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Iago

Iago. Othello. Questions. You might get a question about a secondary character Or a villain More likely you will need to show understanding of the role Iago plays in Othello’s downfall E.g. “love in difficult circumstances”. Motivation. Bitter because he missed out on promotion:

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Iago

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  1. Iago Othello

  2. Questions You might get a question about a secondary character Or a villain More likely you will need to show understanding of the role Iago plays in Othello’s downfall E.g. “love in difficult circumstances”

  3. Motivation Bitter because he missed out on promotion: “by the faith of man I know my price, I am worth no worse a place” Racist: “an old black ram” Loves Desdemona: “I do love her too” (2.2.280) Believes Emilia has slept with Othello “I hate the Moor and it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets He has done my office” (1.3.377-378)

  4. Thinks Othello is pompous about his success: “loving his own pride and purposes Evades them with a bombast circumstance, Horribly stuffed with epithets of war” (12-14) He is obsessed with rank: He says he as “off-capp’d” to Othello often and talks of “preferment” Soldiering has made him cruel “Nine or ten times I had thought to have yerk’d him here, under the ribs.” (1.2.4-5) Likes having power over others: “With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio” Pure evil and hatred: “I hate the Moor”

  5. Act 1 Iago shows that he is deceitful: “I am not what I am” And shows that he is able to manipulate people He is able to adjust the way he talks to suit his purpose. He can be persuasive, sly, direct, crude, light-hearted... He makes Roderigo wake Brabantio But knows when to step back and hide in the shadows The first Act ends with a soliloquy where he works through his intentions. He seems uncertain at first saying “How? How?” but by the end of the speech his plan is becoming clearer: “I have’t... Hell and night Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.”

  6. Act 2 At the beginning of this act he jokes with Desdemona but is criticises Emilia for nagging him He uses words with double meanings and plays on the literal and metaphorical meanings of ‘black’ and ‘white’ He has a soliloquy (2.3.314-340) where he, ironically, denies that he is the ‘villain’ as he is helping Cassio However he talks of the “Divinity of hell” – he lives by evil

  7. Act 3 Scene 3 He intrigues Othello, withholding information and teasing him with suggestions When he needs to he reassures Othello: “My lord, you know I love you” (3.3.117) There are ironic denials: “Utter my thoughts! Why, say they are vile and false” (137) And warns him: “O beware, my lord, of jealousy: It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on.” (167-169)

  8. But he plants the doubts which feed Othello’s jealousy: “She did deceive her father, marrrying you And when she seem’d to shake and fear your looks She lov’d them most.” Iago assures Othello he will support him He tells him of Cassio’s dream: “Sweet Desdemona” And tells Othello “It speaks against her with the other proofs.” (442) By the end of the scene he is in control of Othello who kneels before him: “Do not rise yet” (463)

  9. Act 4 Iago enjoys exerting this power over everyone: “Thus credulous fools are caught” (4.1.45) He is in total control, ordering Othello around: “Stand you awhile apart” (74) He gives Othello the ‘evidence’ needed He even speaks to Desdemona, reassuring her And tells Othello exactly how to murder Desdemona: “Do it not with poison; strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.” (201-202)

  10. Act 5 Scene 2 Iago kills Roderigo Roderigo calls him “inhuman dog” When Iago’s guilt is uncovered he ‘stabs Emilia from behind’ When questioned he says: “Demand me nothing; what you know, you know From this time forth I never will speak word.” (300-1) He shows no remorse or sorrow The last words about him are “O spartan dog, More fell than anguish, hunger or the sea” (Lodovico)

  11. The play ends with description of his inhuman cruelty Throughout, Iago displays a lack of respect for human life, relationships or emotions Love “is merely a lust of the blood and a permission of the will” He manipulates people’s qualities for his evil ends: “The Moor is of a free and open nature” (1.3.390) “out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all” (2.3.339-340) And he continually uses animal imagery:

  12. Animal Imagery "drown cats and blind puppies" (1.3.332-3) "[Othello] will be as tenderly led by the nose / As asses are." (1.3.395-6) "with as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio" (2.1.165-6) He seems to think people are no better than animals http://www.rsc.org.uk/othello/teachers/themes.html

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