With the character of Iago, Othello presents the reader/viewer with an image of absolute malice. Whatever he may once have been, he appears, when we meet him, to be almost destitute of humanity, of sympathetic or social feeling. Passion, in Shakespeare's plays, is perfectly easy to recognise. What vestige of it, of passion unsatisfied or of passion gratified is visible in Iago? None: that is the very horror of him. He has less passion than an ordinary man, and yet he does these frightful things. Iago, as a representation of evil, has one major motivational factor that leads him to lie, cheat, and dominate other characters. This motivation is