“Malcolm, and Donalbain, the King's two sons, Are stol'n away and fled; which puts upon them Suspicion of the deed.” (Shakespeare 25) Ross now considers this a chance to attain power if he stays by Macbeth side. “'Gainst nature still Thriftless Ambition, that will ravin up Thine own life's means!--Then 'tis most like the sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth”. (Shakespeare 30). When Macbeth finds out Macduff has fled to England he decides to kill his family. Ross has such a desire for power that he helps in the demise of Macduff family. In doing so he kills his own relatives also. Macduff’s wife is Ross’s cousin.
“My dearest coz, I pray you, school yourself: but, for your husband, He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows the fits o'th'season. I dare not speak much further: But cruel are the times, when we are traitors, and do not know ourselves; when we hold rumour. From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, But float upon a wild and violent sea each way, and move-- I take my leave of you: Shall not be long but I'll be here again. Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward. To what they were before.--My pretty cousin, Blessing upon you!” (Shakespeare 15).
After Ross left his cousin he left the castles door open so the murders could kill Macduff’s family. After all that Ross had to go threw Macbeth still gave the Thane-ship to Lennox. This angered Ross immensely and when Ross’s saw that Macbeth’s kingdom was in danger Ross decided to leave Macbeth and join Malcom and Macduff against Macbeth. He used his cunningness to gain there trust by telling Macduff, “Your castle is surpris'd; your wife, and babes,
Savagely slaughter'd: to relate the manner, were, on the quarry of these murther'd deer to add the death of you.” (Shakespeare 205). After he was told of his family Malcom and Macduff believed him and Ross joined there quest to destroy Macbeth. This is a great illustration of double knavery first Ross thought he could get what he wanted with Macbeth when it didn’t work out he just changed sides. In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” the double knave was the elderly Lord Chamberlain Polonius. This was a minor double knave he had one objective that Hamlet not marry his daughter. He was going to make sure he succeeded even if it meant destroying Hamlet. When Hamlet started acting mad, Polonius so an opportunity and he took it. He told the king and queen of his findings right away. “As it hath us'd to do--that I have found the very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.” (Shakespeare 48) Polonius pretends to be kind to Hamlet to gather proof of his madness. This is double knavery, the scheming the Polonius perform in order to get what he wants.
In Shakespeare’s “Othello” the double knave was Iago Othello's ensign, the worst scoundrel of the three plays. Iago has no morality. He is an angry man and is happy to take down everyone around him to get what he wants. Iago hates Othello for many reasons first being he is a Moor. He also envies Othello position and hates that he is inferior to Othello As he plots his revenge, it is clear Iago respects and cares for no one.
“Othello represents the noble or master and Iago the servant or slave. There are numerous references in the text which illustrate such a contrast. For example: ``Is this the noble Moor whom our full Senate/Call all in all sufficient?'' (IV.i.261-2); ``O thou Othello that was once so good,/Fall'n in the practice of a damned slave'' (V.ii.294-5). Iago rejects his inferior role: ``I follow him to serve my turn upon him:/We cannot all be masters, nor all masters/Cannot be truly follow'd'' (I.i.42-4), and his motivation in seeking to destroy Othello is thus best understood as the slave's resentment of the master's superiority. He is determined to reveal that Othello's noble qualities are a sham, by reducing him to being a man ``eaten up with passion.'' If Othello's nobility can be shown to have no substance Iago will emerge as superior because of his greater cleverness.”(Newton)
Iago deceives everyone into believing he’s on there side. He gains the trust of Othello and manipulates him into believing that those closet to him were his enemies
“Iago's strategy is based on persuading Othello to accept that appearances can be deceptive: Men should be that they seem; /Or those that be not, would they might seem none!'' But he counts on Othello failing to draw the logical conclusion that this applies also to ``honest Iago.”(Newton) Iago was the most conniving evil scoundrel of the three plays. He was able to successfully deceive everyone so that it worked for him. Iago would have to be the perfect double knave. He was underhanded and at the same time cold-blooded. This is why double knaves are worst villains in society. You don’t know there the villain to its too late.
Works Cited
Newton, K.M., "Othello: Overview" in Reference Guide to English Literature, 2nd ed., edited by D. L. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991.
Shakespeare, William “Macbeth”, Act 2, scene 4, line 25. EXPLORING Shakespeare. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004.http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC
Shakespeare, William “Macbeth”, Act 4, scene 2, Line 15. EXPLORING Shakespeare. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004.http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC
Shakespeare, William “Macbeth”, Act 4, scene 3, Line 205. EXPLORING Shakespeare. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004.http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC
Shakespeare, William “Hamlet”, Act 2, scene 2, Line 48. EXPLORING Shakespeare. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004.http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC
