How does Shakespeare present Iago as a tragic villain in Act 1 Essay Example

How does Shakespeare present Iago as a tragic villain in Act 1 Paper Shakespeares Iago is the antagonist of Othello but what makes him tragic is an enigma as he is reticent and seems motiveless. However, Shakespeare prints three possible motives into the play that present him as tragic. Iago is a Machiavellian villain as was Macbeth in Macbeth, written two years after Othello, and A.C. Bradley notes how Italian villainy was prevalent in Shakespeares time1. Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher and political adviser. One of his most famous works is The Prince that outlines how a monarch should gain control by deceiving his opponent as an ally. Iago says he will follow Othello only to serve my turn upon him2 in that he may achieve his revenge. He is also a character built on amorality. A.C. Bradley says that he is a psychological impossibility and a product of imperfect observation3 but if he were to be perceived as amoral then his behaviour and scheming may be explained due to him being psychotic there was little knowledge of psychotic behaviour in the 16th century and insanity was diagnosed by religious leaders as being influenced by the devil which Iago is realized to be in Act five, scene two by the other characters: We will write a custom essay sample on How does Shakespeare present Iago as a tragic villain in Act 1 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How does Shakespeare present Iago as a tragic villain in Act 1 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How does Shakespeare present Iago as a tragic villain in Act 1 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer I look down towards his feet; but thats a fable. If that you best a devil, I cannot kill thee. I bleed, sir; but not killed. The feet signify the devils hooves and the mere wound Othello deals Iago acts as evidence that Iago is the devil. The word fable also recognises the story that Iago has conjured up that has hid his true identity. The first motive is that he wants revenge on Othello and Cassio for preventing his promotion as he is worth no worse a place the first indication that he sees himself as above others. He is snide about how Cassio is an arithmetician that never set a squadron in the field, which illustrates how better equipped he is for the position and how Cassio is: A fellow almost damned in a fair wife. The word damned indicates how malevolent an act he sees making a man into a cuckold which may insinuate a tragic past. Secondly, Iagos villainy may sprout from racial prejudice, as it was unusual to have a black hero in Shakespeares time. When shouting at Brabantios window he distinguishes between Desdemona and Othellos colour and denotes how primitive he finds their sexual relationship using animal imagery: an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe. In his soliloquy at the end of act one, scene three, he accuses Desdemona of only being interested with Othellos body: when she is sated with his body, she will find the error of her choice. The rationale behind Iagos disdain for Othello is that he sees him as an animal. Iagos egoistic personality insists his dislike towards animals, as they are seen as inferior in intelligence and will as they rely on primitive, innate drives: Drown thyself? Drown cats and blind puppies. This line is spoken in reference to when Roderigo expresses how he wishes to drown himself and Iago can only insist that an inferior being is more worth death. The word blind also suggests the idea that they are useless, thus pointless, which makes them eligible for death in preservation of his self. He also, already, has a preconceived view of Othello as he claims that These Moors are changeable in their will implying that all Moors are the same just as animals are and so the comparison to animals is the source of Iagos racism. What is also notable about Iago is that he speaks to Othello in verse but prose to Roderigo, which shows how he is a sycophant but also as his rhetoric usage is superseded by Othellos he feels he is forever in Othellos shadow. Another source for his hate. Lastly, and most importantly, Iagos third possible motive for delivering vengeance upon Othello is that Othello made a cuckold of him by sleeping with Emilia. Iago proclaims this in Act one, scene three: I hate the Moor, And it is thought abroad that twixt my sheets Hes done my office. He is even unsure of whether it is true but the thought infuriates him so much that he decides that the idea is as worthy of being revenged as if it were true: I know not ift be true But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety. The idea of Emila having an affair with Othello may be what prompted him to assume that Desdemonas interest in him was purely sexual and so we begin to see how Shakespeare has created a tragic villain as he is drawing from his own misfortune and jealousy to fulfil his prophesy of revenge. It may even be a misconception that Emilia and Othello have had an affair as there is no further evidence that this is true and we, the audience, do not know what has stirred this possibility in Iagos mind another aspect of him that creates the villainous image as we do not know what he is thinking: It is absolutely certain that Othello appointed Cassio his Lieutenant, and nothing else is absolutely certain. If what he says is true, however, and if the audience could understand the possibility of this truth, then this would evoke a strong sense of pity as we could then see that he is almost the victim of the play and a victim from his own thoughts our raging motions, our carnal strings, raging and carnal suggest how angry and disturbed he is. Through the possibility of this motive we can understand the volume of his jealousy that makes him tragic: It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. In Act three, scene three, Iago speaks this line as advice to Othello but it is possible that Shakespeare uses this technique to express Iagos pain in a safe way without damaging his ego by disguising it as advising anothers pain; guidance as opposed to confession. The meat it feeds on could quite literally be his meat and sense of self, which has now reduced him to insecurity. More likely than him feeling hurt by the betrayal of his wife is his sense of self through ownership and possession of Emilia that has been stolen from him. On the other hand, when he stabs Emilia he exclaims Villainous whore! This display of passion shows how it has tormented him. In Act five, scene two, Iagos insecurities remain sheathed by his reticent nature as he says: What you know, you Know. From this time forth I never will speak word. He chooses these words because he is unsure to what extent he has been right about Emilia and Othello. In the first act Iago places a large emphasis on being a cuckold so for him to become one is the greatest insult of all. He kills Emilia without hesitation but the possibility that she had not made a cuckold of him would of truly damaged his great pride, his self assurance; it would challenge many of his amoral beliefs. To express his claims and be wrong would completely destroy his mind so he remains silent which suggests his insecurity and inner turmoil. Iagos phrase defeat thy favour with a usurped beard means to reinstall manly hood, which may be another means of defining him as tragic as his fragile mind in a patriarchal world leads him to the assumption that maybe this is how he should react, to be a man by domineering the situation: a possible way of Shakespeare illustrating mens true powerlessness from a demanding patriarchy in terms of what makes manly behaviour. From this, we can see that Iago wanted to make Othello suffer the same strength of jealousy as he has done to him. This may not fit Hegels idea of tragic collision but each character certainly has been negating and damaging [the] power of the other5. They may not be suffering each others guilt but they do cause one another to suffer jealousy. Othellos (possible) misdeed negates the power Iago has over his mind and Iago avenges this by reciprocating. Iago is a tragic villain in that he has had to suffer and through his amoral conscience and egoistic nature he has become consumed by the loss of trust in his love. The line tis in ourselves suggests that he accepts who he has become and the line permission of the will validates that he is amoral and that he recognises he is significantly different from others in the way that he thinks: I never found a man who knew how to love himself This implies that he is this man and Aristotle would agree that he is true to life and yet more beautiful.

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buy custom The Guri Dam essay The Guri Dam in Venezuela measuring 7,426m in length and 162m in height is the third largest hydroelectric plant in the world. With an installed capacity of 10,200 MW, it catered to about 73% of Venezuelas electricity demand. This dependence started posing a major problem when Venezuela was hit by a prolonged drought attributed to El Nio in 2010. The government was forced to implement 2 hour black outs everyday throughout the country to make up for the low water levels behind the dam.The water levels dropped to about 248.22m above sea level. The declining water levels meant the turbines had to work harder to generate electricity thus giving rise to a water vortex which in turn would cause water bubbles to get sucked in and move up to the water blades. This process could eat away at the metal plates a process called cavitation. The cavitation could cause massive vibrations that can be felt throughout the plant. If the turbine is shut down quickly enough there could be an explosion e ventually leading to complete shutdown of the plant. The vibrations were beginning to affect Unit 8 of the Guri Dam; it had to be shut down, leading to an electric cut down of 400MW.Though the mid-April rains in 2010 led Venezuelan officials to believe that they could survive the crisis, water level in the dam continued its descent. There was a drop of about 76cm in the water level in a span of two weeks. Venezuela expected to be blessed with rain at least in May (the start of the rainy season), but El Nino did not will so. The drought prolonged, leading to more complications.(Juan Mabromata 2010)The current project to try and restore water levels to the Guri Dam is named involves the technological modification of the dam so that it can last another thirty years without any major problems. This has come in the wake of a serious electric blackout and electrical rationing in Venezuela. While they cannot do anything but wait and watch the different colors of the El Nino, they can prepa re themselves for the worst, or the best hopefully.RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATIONS TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE Electrical rationing plans began to be implemented in order to keep the water level above 240m above sea level; consequently preventing a complete shutdown and the halt of operations. As a result of this, Venezuela has had to bear the brunt of widespread electrical shortages and blackouts; apart from being a discomfort to the citizens it also proved to be a hit to Venezuelas economy. The water levels at the Guri Dam are a major determinant of Venezuelas future. In the pages that follow we aim to look into a few more aspects of the crisis and its management.(ICIS News 2010)The future of the Guri Dam does depend on nature to a large extent. Here we attempt to look at what improvements can be made to the construction or design of the dam such that it functions without any glitches in conditions of compromised water levels as well.The Guri dam is a gravity type dam. The spillways are three-chute concrete spillways and each chute consists of an overflow gated crest, a step chute and a ter minal flip bucket. The spillway flow occurs through a bucket which projects a highly arched jet of water that falls into the tail water pool. The tail water pool is responsible for the final dissipation of energy.In 1969 it was observed that the lips of the bucket and the ends of the side training walls were showing signs of scouring/erosion. An investigation on the same led to Harza Engineering suggesting the CVG to restore the damaged areas with epoxy concrete and epoxy protective coatings. The repairs were made in early 1970, but investigations in late 1970 showed greater damage in the form of renewed scouring. Further field inspections revealed that the damage was happening due to cavitation and was not self-arresting. This indeed could prove to be hazardous if not handled appropriately.The St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory of the University of Minnesota started an experimental study aimed at determining the mechanism of damage and proposed modifications to the existing des ign. It started with an analysis of the existing structure and went on to Model Investigation Tests.The analysis of the existing structure took into consideration the discharge, lateral tail water flow, chute velocities, vortex cavity sources and the tail water stages.1.1 DISCHARGEIt was observed that the maximum design capacity of the spillway was 40,000 cms at an 88m head drop and the energy contained in the flows of the Guri Dam at the point of exit from the flip bucket was 46,000,000 hp. This could cause enormous damage.1.2 LATERAL TAIL WATER FLOWHigh discharges of waste water from the spillway were generating a large clockwise vortex which substantially affected the lateral pool velocity across the ends of the flip bucket. This lateral flow was proving to be a significant factor in spillway damage.1.3 VORTEX CAVITY SOURCESA traveling vapor cavity of relatively small size was found to be a common cause of cavitation damage.1.4 TAILWATER STAGESThe tail water stages were found to be unusually large. This required more attention because the stage level of the tail water pool substantially impacted the pressure values which in turn played a role in cavitation damage.It was also observed that there existed Sill Damage and Wall Damage. The bucket lips which were the principal controllers of the location of the final dissipation of the flow of energy had lost quite a significant volume of concrete due to erosive removal of the same. The disintegration of bucket lips could threaten the existence of the entire structure. Though wall damage was seen to be occurring simultaneously, it did not require emergency status because it did not threaten the structure of the dam. It was stated that a solution that addressed the more serious issue of sill damage would automatically remedy the wall damage issue.Model investigation tests conducted in a Variable Pressure Test Facility which allowed the modeling of the cavitation process helped gather more insight into the issues a nd their impending threats to the dam, the ecosystem and the people in the area.SOLUTIONSA combination of high velocity flows and pressure levels below one-half atmosphere will certainly lead to erosion. At the Guri dam erosion was mainly observed in areas with pulsating negative pressure values greater than one half atmospheres. The turbulence due to flow overtopping in the bucket side wall strongly contributed to the negative pressure pulsations. An increase in the height of the walls was suggested to reduce or rather eliminate the source of low pressure.The other solutions suggested to improve the engineering of the Guri Dam included routing the flow via a reduced number of chutes, increasing flow depth, lowering the tail water to reduce back-up in the bucket and reforming the lip shape and fabricating it with highly cavitation resistant metal that could also bear the resistance of the water to reduce cavitation damage. Stainless Steel in its most preferable form was suggested. If these solutions could be implemented, the biggest problem that the Guri Dam is facing can be reduced to a great extent.The study also suggested operating with a deeper flow in the bucket and depressing the tail water stage to eliminate the turbulent water jump in the downstream end of the bucket. Rebuilding the bucket to raise the lip above all normal tail water stages, though an expensive option could be carefully considered to reduce tail water back up effects.Reviewing and reducing the number of gates and gate openings could minimize the generation of discrete waves and turbulence centers that contribute to the damage of the lip. Minimizing boundary areas possessing low mean static pressure as a result of high velocity will also help reduce damage to the lip of the bucket.Elevation of the sill to a position above the tail water will nullify the influence of lateral flow that contributes to cavitation damage. (Ripken Warren 1972)ROLE OF POLITICSPresident Hugo Chavez maintained that the current electricity crisis that Venezuela is battling is the result of the El Nino, but critics do not agree. Chavez and his government are being blamed for sheer lack of planning, corruption and swindling of the resources allocated for the construction of the Guri Dam. The money was not invested in the infrastructure of the dam.Even in the wake of a crisis and technological modification the government does not seem to have realized its mistake. The corruption in the electricity sector has impacted engineers ability to repair the electricity issue in time to avoid a crisis. It is too late now. The receipts for the electricity equipment were highly inflated so that government officials could keep a good amount of the money, there were mismatch between the requirement specifications and the equipment ordered the officials placing the orders did not consult with the engineers. Much of the purchased material is said to be unusable till date.Research shows that only 25-30% of the funds approved for infrastructure upgrades were put to intended use. However Rodriguez stated that the government had invested about $16.5 billion to help the electrical sector keep up with the rising consumer demand most of them were long term projects with no immediate solutions. (Fox News 2010) (Fabiola Sanchez 2010)Brazilian contract workers who are threatening to abandon the technical modification unless they receive their paychecks claim that they have not been paid (by EDELCA). Venezuela would be in a serious spot if the Brazilians left, taking their technical expertise with them. Even though the issue seems to have come up in one of Chavezs meeting with the Brazilian President, there seems to be no change in the situation and the payment dispute remains unresolved.(Juan Mabroamata 2010)Whether the Guri Dam turns out to be as successful as predicted or no, whether Chavez has minimized the impacts of the crisis or no and whether the Venezuelans can trust Chavez and his go vernment with their lives and land or no is a matter of whether it will rain or no. If yes, would that be enough to reverse the environmental impact of the Guri Dam, to refill the dam and restore normality to the lives of the Venezuelans?RELATED CONCERNS 4.1 ENVIRONMENTFor millions of years the warm waters of the Caribbean caused huge quantities of moisture to rise up into the air and drift southwest to Venezuelas plains. When the wet air hit the Andes mountain range, it resulted in a lot of rain. It was this kind of rain that formed rivers like the Ornica that fed all their water back to the oceans. This cycle gave rise to the rain-soaked tropical jungle, that later became the venue for the Guri Dam because of its ideal conditions. The dam was constructed with the aim of harnessing hydroelectric power and making Venezuela independent from the use of fossil fuels. However, the construction of the dam and the dam itself altered the rainfall pattern in the area leading to the presen t drought. This will turn into a vicious cycle if alternative measures are not taken.(Alex Lu 2011)4.2 ECONOMIC CONDITION/ GLOBALIZATIONThe decreased water levels behind the Guri Dam have led to electricity rationing. Industries are short of power, manufacturing and other markets are strongly hit as a result of electric shortages and black outs. People are asked to work for shorter durations so that power can be saved. Rollout electric shortages are being implemented to keep the water level at at least 240m above sea level so that the hydroelectric plant continues to function in hopes of recovering one day. Shopping Malls and most other business are allowed to start business only after 11 AM and function for lesser durations. If the scenario persists, it is only a matter time before Venezuela is severely crippled.President Chavez promulgated the construction of the Guri Dam with a view to moving towards a more Green Policy and reducing his countrys dependence on fossil fuels. It cat ered to about 73% of the electricity demand in Venezuela. However it failed to take into consideration the disastrous environmental impact that it was to have. The very basis of the dam the rain forest and the rivers were affected, there were no rains and there was no water in the river, then where was the water for the dam to come from?In an attempt to maximize the use of hydroelectric power Venezuela ended up in a crisis that crippled it economically, environmentally and most of personally. Life in Venezuela is not what it was before Guri Dam, not what they expected it to be after Guri Dam and can never be expected to be either of them, again. The activities of the Venezuelan government should be directed towards technically modifying the dam, minimizing its effects on the environment, developing alternative sources of energy so that they are not dependent on just one source, eliminating corruption and keeping in mind the larger picture of the project, because what Venezuela has lost from nature she cannot reclaim.The proposed modifications of the dam if carried out in time and appropriately can prevent any further disasters. 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Oedipus the King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Oedipus the King - Essay Example Oedipus was originally the son of King Laius of Thebes and Queen Jocasta, but King Laius fearing that the prophecy (that he would be killed by his own son) would come true orders him to be killed. However, he survives and was cared by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife Merope, who raise him as their own. After hearing rumors that Polybus and Merope are not his biological parents, he asks Delphic Oracle, who sidestepping his question on parentage gives a different prophecy that Oedipus will kill his own father and marry his own mother. Thinking that Polybus and Merope are his real parents and fearing that the prophecy would come true, Oedipus leaves Corinth. On the way, he meets his real father King Laius, and a quarrel ensues between them, leading to Oedipus killing Lauis, thus fulfilling a part of the prophecy. Shortly after, he solves the Sphinx riddle and frees the kingdom of Thebes from the Sphinx’s curse. For that effort, he was made the king of Thebes and thus got marr ied to Jocasto, his biological mother. Although, the prophecy came true, Oedipus did not realize it or undergo epiphany until Thebes faced the threat of plague. To prevent the onslaught of plague, Oedipus needs to find Laius’ killers, although he is the actual killer. He looks to Teiresias, a blind seer, to help him find the king’s murderers. It is Teiresias who reveals the truth to him about the prophecy and his real parents and initiates the onset of epiphany. But, Oedipus does not accept it and even threatens Teiresias in the initial stages. When he got the confirmation of both these crimes that he killed his own father and has married his own mother, Oedipus undergoes full epiphany and goes into a state of shock. â€Å"I, Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned, Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand† (Sophocles 123). He was fully repentant of his misdemeanors when he undergoes