Literary Madness
Far more advanced for his time period, Shakespeare’s talent went unrecognized in the category of not just literature, but psychology as well. During the Elizabethan time period, it was unaware that a human could have psychological defects, let alone have characters who express these faults in a play. Shakespeare’s Othello was produced with two of the main characters having significant behavioral disorders. With a changing motive, the antagonist Iago expresses the symptoms of a narcissist and a sociopath by manipulating the protagonist Othello with lies about his wife. The infected Othello becomes caught up in Iago’s deception which causes him to show the traits of having low serotonin levels and appears to be going
Children who are influenced by sociopathic parents may adopt these tendencies. Similarly, role models such as one's friends or peer group may also influence the behavior pattern of a sociopath. This type of behavior is more likely to occur in men than in women (220). Along with being a sociopath, Iago has the symptoms to be diagnosed as a narcissist. He used manipulative lies to try and destroy the Moore and his wife, for his personal benefit. Iago used his charm in order to get closer to Othello and further corrupt his mind. He is artificial, and enjoyed his morally wrong corruption throughout the entire play, which labels him a sociopath.
From all of Iago’s projections of infidelity building up in Othello’s mind, certain neurotic mechanisms come apparent in the form of jealousy and paranoia. Trust issues then emerge after he was told a lie of his wife cheating on him (Whang 2). Unguided and lost, Othello no longer can believe his wife or Cassio. Instead he turns to Iago, the person who is causing him pain and leading him to the path of corruption. It is Othello’s inability to differentiate between mistrust and jealousy over his wife which is his fatal flaw. This eventually leads Othello to his downfall at the end of the play.
An issue with anger is another dominant trait since he expressed it on Desdemona the majority of the times he spoke to her. Since the time he first spoke with Iago about Desdemona