When Iago's treachery is fully revealed, Othello asks "Why hath thou thus ensnar'd my soul and body?"+ Explain Iago's motives for hating both Othello and Cassio, analyse the methods he uses to ruin their lives and show how Shakespeare reveals Iago's thoughts and plans to the audience.
The play "Othello" was written by the playwright William Shakespeare, one of the best and well-known writers of that period and upto the current day. He wrote it in 1604 to be performed to the new King: King James I and for that reason he included themes in it such as Turkish history, witchcraft and black magic which he knew King James I liked. The play is named after one of the main characters who has a fatal flaw. The character in question is Othello, the Moor of Venice, a believing and honourable member of the Venetian community and a general of the Venetian army. Although the play was named after Othello, Shakespeare brings in a true villan whose name is Iago. At the time Spain was Englands enermy and Iago being a Spanish name makes the audience sure that Iago is evil. Iago could arguably be the main character, making the play a tragedy which is a play in which characters must struggle with circumstances in which most meet death and despair which in this case the Moor's torture and eventually his, and other innocent characters' demise. Shakespeare seems to suggest in this play that white Iago is a very negative character and Othello the black general is the hero. This would have been at a time when much of England would have questioned these views. Shakespeare may have been trying to make a social comment and putting forward a negative attitude towards racism.
The story is based around a tale by the Italian writer Giraldi Cinthio. It begins in Venice, a `nice', civilised city, and moves to the chaotic war in Cyprus. This change has a lot of significance and relevance in the play because it symbolises the changes in Othello's life...