The absolute evil of Iago in Othello What characterizes consummate villainy is the desire to be absolutely evil - to have no qualms about being evil and no constraint of human morality. Because feeling for another leads us to feel guilt, even an iota of empathy is a character flaw that will lead to a villain's downfall. To succeed, the villain must imitate the character of Iago in Othello, who constantly works his evil throughout the play and does not slip up until the end, when he simply has no way of turning back the situation to his advantage. Iago is a model for the ultimate villain because he operates on a self-proclaimed standard of morality, such that he never doubts his actions, no matter how evil they seem to the audience. The rational person is capable of this emulation, because rationality is the capacity to reason about a new and yet coherent order: a new order of values ​​and beliefs which constitute one's own system of morals. Convinced of this system that he himself designed, the villain is capable of convincingly imposing it on others and therefore manipulating them to advance his cause. Reason also gives the villain an ability to discern order in the midst of chaos and turn adversity into good fortune. With a bit of logic and reasoning that he himself has defined, the villain shapes a code of “ethics” and “morality” adapted to his designs, which makes his wickedness tolerable. The rational mind can use logic and reasoning to organize values ​​and beliefs into an order that is credible and therefore irrefutable to itself. Reasonable, therefore credible and irrefutable, this personalized moral code is convincing, and from this conviction, the villain will not be disturbed by morality...... middle of paper......, Inc., ndFergusson , Francis. “Macbeth as an imitation of an action.” Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A collection of critical essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. England Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Frye, Northrop. Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1967. Greenblatt, Stephen. “Introducing Macbeth.” The Norton Shakespeare. New York: Norton, 1997. 2555-63. Knights, L. C. “Macbeth.” Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A collection of critical essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Lamb, Charles. On Shakespeare's tragedies. Np: np. 1811. Rpt in Shakespearean tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY: Routledge, 1990. Mack, Maynard. Shakespeare for everyone: reflections mainly on tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.