Abnormal Psychology and Iago in OthelloWhen the Bard of Avon created the evil Iago in the tragedy Othello, he entered the area of ​​irrational behavior and abnormal psychology. This essay will examine this branch of science in relation to the play. David Bevington in William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies describes the irrationality and self-destructiveness of the behavior of the ancients: Emilia understands that jealousy is not a rational affliction but a self-induced disease. of the mind. Jealous people, he tells Desdemona, “are never jealous for the cause, / But jealous because they are jealous. He is a monster / Self-begotten, self-born” (3.4.161 – 163). Iago's own testimony confirms this, because his jealousy is at the same time completely irrational and agonizingly self-destructive. “I suspect the lusty Moor / has sprung upon my seat, his thought /, like a poisonous mineral, gnaws at my insides” (2.1.296 – 298). (223)Blanche Coles in Shakespeare's The Four Giants affirms the Bard's commitment to abnormal psychology, and his use of abnormal psychology: That Shakespeare was strongly interested in the study of the abnormal mind is commonly accepted among students. [. . .] The suggestion that Iago may have been intentionally designed as a psychopathic personality is not new. [. . .] Even a casual perusal of a book about the stories of psychopathic patients will find Iago peeking out from many of its pages. Additionally, Iago's name will occasionally appear in bold letters in books on abnormal psychology. (89-90) Evidence of his psychopathic personality is seen at the beginning of the play. He manipulates the wealthy Roderigo to awaken Senator Brabantio ("Rome... middle of the paper... will never look back, will never flow back to humble love, until you have a capable and broad revenge. Swallow ( 3.3) Iago has so much control over the general's twisted mind that he specifies how the Moor should kill Desdemona: "Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she has defiled!" The enthusiastic response raises suspicions that the ancient's psychopathology has taken hold possession of the Moor. WORKS CITED Bevington, David, ed, New Hampshire: Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.Shakespeare, William In The Electric Shakespeare University 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all. html No line nos..