Shakespeares Merchant of Venice and Othello: Shylock vs Iago Essay

The Merchant of Venice and Othello usurer vs Iago Shakespeares use of timeless themes make his whole works relevant to the modern reader. His 2 plays The Merchant of Venice and Othello deal with the seeking of penalize and forbidden love. In The Merchant of Venice, loan shark, the main character, is a Jew who loans money and charges inte symmetricalness. moneylender has an enemy named Antonio who in like manner loans money to throng, but without interest. Iago is a character in Othello who has been passed over for a position as Othellos right hand man. He feels that he deserves the position not the person who received it, Cassio. Both of these characters indirect request penalize from the people whom they perceive as having done them wrong and leave behind stop at nothing to have their way. In other words, Shylock and Iago are similar in that they want revenge. However, there are also many differences in each character that demonstrate that they are in many ways polar op posites. There are many similarities between Iago and Shylock. One is that they both want revenge from another person. Shylock wants revenge from Antonio because he has made him look bad in front of the rest of the people of Venice. Shylock being a moneylender charges interest to the people who borrow money. On the other hand, Antonio also is a moneylender, but does not charge interest. Iago also wants revenge because he feels that he has been cheated out of a position that he feels he deserves. The position that he did not progress to was that of Othellos lieutenant, which was given to Cassio who has knowledge about combat from books. Iago feels that he has more hearty experience and that he should have been the one to take that position. Another parity is that both charac... ...o does not have to do much to spring his protrude into action because everyone believes everything that he says because he is honest Iago (1.3.297). Shylock and Iago are two of the most interesting c haracters created by Shakespeare. Their personalities and characteristics make them who they are. These characters do have virtually similarities, on the other hand, are different as night and day. for each one one has a different motive for revenge, and also they both go about it in different ways. Iago will stop at nothing. Shylock has the readers sympathy. Still their desire for revenge ruins them in the end. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. 1967. Ed. W. Moelwyn Merchant. The virgin Penguin Shakespeare. London Penguin Books, 1996. - - -. Othello. 1968. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The New Penguin Shakespeare. London Penguin Books, 1996.