Keywords

Othello, Iago, Shakespeare, Jung

Abstract

Shakespeare's Othello, one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies, showcases the works and cunning of one well-known and even well-loved villains, Iago. Iago is a chameleon of a character easily capable of manipulating those around him to meet his ends. All the cleverness and cold calculation homaged, he lacks any definitive motive or driving purpose, merely revenge on the seemingly guiltless Othello. This determined denial of a motive and extremity of action reflects well Carl Jung, a well-celebrated personality psychologist, and his theory on personality, specifically the "shadow" archetype. The shadow is an amoral, metaphorical storage center of humankind's propensity to do evil, and Iago seems to be all shadow and all show. He puts on a good display of variation in character, but he seems driven only by muddled revenge. Jung's theories, put against Iago's character, reveal him to be a character of depth and have a role in the play and in the overall themes that extends far

Description

Intensive reading, discussion, and (in some sections) viewing of plays from the comedy, tragedy, romance, and history genres.