The Diabolism of OthelloIn Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, there is such an overwhelming amount of evil present in much of the play that the audience can hardly remain undisturbed. "Othello: An Introduction" by Alvin Kernan explains the diabolism existing under the name of “Honest Iago”: “Honest Iago” hides under the appearance of the common soldier and the frank and practical man of the world such an intense diabolism to defy any rational explanation – must be taken as lust or pride simply as a fact. part of human nature, an anti-life spirit that seeks the destruction of everything outside of itself. (75)The images of the drama also have their evil aspect. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the examples of diabolical imagery in the play in relation to the infection of the Moor by the ancients: The same transference from Iago to Othello may be observed in what SL Bethell called diabolical . Images. He estimated that of the 64 images relating to hell and damnation - many of them are allusions rather than actual images - Iago has 18 and Othello 26. But 14 of Iago's are used in the first two Acts and 25 of Othello's in the last Three. . The theme of hell originates in Iago and is transferred to Othello only when Iago has managed to infect the Moor with his jealousy. (22)In his book of literary criticism, Shakespearean Tragedy, AC Bradley provides an in-depth analysis of the type of evil that the ancients personify:Iago is supreme among Shakespeare's evil characters because the greatest intensity and subtlety of imagination have gone to the its doing, and why it illustrates in the most perfect combination the...... middle of the paper...... 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No linea n. Wayne, Valerie. "Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello." The question of difference: materialist feminist criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991. Wilson, H. S. on the design of Shakespearean tragedy. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. “The Engaging Qualities of Othello.” Readings on tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from the Introduction to the Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. Np: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.-- -- --. Introduction. Shakespeare: the tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, by the general reader of the Folger Library. New York: Washington Square Press, 1957.