Iago vs Krogstad - 819 Words

Who’s to Blame? In the plays Othello, the Moor of Venice, written by William Shakespeare and A Doll s House, written by Henrik Ibsen; we are witness to two marriages that slowly collapse throughout the play with both ending tragically. Many believe that the characters of Iago and Krogstad played a major role and are mostly to blame for the disintegration of the marriages. I agree that it was a man in both cases that caused the relationships to crumble, but which man is really to blame? In Othello, Iago is a villainous person who is filled with hatred, jealousy and an undeniable lust for power. He influences and manipulates everyone close to him for the sole purpose of destroying their lives. Motivated by hate and jealousy, Iago†¦show more content†¦He explains to Nora: â€Å"Mrs. Helmer, you evidently don’t clearly realize what you’re guilty of. But, believe me, my one mistake, which cost me my whole reputation, was nothing more and nothing less than what you did.† (1616) Krogstad’s behavior and motives are based on the fact that he does not want to lose his job at the bank where Nora’s husband Torvald manages. In a desperate attempt to keep his job and spare his children from hardship, he uses Nora to influence her husband. Her attempts to save Krogstad’s job fail because Torvald is convinced that Krogstad is a liar and a cheat and he will not jeopardize his moral character or be swayed by his wife. He states, â€Å"Do you think I’m going to make myself look ridiculous in front of my whole staff, and let people think I can be pushed around by all sorts of outside influence?† (1624) It is the actions of Torvald, not Krogstad, which ultimately causes Nora to leave and thus ending their marriage. During the majority of the play he is a pompous and patronizing husband. He looks at himself as superior to Nora, never looking at her as an equal contributing member of the family. It was his inability to change that tortured Nora so much that during a conversation with Mrs. Linde, she referred to the possibility by saying, â€Å"Or the miracle that’s going to happen!† (1632) Change could have greatly helped Torvald if he only had possessed the ability to look at himself as Nora’s husband and not her