Sinister Themes In Othello

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When one hears the name Shakespeare, what comes to mind? A playwright and a poet, love or death? Possibly both. That timeless tale of star-crossed lovers, Rome and Juliet. Shakespeare might be dead, but his stories and characters are still very much alive. “Shakespeare, after all, has long enjoyed more prestige than any other English–language author” (Evans). One of Shakespeare’s most widely known Plays, Othello has been remade into movies, and some T.V shows have even taken to borrowing similar themes. There are many topics in Othello that relate to modern times, but the focus of this essay lies with a more sinister character. The character Iago from Othello is a conniving manipulator who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, a modern …show more content…
I have no patience for useless things” (Chapter 1), as he says this he is smothering a dog to death. We see that deadly side of him again with the journalist Zoe Barnes. Ms. Barnes became a nuisance when she started investigating Frank, shining a light on a murder he had committed and covered up. So Frank did what any modern day Iago would do, and he killed her. He shoved her in front of a moving train at the subway (Chapter …show more content…
They will stop at nothing to accomplish their goals. In the play, Iago is seen by others as honest and good. Yet he lets the audience see his true self. “Iago is very aware of his audience and how to “abuse” his “ear” (377); as he puts it elsewhere, he’ll “pour . . . pestilence” through the “ear” (2.3.323); he will seek to appear good, so his eloquence may effect evil” (Beier). Frank Underwood behaves in the same way, he appears to be helping and good, yet he has so many other ulterior motives for everything he does “he continues to involve the audience directly in his duplicity by breaking the fourth wall” (Sandra). Shakespeare’s Iago lives on in Frank Underwood. Though they had different end goals they went about achieving them in the same way through murder, mischief and manipulation. Maybe if they had just been given their due promotions all the chaos that unraveled could have been avoided. Although that wouldn’t have made for a very good

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