‘Roderigo is a tragic innocent caught in Iagoʼs
web of deceitʼ
‘Roderigo is a tragic innocent caught in Iagoʼs web of deceitʼ
Roderigo as a comedic relief character – who the audience laughs at alongside Iago
becoming complicit in his scheming.
Roderigoʼs reductive view of love. His character can be juxtaposed with Othello
showcasing very different viewpoints and perspectives surrounding love. It is done to
emphasise the tragedy which is the destruction of Othello and Desdemonaʼs love.
Roderigo being manipulated in terms of class/rank/masculinity – the method in which Iago
manipulates him.
Roderigo being Iagoʼs first direct victim.
Typical to tragedy texts, Shakespeareʼs Othello presents many tragic victims alongside the main
tragic hero. This aspect of tragedy is a subversion to Aristotleʼs Poetics where Shakespeare
introduced the element of ‘collateral damageʼ to draw the audienceʼs attention to the rest of the
‘dramatis personaeʼ who surround the tragic hero. The tragic hero whose death is impending
does not interest the audience as much as the numerous tragic victims for who the
consequences are vast. One of these tragic victims is Roderigo who in this essay I will discuss
to what extent ‘is a tragic innocent caught in Iagoʼs web of deceitʼ.
As we are introduced to Roderigo in Act I Scene I he is immediately presented as a comedic
relief character whom the audiences laugh at alongside Iago. As Sean McEvoy stated, through
this the audience becomes “complicit in Iagoʼs vengeful plotting” as we unintentionally become
grouped on Iagoʼs side viewing Roderigo in the same foolish and idiotic light; “thus do I ever
make my fool, my purse”. Roderigo therefore has a fundamental purpose as the tragic innocent
of the play through allowing the audience to build this relationship with Iago which only deepens
as the play progresses. By the end of the tragedy when Othelloʼs “green eyed monster” is
awakened and he enters the “perplexed” state in which he kills Desdemona, we therefore feel
almost involved in the crimes committed on stage adding to the tragedy of the play alongside
the dramatic irony as Iago reveals his plots and deviant plans allowing the audience to know
what is going to happen before the characters do. This places focus on not what will happen,
likely obvious due to the title ‘The Moor of Veniceʼ, but the methodology and manipulative
villainy in which Iago plots.
Roderigo is firstly introduced through a specific character trait which is his love for Desdemona.
He clearly has attempted to court her before as Brabantio dismissively states to him in Act I
Scene I have I not charged thee “not to haunt these halls”. However, it is not specifically his love
which presents his role as an important tragic victim – but his love in parallel and juxtaposition
to Othelloʼs. Roderigo holds a much more reductive view of love with his psychology appearing
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