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Abstract
The battle between good and evil has always existed in people{u2019}s lives across time and place. It is an on-going conflict that distinguishes one character from the other, and it is the evil person who tends to be the source of trouble in life, as he/she is usually the one initiating the conflict. This is where the idea of villainy appears to be the focus of the present study in terms of how it can be constructed as a social aspect using language. Since drama discourse is considered a mirror to reality, this study aims to investigate the language of selected villains in two Shakespearean plays, particularly Iago in Othello and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, from a pragmatic approach. Critics{u2019} observations on Shakespeare{u2019}s villains have been mostly confined to either comparing or contrasting the general features of a number of villains, or to analyzing the language of one villain in relation to the major characters only. Thus, the present study aims to show the discoursal behavior of these two villains and the interactional strategies they employ to tempt, deceive and provoke their victims, both the major and minor characters. Their linguistic choices are examined in light of the relevant analytical theory of (Im)politeness. The study illustrates two different types of human villainy; one that is target-oriented and regretful, while the other is multi-dimensional and remorseless. Thus, it provides a better understanding of the character of the villain in drama