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Othello Iago the Machiavellian

Set in a hotbed of jealousy, hatred and mistrust, "Othello" is a classic tragedy that explores the destruction of a noble spirit. Through a complicated web of miscommunication, lies and deceit perpetrated by Iago, Othello is tricked into believing his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful to him. Othello murders her, though she continues to profess her innocence. When he realizes the truth, Othello takes his own life. This essay will try to explain what I believe motivates Iago's actions throughout the play.

Iago is an entity of pure evil he takes pleasure in the way he can manipulate and control the other characters emotions. He has no typical motive for what he does, such as revenge as he doesn't really care about the outside world and its revolutions he only cares about the power he wields or can wield.

In this essay I will be talking about my views on Iago's nature and motives (or the lack of.) Iago is usually portrayed by most as the devil or a projection of the devil. Some critics argue that he has no emotions and that he only carries out these actions because he enjoys it and believes that it is his calling in life. What makes Iago even more evil is that he not only is naturally evil but he is very clever and witty, he knows what he is doing to the hapless people at the receiving end of his manipulation and revels in it. Iago is passionless. But he presents himself as an angel of innocence and solitude towards Othello, Othello is taken in by this as he cries out "honest, honest Iago,"

Ironically Iago is the only one who isn't true to him and deceives him to the end eventually leading to the demise of Othello and Desdemona. Iago himself is a women hater and he expresses this many times throughout the play as well as showing himself to be prejudice and racist, the audience mainly learns of this through his soliloquy's and when he is talking with Roderigo "If sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and a supersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits….."

Most people would agree that Iago can be considered as a Machiavellian; this basically means that the person in question uses political science based upon the study of man. They usually have no morals, ethics and are completely devoid of religion, scorning it as a weakness or a crutch. Such people are usually very unique in personality but can be very deceptive if they try so that this does not seem always the case. The title Machiavellian is taken from the name of an Italian philosopher called Niccolo Machiavelli; he believed that to be a great ruler "that the ruler must gain the support of the strong either by cajolery, force or deceit." There is also "no room for natural law." Such ideas didn't go down well with the Elizabethans and many totally rejected this idea (just as the majority today) and in Shakespeare's Othello order and natural law reassert itself in the end.

In most plays or stories the villain usually has something to gain in doing despicable acts but this is not the case with Iago as although he has a motive at the start of the play to spark off is anger, he never really has a final objective.

At the very beginning of the play we find ourselves in the midst of a conversation between Iago and Roderigo, it seems as if Roderigo is trying to be very secretive as they are situated on a street at night in Venice. The first words we hear from Iago are "Sblood, but you'll never hear me!" The word Sblood was considered a very strong swear word in British language at the time.

We learn through the conversation that Iago uses crude language and is not well spoken, or noble, but a simple man, a soldier. Iago explains to Roderigo why he hates the general, Othello.

It seems that he had pleaded with Othello for the position of lieutenant in the army, but despite his efforts Othello promotes Cassio, a nobleman One Michael Cassio, a Florentine ...That never set a squadron in the field,

From this statement we can tell that Iago despises Othello for this decision and that this is the action that sparks off the flame of hatred that Iago keeps feeding with his black thoughts and ideals, we also know now that Cassio is not a native of Venice but from Florence.

At the end of Act 1 we witness Iago giving us his first soliloquy, it is here that we discover that Iago is even more bitter towards Othello because he suspects that Othello might have slept with his wife And it is thought abroad that "twixt my sheets He has done my office.

We know as the audience that this is not true as Othello even from the very start is portrayed as an honest and kind man and to do something such as sleep with another mans wife would be unthinkable to him. Iago doesn't care about this and although he doesn't really believe that this is true he is more than willing to accept that it is "I know not if't be true, but I, for mere suspicion in that kind, will do, as if for surety." The fact that Iago is preparing to avenge himself regardless of whether the charge against Othello could be substantiated or not suggest that he does not really need a motive for his hate, or that if he has one it must lie deeper in his nature.

Iago's twisted, jealous mind, leads him to believe or want to believe that Michael Cassio has also slept with his wife and with his good looks, charm and his luck with women, also the fact that Cassio got the promotion and not him makes Iago totally jealous of Cassio and this is why he hates Cassio so much He hath a person and a smooth dispose to be suspected - framed to make a woman false.

In the first act of the play, Iago convinces Roderigo to help him arouse Brabantio, Desdemonas father, in order to tell him of the secret marriage between his daughter and Othello Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tapping your white ewe.

Again we are shown of Iago's crude language and expressions; Iago also reduces Othello's image into that of an animal and in Elizabethan times this was the lowest of the low. Iago's usage of crude, racist language and sexual animalistic images would be shunned upon in Venice and he only uses them to arouse Brabantio's anger and get him to hate the "Moor," even further.

This method of manipulation is used by Iago as he knows how his words will affect others. He uses this method against Othello to convince Othello of Desdemonas affair and also uses it against other people during the length of the play.

Iago's manipulation of Othello can be explained by many different motives and ideals but none of them are necessarily true as, S.T. Coleridge once commented Iago is "the motive hunting of motiveless malignity." This manipulation and deception brings eventually the downfall of several of the main characters and the destruction of something noble and beautiful. He regularly insults Othello and Desdemona behind their backs usually in his soliloquy's but also he sometimes confers with Roderigo. In Act Scene III ago says Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, As salt as wolves in pride and fools as gross as ignorance made drunk

Here he compares Desdemona and Cassio to animals to bring into Othellos mind terrible and horrific images to make him angry. Iago is confident that his words will hit their target. Iago frequently uses racist terms.

In the presence of Roderigo and to anger Brabantio, he is often being racist. He refers to Othello as a Barbury horse, a type of Arab horse, which is not only racist but adding animalistic terms in as well.

In the play, the scene changes from Venice to Cyprus. Shakespeare uses Venice to symbolise truth and civility and, in contrast to this, the setting moves to Cyprus, bad, terrible and war-torn, and the setting for Othellos, similarly tumultuous trial. Whilst Othellos mind is at rest, the audience enjoys a Venetian setting, and when he becomes provoked and disturbed, we see the backcloth of Cyprus. The other characters in the play also seem pleased and content of the implications of being in Venice. Brabantio himself explains What tellst thou me of robbing? This is Venice; my house is not

a grange. (Act I Scene I)

Shakespeare again questions society by putting in his play what lots of people have once thought or carried and will continue to do. Here Iago is actually getting Othello to ask him what he is thinking, not directly telling him, but using his suspicion against him, making him ask what Iago thinks so that, cleverly, he cannot be blamed later on. He does this by telling him that he doesnt want to hear what he has to say. He does this, making Othellos suspicions work against him, making him ask and from there onwards puts concocted words into Othellos mind. The things he tells Othello are mostly to make his suspicions grow, but Iago does add the slightest of truths in to prove it a bit more She did deceive her father, marrying you..

Here he reminds Othello that Desdemona did deceive her father, so he could deceive again. While Iago is reminding and telling Othello what has happened, and what could be happening, he is adding language in which he is saying how a lady could fall for Cassio, building up Othellos fatal flaw - jealousy. Here we see a big change Othello turning into someone almost like Iago the audience see Othellos language change from gentlemanly to crude Damn her lewd minx...

Here is Othello uttering in Shakespearian times very bad words.

Shakespeare makes Othello change his language and thoughts just to show the audience how someone can easily change from mere suspicion, to fully believing what is not true. Then the last statement Othello says in the scene proving the point for the audience that Othello has changed O damn her, damn her. Come go with me apart, I will withdraw to furnish me with some swift means of death" However this line also proves that Othello still loves Desdemona as he wants to give her a quick and easy death in contrast with a slow and painful one, he doesn't want her to suffer.

In this play Iago was prepared to ruin and end peoples lives just through jealousy, and at the beginning of the play Iago's thoughts for revenge were not quite as tragic as the final result, but he doesn't care, he acts as if it is but a huge joke and finds it very funny (until his arrest) that he has deceived so many people and that nobody suspected him even remotely apart from Emila. In the en d Iago gained nothing except the destruction of all around him, which maybe is what he wanted; as he doesn't gain any money or power but perhaps this does not bother Iago very much as in his mind he believes he has achieved everything he tried to. His motives were small and his actions huge and horrific. So what most people would wonder and what Othello asked on the brink of death was Why hath thou thus ensnard my soul and body?

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