Iago Essay

The ever cunning Iago is revealing an important fact about himself; he will manipulate and act deceptively if it suits his motives. The audience should understand that Iago is not to be trusted. The scene where this is stated also shows how naïve Roderigo can be. Roderigo doesn't take Iago's words to heart. Roderigo dies later in the play because of Iago.

Iago never acted as a bad person, He honestly was a very trustworthy individual before Othello chose Cassio over him. As soon as that moment occurred, Something happened to Iago. Something in his brain triggered and everything he stood for left in his head. He truly turned into someone who he wasn't. He was now who he was.

When looking into why Iago did what he did the reader can make a few assumptions about the mental state of Iago. Iago is stated saying “I have looked into this world eight times seven years” which if you are feeling mathy, means that he is 28 years old. It is very common for mental disorders start to develop and kick in when someone is in their twenties. I believe that there is a chance that Iago developed a mental disorder from birth and the horror that he felt when Othello chose Cassio is what triggered it in his head to kick in.

As far as what this disorder is, there are many that can fit the bill. The two main disorders that I might attempt to diagnose Iago with are schizophrenia and a variant of multiple personality disorder. If one of these mental disorders kicked in from a traumatic event such as Cassio being chosen then it would explain Iago’s strange behavior. He might be suffering from hallucinations leading him down wrong paths and such. I believe that a mental disorder is the explanation for his behavior and I believe that Iago is accepting that and acknowledging that in the quote “I am not what I am”.

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