Part 1 of Essay
The poet Coleridge appropriately described the character of Iago as being one of "motiveless malignity." Throughout the play Iago’s motives are secondary to, and seem only to serve as justification for, his actions. Iago is driven by his nature of character. To discuss Coleridge’s assessment we must look at ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... malignity" is redundant in the pure meaning of the words. Does Coleridge mean to say that Iago cannot help himself from being evil or does he mean that what Iago did was without motive? For the sake of this discussion, Coleridge intends the later. Abbott states "in truth character is what a person is; reputation is what he is supposed to be." (Websters) Is Iago evil? No, he is not. Walter Lippmann says that "evil is not a quality of things as such. It is a quality of our relation to them." (Websters) Iag ....