Iago as the Perfect Villain of Shakespeare's Othello Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello, is a well-rounded character of great depth and many dimensions. Iago works towards a purpose that continually changes and becomes progressively more tragic. Yet, at times, honest Iago actually seems honest. This essay will explore the complex character of honest Iago. One of the most interesting questions that emerge concerns Iago's motivations. What are his reasons for killing all the leading Venetians in Cyprus? distinct reasons for avenging Othello The first is the fact that Othello promotes Cassio, an "arithmetic", to the rank of lieutenant and bypasses Iago who is only a sergeant. Secondly, Iago is suspicious of his wife Emilia and thinks that she sleeps with all other men except him, including Othello. There are other reasons that Iago talks about in his soliloquies: the main one is jealousy or "the green-eyed monster". " Iago resents the love that Othello and Desdemona share and also takes offense at the fact that Othello is older, yet has a young and beautiful wife, power and respect, everything Iago desires. However, all these reasons seem to be false and made up just for the sake of being an excuse for his malice. He also uses these reasons to convince Roderigo to hate Othello real reason seems to be just a mistake on Iago's part when he says in the fifth act, while waiting to stab Cassio : "If Cassio stays, he has an everyday beauty in his life that makes me ugly..." He refers to Cassio's goodness here and realizes that he lacks his gentlemanly traits are just the same class and Iago if he suffers from it, because he knows that the promotion was not... halfway... those people who have always admired him and called him "honest" Iago, realize this Being a Shakespearean tragedy, Iago and, ultimately,. evil, triumph. Works cited and consulted Bradley, AC. Shakespearean tragedy. New York: Penguin, 1991. By Yanni, Robert. "Character revealed through dialogue." Readings on tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprinted from Literature. N. p.: Random House, 1986. Mack, Maynard. Everyone is Shakespeare: reflections especially on tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.Shakespeare. Othello. The Longman anthology of British literature. Ed. Rossi. New York: Longman, 1999. 312-379.Shakespeare, William. Othello. In Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996.http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No lines n..