Tejeshwar Natarajan

A- “Anger”
In the beginning, Roderigo is angry that Othello married Desdemona. In order to make Othello
face the wrath of Brabantio, the father if Desdemona, Iago and Roderigo decide to tell Brabantio
about his daughter’s secret relationship.

B- “Betrayal”
Iago was only acting loyal towards Othello so that he can gain power and fame through his
relationship with Othello. So once he is presented the opportunity to gain money by betraying
Othello, he does not hesitate to give up that opportunity.

C- “Covert”
While Iago acts like he’s a loyal ensign in front of Othello, he secretly hates Othello. He uses this
to his advantage by covertly creating a plan which depends on him using the trust he has
acquired to turn Othello against Cassio.

D- “Deceit”
Iago secretly plans on ruining Othello’s relationship with Desdemona, but he doesn’t want
Othello to know. As a result, he plans to continue deceitfully acting like he’s loyal to Othello.
Additionally, he plans on using deceit to make Othello think that Cassio is in a relationship with
Desdemona.
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E- “Enduring Hardship”
Only after hearing about the hardships that Othello had to face from his life as a general to his
life as a slave, Desdemona started to fall in love with him.

F- “Forbidden Love”
Desdemona’s father would not have accepted the love between Othello and Desdemona since
they were of different races, so they kept it a secret from Brabantio and got married without him
knowing about it.

G- “Guile”
Even though Iago hates Othello, he still feigns respect in front of Othello and continues to work
under Othello. This is because Iago wants to take advantage of his relationship with Othello by
using him to gain power and wealth.

H- “Hungry For Money”

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The only reason why Iago was sucking up to Othello was because he wanted power and wealth,
but now that he finds a chance to get money off of Roderigo, he immediately takes that chance
and starts to plot out how to ruin the marriage between Othello and Desdemona. Money is a huge
motivator for Iago.

I- “Ignorant”
Roderigo is ignorant of the fact that Iago only cares about himself and his money. Iago would not
have cared about Roderigo’s love for Desdemona if did not get any money from Roderigo.
However, Roderigo believes that Iago truly cares about Roderigo’s love for Desdemona.

J- “Jealousy”
Iago is jealous that Othello did not make him lieutenant, which causes him to seek revenge.
Additionally, Roderigo is also jealous that Othello got to marry Desdemona instead of him, so he
decides to take part in Iago’s plan.

K- “Keen”
Roderigo is very keen on marrying Desdemona. As a result, when he finds out that Desdemona
married Othello and that the Duke is fine with it, he plans to drown himself. However, Iago
offers to end Othello’s and Desdemona’s relationship if Roderigo sells his land and pays Iago.
Since Roderigo is so keen on marrying Desdemona, he agrees to the offer.
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L- “Lust”
Roderigo is very keen on hooking up with Desdemona, however the Duke finds no fault in
Desdemona being married to Othello. Since he thinks that there’s no point in living without
marrying Desdemona, he thinks of drowning himself. He’s completely overcome by lust to the
point where he rashly decides to commit suicide since his lust isn’t fulfilled.

M- “Manipulative”
Iago is able to manipulate Roderigo into giving him money for coming up with a plan to ruin
Othello’s and Desdemona’s relationship. Even before he comes up with the plan, Iago sends
Roderigo home to collect the money for him, and Roderigo gladly obliges without a second
thought.

N- “Naivety”
Roderigo acts naively when he decides to sell his land and pay money to Iago so that he can have
Desdemona. He is not suspicious of Iago’s intention at all, and willingly gives up all the money.
Additionally, when Iago is plotting, he decides to use the fact that Othello trusts anyone who
appears to be honest in order to manipulate him.
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O- “Obsession”
Iago has an obsession for wealth and power. As a result of this obsession, he kisses up to Othello
so that he can gain power and notoriety while he creates a scheme to hurt Othello behind his
back so that he can glean money off of Roderigo.

P- “Parasite”
In many ways, Iago acts like a parasite. He does not actually like Othello, yet he pretends that he
has great respect for Othello so that he can gain power and wealth through Othello. When he
finds an opportunity to gain more money by betraying Othello, he does not hesitate. So Iago only
uses his relationship with Othello for selfish purposes, which included coming up with a plan to
hurt Othello.

Q- “Quarrel”
In the beginning Iago and Roderigo decide to start a quarrel between Brabantio and Othello by
revealing to Brabantio that his daughter is with Othello. This results in Brabantio questioning
Othello in front of the Duke.
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R- “Respect”
Even though Brabantio is rudely accusing Othello of stealing his daughter in front of the Duke,
Othello remains respectful towards Brabantio and calmly explains that his daughter fell in love
with him. Instead of getting mad, Othello calmly diffused the situation by bringing in
Desdemona to talk about their love. As a result, the Duke’s respect towards Othello does not
waver, and he faces no consequences.

S- “Scheming”
Not only does Iago strongly hate Othello, but Roderigo was paying Iago to ruin Othello’s and
Desdemona’s relationship. As a result, Iago comes up with a plan that involves Othello getting
suspicious that his wife and Cassio are in a secret relationship.

T- “Two-faced”
Iago acts loyal to Othello in front of Othello, but he secretly hates Othello and plots to ruin the
relationship between Othello and Desdemona.
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U- “Unaccepting”
Initially, Brabantio is unaccepting of Othello being the husband to his daughter since Othello is a
Moor. He goes to angrily confront Othello, and after hearing the verdict of the Duke, he decides
to disown his daughter since he still does not accept his daughter being married to a Moor.

V- “Vendetta”
Iago pursues a Vendetta against Othello because he hates Othello. Iago’s hatred towards Othello
stems from the fact that Othello decided to make Cassio the lieutenant instead Iago, who has
more experience being on the battlefield. As a result, Iago decides to take revenge on Othello.

OTHELLO

W- “Willpower”
When the duke states that Desdemona rightfully belongs to Othello, Roderigo, who can’t control
his lust for Desdemona, decides to drown himself since he thinks that he no longer has the
chance to marry Desdemona. Roderigo clearly has no willpower considering that he can’t control
his lust for Desdemona.
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X- “Xenophobia”
Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is unwilling to accept Desdemona’s marriage with Othello just
because they are of different races. He fears that Othello won’t be a good husband to his
daughter since he’s a Moor.

Y- “Yielding”
When Brabantio finds out that his daughter had secretly married Othello, a Moor, he gets angry
at Othello and complains to the Duke about Othello using magic to seduce Othello. Initially, he
does not believe Othello, and he only yields when Desdemona tells the Duke that she loves
Othello. Even then, he says that he’ll never allow Desdemona back into his house again.

Z- “Zeal”
When he tries to convince Roderigo to trust him, Iago states that he is “devoted” to his cause of
hating Othello just like Roderigo. As a result, he suggests that they should join forces to take
down Othello. Considering that Iago is eager to take down Othello, he shows zeal when he is
planning to ruin Othello and Desdemona’s marriage.
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