Malevolent characters are some of the most impactful and remembered characters in stories both classical and modern. They are the characters most disturbed, most though about, and most revealing. They are almost the antithesis of the main characters, exploiting their weaknesses and using them to their advantages. What the malevolent characters seek is control. In both of the plays “Othello” and “A Doll’s House” there is one character who exceeds and being malevolent. Iago and Krostad are both characters who manipulate other people in play in order to play to their advantage, as well as exposing the protagonists weaknesses and their true selves. In this essay I will compare and contrast the methods that they use and the outcomes that both of their actions have on their victims. I will also argue that they both played a significant role in the dissemination of both of their marriages.
Iago is one of the most conniving in any play. He manipulates everyone involved. In the play by William Shakespeare “Othello” the evil character in the play is Iago. Iago is a soldier in Othello’s Army, fighting alongside him and eventually becoming his Advisor. However Iago is not fond of Othello and thinks that he has been unfairly passed up to rise among the ranks in favor of Cassio. His motivations of his malevolence are that he wants Othello’s reign to crumble because he hates him so much. In Act One, Scene One, Iago retorts “As masterly as he. Mere prattle without practice Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had th' election And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof” (Kennedy 1290). He also goes on to say how he plans to use his convenience of being Othello’s advisor to his advantage. His first bidding is to convince his friend Roderigo to join him on his quest. First to tell Brabantio that Othello and his daughter and Othello have eloped, then at the party in Cyprus manipulate Cassio into a fight to get him demoted, gets Cassio to talk to Desdemona and make Othello think they are having an affair, and ultimately convince Roderigo to kill Cassio. His manipulation of almost every character in the play is the most heinous of treachery one could imagine. His lies are almost so good that he is the one that is most believed.
In “A Doll’s House” the antagonist is Nils Krogstad. What makes him so malevolent is that not only is he villainous and controls Nora’s actions and emotions, but he is empathetic towards her. Krogstad’s malevolence may be due to his being chastised by society after committing a minor crime. In the play, Nora the wife of Torvald (and owner of the bank at which Krogstad is an employee) forges her father signature to obtain a loan by the way of Krogstad. After learning that Torvald plans to fire him, he blackmails Nora into convincing him to not fire him by saying he will tell Torvald of the loan. Nora plans to kill herself because she does not want to shame Torvald’s name but she is convinced not to do so by Krogstad after he rescinds his blackmail and gives her the loan documents. Nora leaves her husband and children, going out to discover herself and what she really wants.
Both of the characters in these plays play a significant role in the destruction of the people of power within the plays. They expose the weaknesses of strong characters and are the antithesis of those characters. For example, Iago is profoundly different from Othello and realizes the self-consciousness of Othello and tells him that Nora has been having an affair. Othello trusts him and smothers her in the bed. He realizes that Iago has betrayed him and commits suicide. Krogstad manipulates Nora into trying to convince Torvald to not fire him, but she does not succeed. Hearing of this Krogstad confronts her and sends the letter with the loan in the mail. Krogstad exposes the true nature of Torvald and most of the nature of marriages at that time. When the letter gets to Torvald, he exclaims that it will tarnish his name and reputation if it got out and then Nora threatens to commit suicide. Before she has a chance to she gets a letter from Krogstad that rescinds his threat to them and saves Torvald. However, Torvald was only concerned with his own reputation and name, and in doing so shows Nora his true nature. The selfishness of him and his name convinces her to leave him. They destruct and tear apart both of the men who are in position of power and destroy everything in their path.
Both of them are the major influences in the dissemination of the marriages of both Othello and Torvald respectively. They do this is a similar fashion by directly manipulating the people in the marriage. Iago is just an evil character in himself, manipulating everything and everyone around him to get he wants. He convinces Othello that his wife is having an affair with Cassio and leads to the dissemination of their marriage because they both die. Krogstad manipulates Nora, which leads to the dissemination of the marriage between her and Torvald.
The main difference between their methods of madness is that Iago manipulates everybody around him and the person of power whereas Krogstad manipulates the wife and only the wife. He also shows a degree of empathy towards the Nora as he is troubled himself where Iago has no empathy for anybody and is more on a destructive warpath than anything.
Both of these characters are directly affecting the marriages and lead to their destruction. Without these characters, Othello and Desdemona would still be married, and Torvald and Nora would still be unhappily married.
SOURCES
Kennedy, X. J./ Gioia, Dana. Literature, an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama and writing. Pp 1290-1390, 1598-1650. 2011.
