Based on Othello, Research Paper Example

Othello belongs to the genre of timeless tragedies based on the eternal human emotions of hate love and jealousy. In this powerful theatrical production penned by William Shakespeare the two destructive emotions of jealousy and vengeance take centre stage. Iago’s desire for vengeance against Othello for promoting Cassio over him propels him to create a chain of events which result in disastrous consequences for all the main protagonists.

In Iago, Shakespeare has created one of his most powerful villains.. One who has no conscience and one who stoops to the lowest levels to make his plans a success. The key emotion that motivates Iago is Vengeance. He seeks to extract vengeance from Othello for having chosen Cassio over him for promotion in rank “I follow him to serve my turn upon him,” said Iago (9:45). In a series of conspiracies he starts influencing the general’s mind and poisoning it with notions that lead to a chain of tragic events for Othello, Cassio and Desdemona.

His first conspiracy against Othello is to inform Desdemona’s father about her hidden alliance with the soldier resulting in a skirmish between the two.  After the War is over, Iago notices that Othello feels a sense of insecurity about giving up the identity of the soldier with the identity of the lover (Rosenberg, 1993).   . Iago instigates him further and implies that he is becoming soft and losing his ability to function as a soldier .In trying to balance  his two identities Othello loses his peace of mind and  arrives at a stage of perpetual confusion and  despair .Taking advantage of his confused mental status Iago plants the seed of  a jealousy in his head and leads him into thinking that his wife is having an affair with Cassio.

As the play progresses Iago’s desire to wreck vengeance on Othello becomes an all consuming passion and he   becomes so obsessed with exercising his revenge, he does not care who he hurts and who comes in his way. Manipulating Desdemona’s friendship with Cassio Iago creates the suspicion that the two are having an adulterous relationship   in Othello’s heart.  In a fit of jealous rage Othello orders Cassio to be killed to avenge his honor and decides to kill Desdemona himself.  He stands over her and strangles her with his bare hands. When he realizes he has been manipulated by Iago and tricked into believing the lies about his wife, Othello suffers deep anguish and   he decides to kill himself. Desdemona and Othello are not the only two victims of Iago’s clever plans .He manages to have Roderigo eliminated and severely injures Cassio in his attempt to kill him. He then kills his wife Emilia with his own hands as he feels she is getting in his way. Unlike Othello he feels no sense of guilt or pangs of conscience in having killed his wife.  After Othello’s death Iago is tortured for his role in the conspiracy and before he is killed, witnesses Cassio taking Othello’s position in the army.

In planning his conspiracy one of Iago’s prime motivations was ambition in advancing his career in the army. By promoting Cassio as his lieutenant Othello thwarts Iago’s ambitions in achieving a higher rank. “Cassio’s a proper man: let me see now: To get his place and to plume up my will In double knavery – How, how? Let’s see”(I.iii). Iago starts the conspiracy to initially to get back the position that was awarded to Cassio,. But his Machiavellian schemes succeed in embroiling not only Cassio but also Othello and Desdemona. He initially plots to re-capture the rank from Cassio but expands his ambition to being awarded Othello’s rank. In the ultimate Machiavellian conspiracy Iago plans to remove both Othello and Cassio   from the path of his military career. His scheme nearly works.  If Iago’s conspiracy had not discovered and Cassio had died instead of  being gravely  injured,  perhaps Iago would have ended up  being awarded Othello’s position instead of Cassio in the play’s finale

Iago’s motivation to extract vengeance against Othello may stem from his belief that Othello is having an affair with Iago’s wife, Emilia, ” “I hate the Moor and it is thought abroad that `twixt my sheets `has done my office”( 55:429-431). In trying to extract vengeance from Othello he creates a web of lies and deception to make Othello suspect that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with his Lieutenant Cassio. In instigating Othello to believe that his wife is cheating on him Iago wants to derive the satisfaction of the general experiencing the same jealousy he did when he suspected his wife Emilia of having an affair with both Othello and Cassio. In the play it is never revealed whether Iago’s suspicions of Othello’s and Cassio’s infidelity with his wife were ever true or just fueled by his insecurities. In a dialogue with Desdemona his wife Emilia who is her attendant mentions her beliefs in fidelity and being true to one’s husband. This casts doubt on Iago’s suspicion being true and more a product of insecurities then reality. Marry, I would not do such a thing for a joint-ring, nor for measures of lawn, nor for gowns, petticoats, nor caps, nor any petty exhibition; but for the whole world,– why, who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch?” (IV.iii)

Othello is portrayed in the play as belonging to another racial ethnicity. His skin color is not the same as the other officers in the army. Vienna at the time the play is set in was not a very multi ethnic society and a high ranking moor such as Othello was bound to evoke a lot of fear hatred and jealousy among his peers. Iago‘s antagonism may have been   fuelled by his resentment in having to take orders from a man who he did not consider his equal on the bass of his ethnicity. (Rosenburg, 1993).  He does use derogatory references to Othello’s ethnic origins in the play in his conversations with Desdemona’s father . “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”.  “Your daughter [will be] covered by a Barbary horse” (I.1) Therefore it is quite possible that Iago’s hatred of Othello is fuelled by a distrust and resentment of people from a different cultural and ethnic background

Though Iago does have a malicious streak in him, I do not believe he is innately evil. He has a Machiavellian mind and uses it for what he wants. I believe the destruction that he created was also fueled by the naiveté of the people he destroyed.  Though he is brave courageous and an able warrior Othello is not well versed in detecting and avoiding clever schemes and plots. He falls easily into Iago’s diabolical trap without questioning or detecting Iago’s scheming tendencies.  This reveals a naïve side of this battle weary soldier who is more trained in combating physical attacks then mental ploys. (Rosenburg, 1993).   Desdemona Othello’s wife is shown as independent, intelligent and loyal. She too does not have the cynicism and wisdom to detect the web of lies that Iago spins around her friendship with Casio

Just like Desdemona and Othello Casio too is naïve enough to fall into Iago’s trap and under his advice seeks to exploit his friendship with Desdemona to ask her help in re-instating his position as lieutenant by pleading on his behalf to her husband. (Rosenburg, 1993).    This set the ball rolling on the web of lies and infidelity that Iago spins around the two and uses it to bring their destruction.

Though Iago is the villain of the play his ploys would not have been successful if the protagonists portrayed as heroes had not displayed essential weaknesses and flaws in their characters and succumbed to negative emotions such as jealousy. (Raatzsch, 2009)Perhaps Iago’s greatest strength was his manipulative abilities and the mental aptitude to exploit a situation to his own advantage. Iago’s schemes gained strength because the character he manipulated were not able to detect his ploys. (Raatzsch, 2009)Thus in my opinion Iago was more crafty than evil, he was able to identify the weaknesses in the other protagonists character and then used trickery to exploit these weaknesses for his own advantage.

Works Cited

Shakespeare William “Othello. The Unabridged William Shakespeare.” New York: Running P. 1997.

Rosenburg Marvin “The Masks of Othello: The Search for the Identity of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona by Three Centuries of Actors and Critics”. New York: University of Delaware Press. 1993 pages 37, 57 and 82

Raatzsch  Richard “The Apologetics of Evil: The Case of Iago” . New York, Princeton University Press. 2009 pages 65 and  80