Revenge-Seeking Villains in "Othello," "The Merchant of Venice," and "The Crucible"
Summary:
The villains in three works of literature-- William Shakespeare's "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice" and Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"--are compared. Iago, Shylock and Abigail Adams are evil, but only Iago in "Othello" succeeds in his schemes.
In the two William Shakespeare plays, "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice", and also the play by Arthur Miller titled "The Crucible" there are characters that are significantly viewed as villains. In "Othello" the character Iago is the villain. Just because he was not picked as lieutenant he used lies and deceit to trick Othello into killing his wife and himself. In Shakespeare's other work "The Merchant of Venice" the villain in the play is Shylock. His motivation for being villainous is his hatred toward Christians. He tried to use the law and a bond made by Antonio to steal a pound of his flesh, but was stopped by the fine print of the bond. The villain in Millers work Abigail was motivated by the man of her dreams to kill his wife. She planed on doing this by blaming her of witch craft, but her plan fell through at the end and she mysteriously vanished at the end of the play. Even though Shylock and Abigail both demonstrate great motivation for revenge Iago was clearly the most effective in regards to the degree of his success; there for Iago is the most effective villain.
The motivation for all three characters varies to a certain measure. Abigail's and Iago's appear to be the most selfish while Shylock is trying to get revenge on the Christians for all they have done to him. He especially hates how the person asking him for money treats him: "Fair sir, you spet on me on Wednesday last; you spurned me such a day; another time you called me a dog; and for these curtsies I lend you thus money."(Merchant 15). When Shylock says fair sir you spet on me last Wednesday he literally means that Antonio's has spit on him because he's a Jew. This hatred that they have towards him and Jews is what influences him to plot against them and try to take Antonio's life. Abigail plots against Elizabeth Proctor just because she wants her husband John. She was in an affair with John, but after Elizabeth found out she fired Abigail and that fueled her motivation to be with John. At the same time she was also covering up what she had been doing with the town girls who were dancing naked in the woods and practicing witchcraft. She insists the other girls tell none of the event: "You drank blood Abby! You didn't tell him that. Betty, you must never say anything again! You will never-" (Miller 19). When Abigail says you must never say anything again, she wants the dancing to be kept complete secret so she will not get in trouble. This is great motivation for her to just blame witch craft on everybody and try to get her way with John while protecting her self and destroying Elizabeth. Iago's reasons for becoming a villain are also childish and out of jealousy. He is angry that he was not picked to be Othello's Lieutenant and that Cassio was: "Preferment goes by letter and affection, and not by old gradation." (Othello 2). This quote shows why Iago is disappointed for not being promoted. He feels that someone should be preferred for their number of years in service not by their gradation. Although Shylock had good motivation, all were justifiable by the villain's point of view.
Iago and Abigail use slightly similar methods of achieving their success while Shylock leaves it in the hands of a court and the laws. Abigail used a poppet doll to frame Elizabeth of witchcraft because it had a pin stuck in its belly the same night Elizabeth had a horrible pain there: "Here now Mary how did this poppet come into my house"" (Miller 71). John proctor is asking her slave who was with Abby all day how the poppet got into the house. Mary was given it to place in the house and since it had a pin in its belly the police would be assured that Elizabeth was a criminal. This would make it easier to get with John, and have people believe that she was truly affected by witches. Iago also tries to frame someone, but not to better himself. Iago frames sweet Desdemona as a cheater just so she will be done away with and Othello will be wrong done. Iago tells Othello not to be jealous and that he should not love his wife because she is not faithful: "It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss who certain of his fate loves not his wronger." (Othello 46). When he says who certain of his fate loves not his wronger he means that a person who knows what he wants to do and is of high authority should not have a faithless wife. He tells this directly to Othello so he considers his life and whether or not he still wants to be with Desdemona. The un-assurance and plain evidence led Othello to plan out the murder of his wife. Shylock on the contrary decides to leave his revenge in the hands of the court. He makes a bond with Antonio that claims he must pay with one pound of flesh if he is not able to repay the 3000 ducats: "Let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken in what part of your body pleaseth me. (Merchant 16). When shylock says let the forfeit be nominated for one pound of your fair flesh he means instead of paying late fees on the loan in more ducats he wants it to be paid in Antonio's flesh. He does this because he hopes that Antonio's money is too tied up to pay him back on time and that he will have a chance to kill the person that spit on his Jewish heritage. This method of Shylocks seems to be the most reliable unless Antonio can pay back the loan. Other wise it's flawless because once they go to court he must be awarded his pound of flesh. Unfortunately it does not turn out in his favor.
The varying degrees of success are what makes and breaks these villains. Abigail and Shylock both end up getting screwed at the end. Abigail never truly succeeded because after the entire trial she apparently stole her uncle's moneys and left: "The legend has it that Abigail turned up later as a prostitute." (Miller echoes down the corridor). When Miller says that she has later turned up as a prostitute it lets the reader instantly know that Abigail has not succeeded. This failure to succeed makes her a poor villain and it's sad because she wasted a lot of lives of all the people she accused. Shylock has come out victorious until his plan is foiled by Portia: "This bond doth give thee here not jot of blood." (Merchant 76). When Portia says give thee here no jot of blood she is telling shy lock that in the bond it says that he may not shed Antonio's blood. This slim mistake in the writing of the bond is what has screwed him over in the long run. He would have had his revenge against Antonio had he possibly been more specific or had Portia not come to rescue Antonio in disguise. The most successful villain appears to be Iago. He greatly succeeded in what he wanted to do which was destroying the moor. He did not care about anything that happened as long as his main plan went through. Iago was finally found out thanks to his wife: "My husband say that she was false!" (Othello 85). When Emilia says this quote she is questioning if Iago has told Othello that Desdemona was a cheater. By then it is too late though. Othello has already slain his wife on top of their bed, and he decides to commit suicide next to her. This is exactly what Iago wanted to happen even though he has gotten caught. To Iago this is success to the fullest. This is what makes him a better villain then Abigail and Shylock, because even though he isn't free of his crimes at the end he doesn't care and he is happy that he has accomplished his task of destroying Othello.
The motivations and methods used by all three characters qualify to make them all villains but their degree of success is which separates the good from the bad from the great. Iago being great because he fully succeeded, and Shylock and Abigail being good and bad because they did not succeed to the fullest that they wanted to. Thus Iago is the most effective villain due to the degree of success he reached using his methods of lie and deceit.
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