Characters Comparison: Othello VS Iago

Many of us will think that the protagonist and antagonist are two completely
different characters. Often we describe the protagonist as a brave, loving and
caring character and the antagonist as being an evil, dishonest and violent
character. That has been the role of story writing for the contrast of characters to
bring out the difference between the two main characters. However, sometimes
there are similarities between these two very different characters even though
they are the complete opposite of each other.

In the Othello. The Moor of Venice. A Tragedy. William Shakespeare, Othello

is the main protagonist and Iago is the main antagonist in this plot. Often readers
describe Othello as a loving, brave, honest, and naïve character. Iago would be
deceiving, dishonest and an evil character. But there are similarities between the
two, even though they can have the same personality traits, they can use it
differently. One of the examples in Othello is that they are both hard-working. The
second thing that they have similarities is their jealousy.

They are both very hard-working characters, Othello works hard for his job
and protects Desdemona, but Iago works hard for his selfishness. Hard-working
can be defined as a person putting in time and effort physically and mentally to
achieve a goal. As the protagonist and antagonist differ, the goals of what they
want to achieve also differ. One example is Iago working so hard to control others
to try to get Othello in trouble. Othello on the other hand is working day and night
to be a good general for Venice’s sake.

However, both of them have jealous personalities, they are often jealous of
what others have and what they don’t. One example is when Othello is jealous
when another man talks to Desdemona, there is a part where Cassio is talking with
Desdemona about Othello wanting to retire him because he drank too much and
caused trouble, and Iago’s words mislead Othello causing Othello to think that
Desdemona was talking to Cassio and that caused Othello’s jealousy went up. In
the end, Othello kills both Cassio and Desdemona due to his jealousy. Iago was
jealous about money and authority, he was very upset when he heard Cassio got
the vice general position and not him, he was so jealous that he wanted to destroy
Cassio and Othello for not getting him in the position he wanted.

Two different characters could have the same traits, they can use it for the
same or different reasons. Hard work could lead you to the top but if you misuse it,
it could cause someone else or yourself to become devastate. Jealousy could also
lead a person into the rabbit hole, and it will dig deeper and deeper for them and
one day they will never get up again.