Comparison Of Hamlet And Iago

A Potent Flavor of Tragedy

In this essay I have looked at the contrast between Hamlet and Iago in their potency of completing actions and their use of power through speaking with others. I intend to show at the end how either extreme leads to their downfall, and in this way they can compare to each other through what happens to them in the end. I had some difficulty figuring out how to tie in implications throughout the essay and I did not know exactly what it meant to tie in an implication in an English essay, versus an implication that would be discussed in TOK. My writing process started out very well, I came up with a thesis, searched for quotes that would support it well, and then created my outline and rough draft. However, after the
In the beginning, he is compared to a dying king of another kingdom, one “who [is] impotent and bed-rid” by his uncle Claudius, and is seen to have little effect on anyone around him. (I.ii.29) The speaker draws this comparison to place emphasis on the weak nature of Hamlet. Within the first acts, his character is not revealed through his communication with others, but through his asides and soliloquies. Upon an encounter with the ghost of his late father and the introduction to his mission to kill Claudius for revenge; Hamlet speaks in a soliloquy full of puzzlement over his subsequent actions. He decides that “break, [his] heart, for [he] must hold [his] tongue”, and thus not to speak with anyone regarding the matter, but search out the correct actions for himself (I.ii.159). Hamlet in this way designates his revenge to be interpersonal and impotent for the time as he determines his course of action, instead of taking action and speaking with others
Each has a direct goal in mind, and though they are different in detail, they are similar in how they are to be brought about. Though Hamlet and Iago have similar goals, their method for attaining each vary greatly. Hamlet speaks within himself; he wishes to be sure of his actions and the repercussions of them before executing his plan. In this way he is seen as an impotent character, one without influence and who does not manipulate his power in order to attain his goal of revenge. On the other hand, Iago directly manipulates people through his use of words and his own actions. He is viewed as a potent character for the way he uses power to attain his goal of a higher standing, and executes actions without seeming to consider the implications of each of them. In the end however, both Hamlet and Iago find themselves facing inevitable death due to their actions. Each character was an extreme of potency, either high potency, or none at all, and ultimately this led to their downfall. The idea of extremes leading to one’s downfall can be seen not only in Hamlet and Othello, but in many other cases as well. Apathy versus passion is an example of two extremes that if found in a marriage or even friendship, could lead to the end of the relationship. Were there such passion within man he could not control himself, it could end in the opposing party