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English 305
6 January 2014
Psychoanalytical Essay: Iago’s Effects on Others
People around you can change who you are, and what you would become in the future positively or negatively. It all depends if they have any effect on you “ego”, a part of the subconscious mind which balances your desires and your morals. The character Iago on Shakespeare Othello is able to destroy everyone around them by damaging their ego, without it they cannot balance their own desires and moral creating instability in their mind and their own downfall. Cassio, a proper man and brave man becomes trapped in his own fears when his reputation is taken away from him. Furthermore, Roderigo a man full of desires for a woman becomes a mercenary in order to achieve his desires for the woman. Lastly, Othello an intelligent and reasonable man commits homicide due to his jealousy. These unfortunate events were entirely caused by Iago. Iago`s effect on others is perfectly describe by the title of an article “Stop Messing with my Ego… You are destroying us all”. Iago effect on Cassio is the unbalance of his ego as he gets closer to him. In the beginning of the play, Cassio was a proper man, he was reasonable and confident. He was neither projecting on other characters nor being repressed by other characters. He was just balanced. if Cassio was projecting, he would have an overactive ID, which is mostly desire. These will create all sort of addictions with alcohol, drugs, and in extreme cases the ways to rape and murder. Cassio does not have any sort of addiction to any substance. An example of this is when he says to Iago “Not to-night, good Iago. I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking; I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment” (2.3.29-31). He denied alcohol. This can only mean that he is not overactive ID, otherwise he would have grabbed that bottle of wine and drink it all without any problem. Meaning he has a perfectly functional ego. Also Cassio does not have an overactive super ego. At any point in the beginning on the story it is said that he has phobia or guilty complex. The only thing is said is that is a good looking man, meaning he is appealing to women or good with women. Typically somebody that was repressed would not be able to ask out or to get women that easily, because they would be too afraid to ask a girl out. The reason for this is because they do not have self-esteem. Meaning they do not believe that they are able to get the girl. As the play describes him as being good with women and being on a “relationship” with Bianca Cassio having an overactive super ego is totally false. Just like him being pure desire which can only mean that he has a balance ego. Having established that Cassio was balance at the beginning of the play. Because of Iago, he became really unbalance as the play continued. Cassio was balance until Iago forced him to drink making him drunk. Because of this he was not able to think reasonably. Which only lead him to get into a fight with Montano. Thus Othello was forced to take his position as a lieutenant since Cassio attacked the leader of Cypress, taking his so important reputation out of him, all as Iago plan. It is easy to know how much Cassio value his reputation by reading the words that Cassio said to Iago after he lost his position. “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation” (2.3.241-43). This made him lean too much over his super ego side. Without his reputation Cassio felt unconfident by not even looking at Othello, and often run away from him when he see it. This is the phobia or guilty complex that people suffering of this kind of neurosis show as they become more repressed. This proves the validity of the title “Stop Messing with my Ego… You are destroying us all”. By