How and why is the public the persona that Iago presents different from the character revealed in his soliloquies

Essay by maxludoHigh School, 10th gradeA-, March 2004

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In Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago presents a different persona in his soliloquies for a particular outcome; Iago is Shakespeare's most duplicitous character and this gives him the power through which he can explore ideas of deception, illusion, betrayal and reality. Iago reveals a very different persona to the other characters in the play because it is a large part of his deception with which he wreak's his revenge. It also adds another dimension of reality, as it empowers the audience with knowledge withheld from other characters and creates the sense of tragedy associated with Shakespeare's plays.

Othello confronts us with the evil possibilities of the human and Iago in particular forces us to consider many of the important themes in the play. Iago is very sly because he is able to ruin Othello and simultaneously destroy as many other lives as possible. Iago pretends to be friends with the characters he manipulates to get them to unwittingly take part in his revenge.

He is very intelligent in bringing this together, as it is not until the very end of the play that people begin to suspect that someone is trying to deceive them, but by then it is tragically too late.

Iago begins his plot after Othello did not appoint him as his new lieutenant. It is in some ways easy for him to begin putting his plan into action as he has already built up friendly and trusting relationships with many of the characters. The reason they do not even question him in relation to the issues that arise in the text is because his deception is cunning enough never to cause them to suspect him. He knows people trust him and he therefore knows he has the power to manipulate them and use their trust in anyway he...