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How Cruelty Often Functions as a Crucial Motivation

The play begins in a specific city in the state of Venice; the city was well-known for its business trade and banking skills, as well as for its distinctive military capabilities, which were considered to be mighty. A scene from the play took place in the early morning hours. This was when two men, Rodrigo and Desdemona, the daughter of a former senator, and Iago, who claims to have gained the favor of promotion from Othello, stood outside the senator’s house. They wanted to inform him of the latest news regarding Othello and his daughter and getting along. After telling the senator the story, he swiftly left, leaving Rodrigo to determine whether or not the narrative was true (Backman, 2019). Later, Iago meets with Othello to inform him of the senator’s reaction to the story, which arose from their relationship. When the three Othello’s appeared before the Duke, Senator Brabantio and his daughter Desdemona were called up to testify. Brabantio accused Othello of seducing his daughter through the use of witchcraft, and Othello explained that he had won her heart simply by telling her about his adventures. Desdemona was also called up to testify, and she told the senator that she had gone with Othello out of love and freedom to marry him. Desdemona begged permission from the duke to accompany Othello on his journey to Cyprus, where he had been appointed as a general of defense against the Turks.

The duke agreed and permitted them. Othello made plans for how Desdemona would accompany him. Othello, who appeared to have faith in Iago, plans to follow him later on another vessel. Iago has been untrustworthy for a long time, yet Othello has faith in him. When Iago arrives in Cyprus, he begins plotting against Othello by lying about Desdemona’s fidelity and implicating Cassio as the woman’s lover. Iago manipulates Cassio to bring about Othello’s demise throughout the entire process. Iago orchestrated a conflict that would have resulted in Cassio’s demotion by enlisting the help of Roderigo. They then set up a secret meeting with Desdemona, who had agreed to speak on her husband’s behalf during the public forum.

As Cassio was leaving, Othello and Iago arrived, and Othello was able to see how Cassio departed with a high speed. Iago seized the moment and pointed out that Cassio was trying to avoid the moor. The incident happened, and Desdemona continued to plead to Othello on behalf of Cassio, unknowingly confirming to Othello of her unfaithfulness the way Iago had wanted. Othello accused Desdemona, but she kept telling him and assuring him how she loved him, not knowing what she had done to offend him. Iago urged Desdemona to kill Cassio, and late that night, Cassio was attacked. While Desdemona was in bed, Othello told her to say her last words before he had to kill her (Backman, 2019). Desdemona begged, but Othello smoothed her with a pillow, but Emilia, who was Desdemona’s servant, raised the alarm declaring Iago a liar, and Iago stabs her. Othello stood on his honor and asked to be remembered. He stabs himself and falls on his bed alongside his wife.

In this play, Othello, Iago has the evil character that influences many of the majority in the plot through his cruelty. At the start of the work, Othello and Desdemona had been married recently, and the couple was perfect. They were contented though Desdemona’s father had blamed Othello for using witchcraft to win the heart of the senator’s daughter, which was not justified. Othello had also appointed Cassio over Iago. Through this, Iago was manipulative so that he was able to bring about the downfall of every character in the play. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago’s subtle cruelty drives other characters to do their acts of cruelty, which they may have no otherwise deemed possible.

Iago’s deeds of cruelty are not overt, but covert and the other characters are completely unaware of them. Iago enters and exits people’s minds, causing them to be unaware of his terrible deceptions and deceptions. He pretends to be assisting his friend Rodrigo in gaining Desdemona’s love away from Othello, while in reality, he is manipulating his friend for his advantage in this situation. Iago’s evil aims at the beginning of the play were to bring down and eliminate Othello for choosing Cassio over him for the job of lieutenant and for Cassio for garnering favor with Othello by beating him in the role of lieutenant in the first place. The manipulative methods he employs to frame Cassio into sleeping with Desdemona serve as a means of bringing the two down together (Backman, 2019). He depicts a sense of jealousy by disseminating news, fabricating rumors, and fabricating fiction. In his motives and his words and deeds, Iago is cruel to Othello, leading him to believe his wife is cheating on him, causing him to lose his mind and descend into a state of anguish and madness in the process. Although Iago is nasty to practically every character throughout the plot, whether through spreading lies or creating false fiction, the characters’ reactions to the lies or cruelty reveal more about them than about Iago himself.

Iago’s cruelty causes Othello and Rodrigo to become cruel as a result, yet when Desdemona is subjected to his remarks, she does not become cruel in the same way. Iago takes advantage of his impoverished buddy Rodrigo by misleading him into believing that he will assist him in winning the heart of Desdemona. Still, it soon becomes evident that Rodrigo has also learned to be cruel during this period, which is revealed in the play. His hatred and jealousy were spurred further when he learned of Cassio’s affair with Desdemona. At Iago’s advice, he attempted to assassinate Cassio and was unsuccessful. The cruelty of Iago is the source of most of the drama in the play, but it is the others who are the carriers of evil. Othello falls prey to this and kills his wife, Desdemona, in their bed. Even though Desdemona claimed she had done nothing wrong, such as infidelity, Othello was so passionately filled with his fury that he was unable to hear her out. Even though he would never have murdered or killed her if Iago’s nasty rumors had not been spread about him, his murder of her proved what he had in him all along. Despite all of Iago’s violence, Desdemona’s reputation remained unblemished even after her death at the king’s hands. Desdemona does not turn to herself, even though Iago’s vicious allegations have indirectly brought her life to an end. After her husband came close to murdering her, she denied even then that she had tasted his notoriety, and she now maintains that it is her fault that she is dying.

Iago’s harshness was the catalyst that brought everyone, including himself, to their knees, yet he is not the only one to blame for their plight. His cruelty reveals a great deal more about his victims than it shows about him. One cruel action leads to another, and the cyclical nature of evil continues as long as there is even a speck of evil cruelty in one’s soul. The role of cruelty can be varied, but it is almost always guaranteed to breed even more brutality.

In conclusion, the play starts in a particular city in the state of Venice, the city was well known for its business trade and banking qualities, and their special military there was believed to be mighty. In the morning hours were two men, Rodrigo, a young man, and Desdemona, a former senator’s daughter. Iago, who claims to have gained the favor of promotion from Othello, was outside the senator’s house to inform him about the news of Othello and his daughter about how they are coping along. Later on in the play, we see Desdemona requested the duke’s permission to accompany Othello where he was leaving to Cyprus, for he was chosen as a general of defense against the Turk. Duke gave them approval, and Othello arranged how Desdemona would follow him, Othello who seemed to trust Iago, agreed to follow him later using another ship. Iago is not trustable all this long, but Othello trusts him, reaching. In Cyprus, Iago plots against Othello by telling lies about Desdemona about her fidelity and implicating Cassio as her lover. All this along, Iago was using Cassio to destroy Othello. In the play, Desdemona begged Othello not to kill her, but Othello smoothed her with a pillow. Still, Desdemona’s servant, Emilia, raises the alarm declaring Iago a liar, and Iago stabs her. Othello stood on his honor and asked to be remembered. He stabs himself and falls on his bed alongside his wife.

The evil character Iago instigates most of the plot through his cruel ways. Iago’s cruelty was the cause that led to the downfall of everyone, including himself, but he is not the only one responsible. His cruelty tells a lot about his victims than it does about himself. One cruel action leads to the other, and the cyclical nature of evil endures when one has at least a hint of evil cruelty in himself. Cruelty functions in many ways, but it is nearly always guaranteed to breed more cruelty. The ending symbolizes the culmination of forces that Iago brought at the start of the plot. Iago has been so successful that every character, including Othello, wants to kill himself.

Works cited

Backman, F. (2019). Beartown. . Simon & Schuster.

 

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