In the play Othello why was Iago trying to ruin Othello?
600048
One of the reasons that Iago is considered among the greatest villians in Shakespeare, if not Western Literature, is his lack of any real motivation.  The SparksNotes page below does a nice job, however, of providing passages with insight into your question.  As there is no single answer you can use passages in the play to support many different thesis.
141112
She is just an added character that shakespear uses to raise doubt in othello.
1002025
Juliet ~ "Yond light is not day-light, I know it, I :  It is some meteor that the sun exhales, To be to thee this night a torch-bearer, and light thee on thy way to Mantua:  Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone."  Act 3, Scene 5\nMercutio ~ Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, ‘tis enough. / Where is my page?  Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.”\nTybalt ~ “Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford / No better term than this: thou art a villain.”\nBenvolio ~ "Tell me in sadness, who is it that you love?" Act 1, Scene 1\nFriar Laurence ~ "So smile the heavens upon this holy act, That after hours with sorrow chide us not!" Act 3, Scene 6\nBalthasar ~ "I do beseech you sir, have patience:   your looks are pale and wild, and do import some misadventure."\nNurse ~ "Merry, farewell!  I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this, that was so full of his ropery?"\nServant ~ "God gi' god-den  I pray, sir, can you read?"\n\nThe quotes should be self-explanatory~if not, re-read the acts to gain the descriptive portion of your question.
663243
First, I would have acted quickly.  Hamlet hems and haws and does basically nothing for a long time.  And that antic disposition?  What's the point of pretending you're insane?  What, really, did that buy him in the end?\n\nHere's what I would have done.\n\n1. I wouldn't have changed the way I acted--especially acting insane.\n2. I would have tried to verify what the ghost said.  Specifically, \na: Where was the uncle when Hamlet's father was killed?\nb: Where was the king's guards (the "Switzers" referred to when Laertes barges in on the king later in the play)\nc: Where might the uncle have found such poison?  (In Shakespeare's world this may not have been hard... Romeo sure finds poison easily enough)\n\nThe play Hamlet devises is a clever choice, but he more or less ruins the effectiveness of the play as a test by acting out during the performance.  It becomes impossible to tell wether Hamlet's uncle is reacting to the matter of the play (as Hamlet supposes) or to the bizare behavior of Hamlet himself.  Again, the antic disposition only brings Hamlet problems (and we are left to wonder whether it's all an act or if he really is insane).
250009
john proctor - at first he was afraid to tell everyone that abigail told him it wasn't about witchcraft, because she told him when they were alone together and he had no way to prove it except for confessing his fornication, which he was hesitant to do.  after realizing the severity of the situation, he confessed, giving up his pride.  later in the play, he decides to sign his name and confess to being a witch to save his life, because his honesty is already broken, but then his pride refuses to let him sign his name, and he refuses to blacken the names of martha corey and rebecca nurse by confessing, and dies with them as an honest person.  john proctor's pride is at first a hinderance, and by the end of the play is a beneficial.\n\nabigail williams - less multi-dimentional than john proctor, her pride is a hinderance throughout the entire play.  her pride is hurt when john rejects her, and being what he calls a "lump of vanity", she retaliates by accusing people of withcraft, eventually calling the name of john's wife elizabeth in hopes of sentencing her to death and being with john.  even when she is directly accused of lying, she lashes out and plays it up even more.\n\nreverand hale - uses the idea of pride to try and convince john proctor to confess to witchcraft, saying "it may be that God punishes less the man who lies to save his life than he who throws it away for pride" (or something similar...i forget the exact quote).
507014
I think what Shakespeare was trying to do, was to give the viewer/reader a sense of the characters in the play. Macduff plays an important part later on the play, so it's important that we see the character closely. The play is not ALL based on Macbeth, in fact it's about Macbeth's rise and fall, which occurs by the influence of other characters in the play such as his wife, Lady Macbeth, the 3 witches including Hecate..even King Duncan influences him into believing he can be king himself (complicated story). Look i can write a whole essay as to why Macduff is important in the play...have you read the whole play? do you know the end? maybe if you read the end then you'd know why introducing Macduff's character is important..so sorry for the long answer =/
40536
Someone told him not to hate the playa, hate the game. He is a really nice guy and didn't want to hurt the feelings of any playas so he had to hate the game. \n\nTough choice, but I think he made the right one.
120632
1.  That she is foolish and way too naive to make decsions about her own marriage.\n2.  That, were she in her right mind, she would not fall in love with Othello ("what she feared to look on"), therefore she must be under some sort of magical spell.\n3.  That he loves her very much, although he shows it by being way too possessive.\n4.   That she has betrayed her father's love.\n5.  That she should probably do her own reading for English class.
911885
Othello, a "noble Moor" who has just eloped with the fair Desdemona when the play opens, leaves Venice to command the Venetian armies against the Turks on the island of Cyprus, accompanied by his new wife and his lieutenant, Cassio. When they arrive, they find that the weather has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Iago, a standard bearer, repeatedly tries to undo Othello, finally succeeding when he plants Desdemona's handkerchief on Cassio, managing to convince Othello that his wife has been unfaithful with the lieutenant. Othello smothers Desdemona out of jealousy, before Iago's wife, Emilia, eventually reveals that Desdemona's affair was but an invention of Iago's. Iago immediately kills his wife also, and Othello then commits suicide in grief. At the end, it can be assumed, Iago is taken off to be tortured and possibly executed.
543868
Indeed he is the opposite of powerless. His famous soliloquy (To be or not to be...) is all about how he is torn over what action to take next against Claudius.\n\nHamlet creates his own destiny by carefully choosing his actions. Examples: hiring the players to perform his play, choosing to not kill Claudius during Confession, stabbing the figure who turned out to be Polonius. Some scholars argue that Hamlet even pretended to be mad rather than actually being crazy.
1107681
ahhhh   KING LEAR!!!  it's hard to explain actually because this isn't a soliloquy.  it's what he says to kent and the "fool" after leaving the company of his two daughters (regan and goneral) during an arguement they had.  he's telling the other two to go into this "shelter" if you can call it that, to sheild themselves from the storm (the tempest, "tempest" in shakespears day meant storm).  of course it was violent storm that night.  the night the king lost his "glory" and in a manner of speaking the gods unleashed their fury!  it was so bad that it distracted his mind.  the storm represents what he felt in his heart.  the part where he tells the "boy" to go in first and calls him houseless poverty is just a juxtapose.  the will pray then he'll sleep which is pretty straight forward.  you really have to watch the play to understand.
177837
Cassio, commanding the night watch during the time of feasting and drinking, takes his orders from Othello, who directs the soldiers to drink with moderation and keep the peace. Cassio and Iago, his second in command, will see to this. Then Othello and Desdemona retire to bed, the first night they will spend together since their marriage.\n\nAlone, Iago makes suggestive remarks about Desdemona to Cassio, which Cassio turns aside; then Iago invites him to drink. Cassio declines, but Iago wheedles and urges him, until Cassio finally relents. Iago spurs Roderigo into a fight with Cassio; others join in and Iago sends Roderigo to ring the alarm bell, waking Othello and bringing him and his armed men to the spot. Othello demands to know who started the fight, and feigning reluctance, Iago names Cassio. Othello relieves Cassio of his post on the spot. Then he and Desdemona return to bed.\n\nIago advises Cassio to ask Desdemona to speak on his behalf with her husband. Cassio agrees, and Iago uses his wife, Emilia, to arrange a private meeting between Cassio and Desdemona.
499229
All the tragedies which were composed by Shakespeare had the main protagonist modelled with the clay of "Hamartia". According to Aristotle's Poetics, Hamartia is the Tragic Flaw in the personality of the Main protagonists which leads up to a tragic eventuality. \n\nI case of Othello, his character was based upon 3 Flaws. First, He was highly suspicious of the people around him. Second, he was extremely conscious of the fact that he belonged to a base class as he was the Black Moor. Third, he had a tendency to go high on emotions quickly.\n\nIago, the clever manipulator that he was, exploited him on these counts and made him believe that Desdemona had turned amorous and was into an affair with cassio.\n\nFurther, he was helped by the coincidences that happened along the way like his wife finding the Handkerchief of Desdemona.
957588
He didnt suck anything out, he put the stuff he sucked out of the mouse Percy killed, back into Percy. and it made him sick.\n\nThe purpose?--Karma? maybe. I think it was to represent that there are consequences with everything you do. Kill the nice mans rat=get something put back on you.
825805
Othello by William Shakespeare\n\nhttp://www.elook.org/literature/shakespeare/othello/\n\nI have found 12 summaries for you to look at, click the link below. I have included a short extract to give you a taste of what the reviews have to offer and they’re FREE..!!!\n\nhttp://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=319\n\nhttp://www.antistudy.com/search.php?title=Othello\n\nhttp://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xOthello.html#Othello\n\nhttp://www.clicknotes.com/\n\nAn analysis of the play by Shakespeare\n\nhttp://www.theatrehistory.com/british/othello001.html\n\nTHE ROMANTIC IAGO\n\nhttp://www.theatrehistory.com/british/iago001.html\n\nAntagonist \n\nIago, Othello�s ensign, is the antagonist of the play. He exploits Othello�s weakness, bringing out his fatal flaw of jealousy and making him believe that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. During the course of the play, Iago kills Roderigo and Emilia, his wife; and he stabs Cassio, wounding his leg. His evil scheming leads to the deaths of Desdemona and Othello. \n\nhttp://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOthello04.asp\n\nGood luck.\n\nKevin, Liverpool, England.
441548
I can't really say because we read it in play form in my English class and I played Tybalt so I kinda feel like I shouldn't dis him.\n\nI don't have the play right in front of me but I think he's arranged for them to get married but this will later become Wednesday after Juliet apologizes to Capulet for being so against him; he thought it was because of Tybalt's death but it was because Romeo was banished for killing Tybalt.\n\nHe describes her as still beautiful even though she may be dead (which she isn't). He says something about the color of roses not being gone from her lips or something like that.\n\nThe agony Romeo and Juliet's death caused their families was tremendous and showed their families that fighting was not the answer to things. The loss of one's only child is not worth the dumb excuse of fighting between families.\n\nShakespeare never gave anyone birthdates in the play since it didn't really matter, but we can estimate that Romeo was about 17 or 18 from accounts of historians who examined the play with great care.
801499
Portia would have been able to talk Othello out of killing her.\n\nDesdemona would have allowed Shylock to take his pound of flesh.\n\nWouldn't it be more fun to switch Caliban with Hamlet?