5 of The Best Shakespearean Villains

Oct 18, 2011
Samantha Markham

Edwin Booth as Shakespeare's Greatest Villain, Iago (1870) - United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division

Shakespeare certainly knew how to write a great villain. Full of contradictions and the most human of flaws, he ensured that audiences could relate to them.

One of the reasons Shakespeare’s plays remain so popular and are, in many ways, timeless, is because the Bard of Avon was a master of creating fascinating, rounded characters. Among his most intriguing and enduring creations are his villains. While many of them display some inhuman actions, they are motivated by the most human of emotions: jealousy, revenge, heartache and ambition, to name just a few.

The following is a list of just some of the best Shakespearean villains.

5. Shylock

The Merchant of Venice is classed as one of Shakespeare’s problem plays and Shylock’s categorisation as a villain is in itself problematic. Sometimes seen as an evil moneylender, who is blindly intent on collecting his “pound of flesh”, Shylock can also be viewed as sympathetic character, who is the victim of anti-Semitism and is merely giving as good as he gets, “The villainy you teach me/I will execute; and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”(III.i)

For more on Shylock as a sympathetic character, read the author’s ‘Is The Merchant of Venice an Anti-Semitic Play?’

4. Lady Macbeth

Another character who doesn’t quite fit the villain category comfortably, although, I’m sure, many would disagree with that analysis. I would argue that Lady Macbeth is misunderstood. It also seems unjust that the murder of Duncan is so often laid squarely at her door (or battlements).

What can’t be disputed is that her ambition for her husband led her to encourage his murderous thoughts and strengthen his resolve when it wavered. Her tough line in questioning Macbeth’s manhood, and her grisly description of bashing her baby’s head in, are just two of the facets of her character that lead many to view her as the ultimate female Shakespearean villain.

3. Edmund

Further female villainy can be found in King Lear. However, it is the manipulative, scheming and, almost entirely, remorseless Edmund who is arguably the real villain of the piece. His intelligence and talents for smooth-talking allow him to wreak havoc.

He lies to his father and suggests that his half-brother Edgar is plotting against him. Later, he shows little care when his father is blinded by Regan’s husband, Cornwall. If that weren’t enough, he engages in an affair with Goneril and Regan (both of whom are married), driving Goneril to murderous jealousy.

2. Richard III

The eponymous king is perhaps best known for his “Now is the winter of our discontent” speech and for being prepared to give everything he owned in exchange for a horse. His villainy is predominantly caused by bitterness; he is hunchbacked and ugly, and promises that if he “…cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days.”(I.i)

And prove himself a villain he does; he has his brother killed, locks his nephews in the Tower of London and beheads anyone who disagrees with him or gets in his way. Incidentally, he proves a lover, too. In the, inexplicable, wooing of Anne, widow of Lancastrian Prince of Wales, Edward, who was also killed by Richard III. “Was ever woman in this humour wooed?/Was ever woman in this humour won?”(I.ii) Indeed!

1. Iago

In terms of violence, Iago’s hands are relatively clean, certainly much cleaner than Richard’s. However, in terms of manipulation, scheming and Machiavellian ambition, Iago has got to rank as Shakespeare’s best villain.

It is his talent for garnering trust, especially the trust of Othello, which makes him such an effective villain. When the man you’re plotting to destroy refers to you as, “honest Iago,” you can be fairly certain you’ve got him right where you want him. An audience is lead to believe that Iago is motivated by jealousy, he certainly considers himself worthy of far loftier heights than he’s been offered. However, when it comes to explaining his villainy, he is not terribly forthcoming, “…what you know, you know.” (V.ii)

For more on, arguably, Shakespeare’s finest villain, read a ‘Character Analysis of Iago’