The Theme Of Devil In Shakespeare's Othello, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus And Milton’s Paradise Lost

“Better the devil you know than the angel you do not know.” This saying is common and alludes to one’s desire to know the real intentions of individuals that they interact with. In the tragic play “Othello” by William Shakespeare, Iago the antagonist makes his fellow characters believes he is a true and honest man yet beneath the surface he continues to manipulate, deceive and eventually destroy them. Throughout the play Iago comes out as diabolical (defined in this context as “characteristics of the devil”) since he appears worse compared to the actual devils in Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus” and Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Overall, Iago is actually diabolical when compared to the devils Mephistopheles in “Doctor Faustus” and Satan in “Paradise Lost” since he demonstrates extremes of evil that result in significant destructions.

Looking at Iago is like looking evil in the eye due to the extreme that he goes to satisfy his desire for revenge. Iago is very conniving and sneaky with his plans to make Othello dislike Cassio because he gets the Lieutenant position instead of him, yet he thinks he deserves it more for being Othello’s closest friend (Shakespeare Act 1 Sc 1 lines 8-22). Thus, Iago feels aggrieved and he sets to destroy every character which highlights his selfish, cunning, untrustworthy, amoral, jealous and manipulative nature. Iago maintains “Though I do hate him [Othello] as I do hell-pains…/I must show out a flag and sign of love/Which is indeed but sign (Act 1 Sc 1 line 171-4).” The statement illustrates Iago’s hatred towards Othello which acts as motivation for his evil plans. Iago creates an elaborate web of manipulation and trickery whereby he pretends to be a true and honest friend to Othello, Casio, Rodrigo and Desdemona yet he is merely executing his evil schemes to satisfy his desire for revenge or what he calls “sport and profit (Shakespeare Act 1 Sc 3 line 429).” Overall, Iago is diabolical and equates to “devil incarnate” compared to the “real devils.”

Iago emerges as a “devil incarnate” as apparent from his ability to plan and execute his evil plans to destroy the other characters. Iago lacks a conscience since he disregards all sense of moral grounding and goes to great extents to cheat, lie and even kill to achieve his goal of revenge. Iago devises a strategy whereby he turns Desdemona’s “virtue into pitch” and use her goodness in making the net to “enmesh them all (Act 2 Sc 3 lines 830-2).” Through his web of manipulation Iago extorts money and gifts from Rodrigo who secretly loves Desdemona (with the pretense of giving it to Desdemona) and he plans for Rodrigo and Cassio to kill each other (accuses Casio of harboring feelings towards Desdemona). Additionally, Iago plants false evidence in Cassio’s room so that Othello can think he is having an affair with Desdemona. In a rage of anger, Othello kills Desdemona and he commits suicide. Iago kills Rodrigo and his wife when she finally exposes his villainy which illustrates his ruthlessness. Iago goes to unprecedented extremes to destroy others such that the audience cannot help but question his humanity since he appears as the “devil’s incarnate.” Overall, Iago provokes more horror than the devils in “Doctor Faustus” and “Paradise Lost” since he unapologetically harms and destroys peoples’ lives without second thought.

The devils in “Doctor Faustus” and “Paradise Lost” illustrate minor wickedness as compared to the extremes of evil portrayed by Iago. For instance, in “Doctor Faustus,” Faustus just wants more power, so he makes a blood covenant and sells his soul to the devil Lucifer (Marlowe Lines 31-115). Every time Faustus thinks about going back to his beliefs of God, the evil angel Mephistopheles on his shoulder talks him back to the dark side. The devil basically says if Faustus tries to turn back on his pact with him then they will make his life hell. When Faustus with the encouragement of the good Angel wants to repent his pact with Lucifer, Mephistopheles convinces him “Go forward Faustus in that famous art/Where in all nature’s treasury is contained (lines 72-74).” The devil knows that Faustus has the ability to discern good from evil but also realizes Faustus’ extreme desire for knowledge and power and that is what Mephistopheles uses to encourage Faustus to preserve the promise of giving his soul to Lucifer. Mephistopheles upholds Lucifer’s pact with Faustus and embarks on giving Faustus wealth, women and the ability to conjure the spirits of world greats like Helen of Troy and Alexander the Great. Mephistopheles also takes Faustus around the world to dine with Kings, emperors, dukes, doctors and masters and trips to the planets and stars to learn the wonders of creation. Overall, Mephistopheles only aims at maintaining the status quo through persuasion to tempt and retain Faustus to the darker side.

The persuasion used by Mephistopheles also replays in “Paradise Lost” as Satan tries to win human souls. The devil just wants to get back at God for kicking him out of Heaven and he devises a plan to make Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the Forbidden Tree. Satan disguises as a serpent and embarks on flattering Eve’s beauty and also convinces her that just like him she and Adam can get the gift of speech and intellect by eating the fruits from the forbidden tree. Milton writes “So gloz’d the Tempter, and his Proem tun’d; “Into the Heart of EVE his words made way (Line 550).”The implication is that through Satan’s or the “Tempter” sweet and convincing words, he already has started to win over Eve and he puts into motion his plan to seek revenge against God. Iago wanting to turn Desdemona and the other characters “virtue to pitch” is akin to Satan’s wanting to make evil out of good. Once in Eve’s heart, Satan manages to convince Eve that God’s warning to not eat the forbidden fruit are futile. He claims, “Queen of this Universe, does not believe Those rigid threats of Death…/ it gives you Life (Lines 684-87).” In this case, Satan only relies on the influence of Adam and Eve’s free will and their appetite for “God-like” knowledge as he maintains that by eating the forbidden fruit, humanity’s eyes will be “Op’nd and cleerd, and ye shall be as Gods/ Knowing both Good and Evil as they know (Lines 708-10).” Unlike Iago who applies extreme forces of manipulation, Satan merely capitalizes on human beings’ ability to sin for themselves (after all, they can differentiate between good and evil) which makes humanity’s fall as partly arising from their own folly of choosing evil over good against God’s wishes. Satan wants to destroy human beings who he perceives as God’s favorite creation and by tempting humankind to go against God wish he hopes to satisfy his thirst for revenge against God.

In conclusion, Iago emerges more diabolical due to his ability to provoke significant horror than the devils in “Doctor Faustus” and “Paradise Lost.” Iago creates a web of manipulation through which he unapologetically harms and destroys people lives without second thought. He plants ideas in people’s minds and warps their thoughts such that in the end his manipulation eventually leads to the deaths of Othello, Desdemona, Rodrigo and even his wife Emilia which reveals his cold-heartedness. Iago’s extremes of evil makes Mephistopheles and Satan appear as amateurs. For instance, Mephistopheles merely uses persuasion to make Faustus uphold the status quo of giving his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. The only condition given is that if Faustus tries to turn back on his pact with him then they will make his life hell. Additionally, Satan in trying to revenge against God for kicking him out of heaven merely uses convincing language to persuade and tempt humankind to eat the forbidden fruit against God’s wish. Thus, compared to Mephistopheles and Satan Iago appears as the most diabolical.