andrew_ Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Mine would have to be Iago from "Othello", such a complex and extremely jealous character who for me is the most interesting of Shakespeares villains."I hate the Moor"Sends shivers down my spine everytime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 hamlet. pensive revenger, uncharged violator of the witchcraft statutes, all-around greaser.close second is malvolio. third by a long distance is joan of arc. fourth place is a tie: cordelia and achilles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. E Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 hamlet. pensive revenger, uncharged violator of the witchcraft statutes, all-around greaser.The villain's definitely not the uncle who killed his father to steal the kingship, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 uncle killed one guy, and didn't violate the witchcraft act in so doing. definitely minor leagues.revenge tragedy always features the problem of the initial criminal is also the person in the position to adjudicate criminal offenses. denied the traditional route of grievance redress, the revenger must engage in extrajudicial self-help remedies. it amounts to treason on the basic facts in every case. hamlet adds in the ghost, who is plainly an evil spirit, based on the facts it relates, which triggers the anti-sortilege statutes. (macbeth on the other hand is not obviously a violator of the statutes. weird, eh?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tyrion I Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Mine would have to be Iago from "Othello", such a complex and extremely jealous character who for me is the most interesting of Shakespeares villains."I hate the Moor"Sends shivers down my spine everytime! :agree: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsManderly Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Mine would have to be Iago from "Othello", such a complex and extremely jealous character who for me is the most interesting of Shakespeares villains."I hate the Moor"Sends shivers down my spine everytime! Ditto - though Iago is actually probably the least complex Shakesperean villain. He's mean just because he's mean; he hates the Moor without having any properly demonstrated motivatio. He's really a pretty one dimensional classical "bad guy", whereas most of Shakespeare's other characters are more grey/nuanced. (One theory is that Iago is actually not a separate character but just a "voice" in Othello's head that messes with him.) That said, Iago is a cool brilliantly written villain to be sure!Though I also have a "soft spot" for Cersei Lannister I mean Lady Macbeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. E Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 uncle killed one guy, and didn't violate the witchcraft act in so doing. definitely minor leagues.revenge tragedy always features the problem of the initial criminal is also the person in the position to adjudicate criminal offenses. denied the traditional route of grievance redress, the revenger must engage in extrajudicial self-help remedies. it amounts to treason on the basic facts in every case. hamlet adds in the ghost, who is plainly an evil spirit, based on the facts it relates, which triggers the anti-sortilege statutes. (macbeth on the other hand is not obviously a violator of the statutes. weird, eh?)Yeah, but does that make someone a villain, or just someone in an untenable position? And the uncle had committed treason already, so can you committ treason against a guy who's committed treason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 agreed. it's nasty stuff.uncle might be a worse person, but as a villain of that play, he's not very interesting. i guess i'm reading it as though it's protagonist is also the best villain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. E Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 agreed. it's nasty stuff.uncle might be a worse person, but as a villain of that play, he's not very interesting. i guess i'm reading it as though it's protagonist is also the best villain.Hamlet--the world's first anti-hero? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Iago. Without question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mountain That Flies Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Richard III is wildly underrated, and is probably the funniest Shakespearean villain. But for grandness, how can you get any better than Macbeth? Some might say Mrs. M was the villain in that relationship, but her husband's fall from grace is probably the single most terrifying character arc the Bard ever wrote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Buck Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Gotta go with Iago. Might be the most cliche choice, but nonetheless. Even his name is bad-ass. I remember going to an Othello play with my class in like seventh grade, and the only thing I enjoyed about it was Iago (it probably helped that the guy playing him was hilarious). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Dermett Corbray Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I'll throw Cassius out there as an alternative, for both providing lols and making Brutus seem like a hero in comparison.Saw Julius Caesar on stage a few weeks ago, the actor really brought Cassius' weakness across well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Maybe it's just because of some of the movie interpretations (particularly Leguizamo's in Baz Lurhman's movie), but I think Tybalt is a fantastic villain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Richard III is awesome. I heard it's also the most performed Shakespeare play, which I found surprising. I'd go with a toss up between Richard and Iago.Tybalt is a good choice, same with the MacBeths.... I also enjoy seeing the many ways Shylock has been portrayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_ Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 Tybalt is a classic, completley forgot about him, he would be my second favourite then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixFlame Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I love Iago. I don't think he's a shallow character. Sure, his unrepentant evil, but what I love about him is that he doesn't out-and-out lie...he just has a wonderful way of suggesting the worst possible thing. He gets one dude to think he's the romantic hero, and turns a noble guy into a murderer. The Joker would be proud. I'm biased though. I saw a fantastic production where Iago seemed to have a lot more beneath the surface. Borderline jilted lover.I love Aaron the Moor too. His lines are hilarious. When his lover's son yells, "Thou hast undone our mother!" Aaron smirks back, "Villain, I have done thy mother." Oh snap. Sure he's another one who's "bad to be bad," but he is awesomely honest about it ("If that be call’d deceit, I will be honest"): Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.'Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful thingsAs willingly as one would kill a fly,And nothing grieves me heartily indeedBut that I cannot do ten thousand more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolene Brown Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I think Iago is refreshing, now that we've all gotten used to villains having dramatic backstories/sob stories that explain their villainy a lot of the time. I like that he is just straight up malevolent, and that we don't know whether he was abused as a child, or has self-esteem issues or whatever.Edit: I wonder if this is part of why Roose works so well too? He's a rather Iago like figure in his way, but even colder... Iago is full of hate, but Roose is just so... I don't know, I can't put it into words. He's not exactly emotionless, he's not exactly purely pragmatic, but he does what he does for no personal reason at all. Iago hates Othello, but Roose simply acts out of no feeling at all. I really think he is an amazing character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 What's with all the Iago love? Yes, he's a villain, but he's basically a For the Evulz type without either Richard III's delightful crash-and-burn or Edmund's (King Lear) complexity. Iago is a Littlefinger without a backstory.Anyway, my top two would be Shylock (more an anti-villain these days), and Macbeth. The Macbeth/Lady Macbeth dynamics are a clear influence on Theon Greyjoy/Ramsay Bolton in ACOK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime's Wench Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 This is a great discussion, thanks Andrew02!My favourite villain is Edmund from King Lear. The way he spins a great web of lies around his father and brother, and the way he plays Goneril and Regan off each other, is pure genius. He's also a likeable character with something of a backstory. We know he's the bastard who has been sent away from court to mature, and will be sent away by his father again on another 'lackey' mission, if he doesn't do something to better his station.You see what motivates Edmund far more than you do Iago (who we never quite know, why he hates Othello. Maybe because he's black, maybe because he slept with Emilia, maybe because he lusts over Desdemona... but none of these reasons, to me, seem enough for his pure hatred). I love some of the things Iago does, but he's not quite as subtle, or as human, as Edmund.I also think Goneril and Regan trump Lady MacBeth. Those bitches have pure malice... and for what? Their father is an old, weak man. Yes, he might not have been a nice man when he was younger, but he's just given them his kingdom. And they go and throw him out on the heath! I love watching them destroy each other in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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