Othello Disturbed

OTHELLO

         Many authors of fiction tend to fill their works with disturbed, problem-plagued, and disaffected characters. Roger Rosenblatt said, “Because defects make for better reading than virtues.” The presence of troubled characters brings more color to the reading. The use of troubled characters forms the books. It shows how the dangers or choices these characters have to make to develop the theme of the book. One of the most well known authors who use troubled characters in their works would be William Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is one character that would be described as a troubled character. Another character that would fall in as a troubled character is Meursault from Albert Camus’s, The Stranger. 

Although he is often referred to as “Honest Iago,”         he steals, lies, cheats and even kills to get what he desires. Iago is a wonderful disturbed character because he gains other’s trust, relentlessly takes advantage of other’s flaws, and unapologetically causes the death of his “friend” in order to achieve his goal of revenge. Iago uses manipulation as his main weapon to seek revenge at Othello because he didn’t get the promotion of second in command, as he believed he deserved it more than Cassio. Iago had a strategy on how to play each character’s personality. He got them to believe his word over anyone else’s word. Nonetheless earning him the nickname “Honest Iago.” Iago is able to get people like Othello, Cassio, and Rodrigo to trust him and provide information that they wouldn’t disclose to anyone else. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s use of disturbed character creates tension and gets the readers saying, “What’s next?”