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Iago's Nature Of Evil

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Iago's Nature Of Evil
Iago is presented as one of the most striking characters in this tragic play and from the beginning of the play; we realize that Iago is the essence of viciousness. As we can see in act 1 scene 3, Iago expresses his feelings towards Othello by telling Rodrigo: "I hate the Moor. My cause is hearted. Thine hath no less reason. Let us be conjunctive in our revenge against him". However, the motivation behind Iago's actions lies more in his pursuit for personal advantage, as opposed to just being evil for evil's sake. Iago's greediness can be validated by examining his manipulation of Roderigo, Cassio and Othello. Iago's main concern is to ruin Othello because Othello has chosen another man, Cassio, as his deputy, preferring him to Iago. This hatred suits Iago's made-up accusations of adultery and his obvious racism, and cause him to hate Othello, and shortly after, begin to contrive against him.

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