable stories and characters. Such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,
Macbeth, Othello: The Moor of Venice and Richard III. From the later two, we
have two of the greatest villains he’s ever written: Iago, a man who’s envy
towards the Moor led him to plot and create chaos throughout the whole play;
and Richard III, a greedy and thirsty man who would do anything to be King,
killing along the way many lives, mostly family members. Now, how come these
two characters are considered as some of the most evil portrayals? What sets
them apart from other villains?
Both Iago and Richard take advantage of the trust
they are planted with to manipulate others’ thoughts and actions. They are the
type of villains who won’t show their true ways to those around them, on the
contrary, they show “honesty” and play their game in an underground way for no
one to suspect nor spreads their real intentions. It is at the beginning of the
play where Shakespeare puts his villains’ true intentions out in a monologue,
for the audience to predict what’s going to happen and for what reason; also,
it helps to start building a certain hate towards them when they reveal their
twisted desires and for what purposes. Since the very beginning, the audience
feels repulsive towards the character, which also out-stands Shakespeare’s
genius writing style.
Iago, or how he is known in the play: “Honest Iago”,
shows the racism and unexplained hate towards the Moor, Othello, who is a kind
and noble man. His true motive is never revealed for he just simply stated that
he hates the Moor and would do anything to destroy him. He plants the doubts on
the poor moor’s mind, making him think that Desdemona, his wife, was unfaithful
to him with one of his knights. However, his plan doesn’t work as desired
because his wife, Emilia, shows his intentions by the end of the play. Even so,
this didn’t prevent the murder of Othello’s wife by his own hands or his
suicide for doing so. It is not shown if Iago felt ashamed of his evil actions
by the end of the play, but he did live on, since death was not a punishment
meant for him. He was going to pay in the living life.
Richard, however, is driven by his desires to be king;
he slowly begins to work his way up, getting his brother killed and his other
sibling, to die filled with regrets. He poisoned his wife; widow to another of
his victims, when he didn’t need her anymore and also killed his two nephews,
both still children. He takes out of the way anyone who doubts him or blocks
his way to the crown. In the end, he gets to be king by convincing the people
he is the one they need, but is betrayed by his own military force on a battle
where everyone goes against him. His and the enemy soldiers kill Richard and
leave his body in the battlefield. In the end of both plays, the evil-doers get
to pay for his actions, which show the triumph of good over evil. But even so,
it comes with a cost.
No comments:
Post a Comment