Alienation is the impetus, power and energy behind Shakespeare Text Othello and

Anthony Minghellas film The talented Mr Ripley. The use of film techniques and
language choices guides us through the isolated and solitary lives of these
characters. As we gain insight into their fears and problems we are aware of the
manipulation, isolation, rejection and jealousy that surrounds them and we have an
apprehension into the true nature and mental instability of the characters.

The frequent use of alienation as a centring theme is due to the fact that it is
common to all humans. Alienation is a feeling of not belonging. This feeling can be
physical, mental, religious, spiritual, psychological, political, social, or economic and
often it tends to be a combination of more than one of these types. In Iagos case
alienation occurs on a more or less mental and social level we can see this because
of all the characters in Shakespeare's Othello, none is more complex and unknown
to the audience than Iago.

Iago is portrayed by every character as an honest and trustworthy person. Yet, as

the audience is well informed by the end of the first act, he appears to be quite the
opposite. He's a duplicitous character, honest and kind on the outside, but truly a
pure, evil and malignant person on the inside. Throughout the entire play he turns
all his friends, who trust him most, against each other. He does this by penetrating
their deepest fears and concerns, using that to "make the net that shall emesh them
all" into a jealous web of hatred [II. iii. 356].

One example of this is evident in Act One when Iago, incredibly eager, awakes
Brabantio, to tell him that Othello had taken Desdemona, and as they spoke was
making love to her. Iago, attempting to instigate a fight between Othello and
Brabantio, was using Desdemona as the bait. Iago stated, "Your heart is burst. You
have lost half your soul. Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your
white ewe" (p. 13). Iago usues crass animal imagery to make the situation vulgar
and prejudice. Associating characters with animals demeans them and that is
exactly what Iago takes pleasure in- to make them appear as foolish brainless
animals.

But where did Iagos motives start? We do know due to the fact that Othello
promoted Cassio for the job he wanted- prompted him to tremendous jealousy and
inturn an underlying hatred for Othello. However, If we look at Iagos reaction in
terms of Othello- an ethnic moor from a distant land with higher authority than his
own and the power to determine his fate -we can understand his frustration, and
we see that Iago was indeed attached to the idea of being lieutenant. You could also
say that Iago saw his identity as dependant on this one promotion. "I know my price,
I am worth no worse a place" [I. i. 12]. That fear of remaining in a job for the rest of
his life that he felt was for the less experienced, struck and scared him into an
overwhelming feeling that he was running out of time.
 Iago had been honest his entire life, and it was getting him nothing he desired. So he
turned to honesty's opposite, evil. Iago admits this himself in soliloquy:

O wretched fool,

That lov'st to make thine honesty a vice!...

...To be direct and honest is not safe.

I should be wise, for honesty is a fool

And looses that it works for.

[III. iii. 391-98]

Iago tries to push away his conscience by the manipulation of almost lying to
himself. Nonetheless, the mere fact that Iago has a conscience proves he is not pure
evil as most would suspect. In Iago's first soliloquy he states in regards to Othello
and Emilia, and describes them to be somehow intimately related. This shows he is
pulling logical motives out of thin air as to why he should go through with his plot,
just to shut up the honest and loyal conscience that does in fact exist inside of him.

Part of the reason Iago is seen as such a villainous character to the audience is
because Iago is such an intelligent character. Iago knows exactly what to say to
every other character that will provoke and enrage their jealousy or motive. He
knows exactly where everyone's weakness is, and he knows exactly how to spark
the evil, jealous rage that exists in most characters of Othello.

Iago did not really do anything to directly harm anyone until the end when he killed
Roderigo and Emilia. Everything else was done by the evilness in other characters.
Iago was not making people jealous, but unleashing the jealousy that already
existed. He was targeting everyone's weakness and proving that they themselves
are to blame for their actions because they themselves have killed through their
own jealousy, not jealousy Iago created.