Shakespearean villains are some of the most complex and the most interesting in all of literature. My all time favorite villains are Lady MacBeth and Iago. What are yours?
Shakespearean villains are some of the most complex and the most interesting in all of literature. My all time favorite villains are Lady MacBeth and Iago. What are yours?
Cassius, not that I like him, but he has some great lines.
I'll have to agree with yon Cassius, but must also add Richard II. He was almost the perfect sociopath, and knew how to mimic compassion but was too impatient to sustain it. He also compares himself (favorably) with Christ and is full of loathesome self-pity.
Macbeth
So many to choose from (though in another sense, there aren't any, because Shakespeare didn't do them--i.e. characters with no redeeming qualities at all).
Goneril and Regan. Edmund. Iachimo. Iago. Claudio. The King ("Claudius"in Hamlet. Angelo. Bertram.
Interesting that one of Shakespeare's favorite *types* of villain is the persecutor of women. Persecutor and above all mistruster, suspecter. Men who claim that women are whores put themselves in a very, very bad light in Shakespeare, whereas the exact opposite was true of all his contemporary rivals. You just couldn't go wrong, in the Elizabethan/Jacobean theatre, by accusing a woman of having sex with someone she wasn't supposed to--except if you were Shakespeare.
My current favorite is Iago--in the Verdi opera, he has a maagnificent aria inct II that shows him to be the epiotome of evil-- he does not have a signivicant reason to destroy others-only the joy of desctruciton--his danger is that he is believed to be trustworthy but has only destruction as a goal--with other villians they have a more clear motive for their villainy--to be the target of destruction for destrucitons saske is llike the fates in Oediupus--the fatal flaw didnt casue it to happen--it happened because it was going to happen--very scary
Definetly Iago is my favourite Shakespearean villan, simply because his motive is nothing more than jealousy. We all at one time or another wanted to "overthrow" someone's successes or triumphs, haven't we?
Well, Iago was "man enough" or stupid to act upon his contempt. :evil:
Is Iago's motive onlyh jealousy--it seems that he embodies destruction-the enjoyment of the destruction of others not jujst for his jealous benefit-almost an incarnation of the devil-destructioin of others for the vlaue of destruction
Best Villian, definently Iago of Othello, but the worst, Don Jon (Pedro?) I can never remember which one or Much Ado About Nothing. But I think he was written to be ridiculous just to start the conflict off and running.
My fav villain has to be Iago, but I don't think we can say he's all evil. Iago is the only character in the play that's truly honest with himself. He knows what he is doing and why. The others never seemed to confront thier problems; Cassio went to Desdemona to solve his problems; Othello flew off the bat and never tried to find the real truth; Desdemona never tried to find out why her husband was acting all strange. Iago doesn't hide the truth from himself in any way. Also, he didn't just destroy for the pleasure of it, he had a logical (to him) plan about what he hoped to gain and how he wanted to gain it. In that, I think he may be one of the greatest of Shakespeare's geniuses (though of course he got caught).
Yesterday is the Past; Tomorrow is the Future; Today is a Gift and that's why it's called the Present.
Richard the Third, you know he's crooked from the moment he steps on stage. And picking up a woman at her husband's funeral, yeah that's villainy.
How about ol' Shylock? Sure, he lacks the wit of Iago and the demonic power of Richard III, but he's incredibly real. His problems are far from romantic - a juvenile delinquent of a daughter, and a business rival who humiliates him at every possible opportunity. Not that he's totally justified in his vengefulness - otherwise he wouldn't be a villain. But his only motive, when it comes down to it, is overwhelming frustration at the feeling that the whole world's against him. I think a lot of people can realate to that.
How about the Duke of Cornwall?
''Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now?''
I agree with Sir Stefan32. Macbeth and Brutus are two of my favorite... Cassius comes in as a close third... I like Macbeth because at the time when I first read the play, he reminded me of myself. I like Brutus because he reminds me of how often the person intending to backstab someone gets stabbed in the back himself. Cassius is just plain cool... I love the scene where Ceaser is talking about why he fears Cassius.Originally Posted by SirStefan32
Told by a fool, signifying nothing.
I like Iago and Richard III.
Iago because I think he's often malevolent for malevolence's sake, though it all started with jealousy I'll grant you. Also Richard, for his utter lack of scruples and because of the speeches he gets to give.
Shylock, too, is a 'good' villain--but I always felt sorry for the guy. I felt the same way about Caliban from The Tempest.
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