are relevant to “Hamlet”. Incest is a Natural Law: one in which every man of any English religion should abide by. It is a crime in some parts of the world that is punishable by death or imprisonment. And to commit any of the Ten Commandments or to break the natural Law is to commit a sin in religious circles. This wide held belief would be in the minds of the audience watching “Hamlet” and they would be judging the characters that committed these “Crimes”. In “Othello”, we see more examples of death and sin to demonstrate their significance in Shakespearean Drama. Iago is the key character to the whole of the play as far as instigating death and sin. His deceptive ways towards everyone in his life are beyond imagination. He lies to his “friends”, his political leader (Othello), his wife – everyone who comes in contact with him becomes a part of his plots and scheming. We cannot believe anything Iago says to another character but we are given an insight into what is really going on in his mind through his soliloquies. This is the only time that Iago speaks the truth.The most sinful thing about Iago is the fact that he is so plausible in his explanations to each character, that he is believed, without question and that he is thought to be a “honest, honest Iago” (V.II.). We learn very early in the play, however, that Iago is jealous and bitter. He is jealous that Michael Cassio has been made Lieutenant to Othello and he feels that it should have been him, as he is more qualified and has served Othello for a long time. This may be his motive but is not justified enough for anyone to feel empathy with him. The audience’s reaction to Iago is one of disbelief and hatred, again demonstrating the power of the sinful villain. The audience sees everything that goes on and goes through Iagos mind and certainly when I watched Othello, I was willing the other charac...
