Iago, oh Iago.

[Mathis]

I'm going to get straight to the point. Why does Iago hate Othello? Why does he do what he do? This is what I have trouble understanding reading this play. Is it merely because he suspects that Othello has slept with his wife? Jealousy of Othello's position of power? Has he simply been made villain for the sake of having a villain in the play, could it be that simple? Oh, wise playground. I ask you to discuss Iago's motives for doing what he does.

[Worira]

Yup. Those are the three main motivations, right there. Sure are.

[_Zoot_]

Well, a reason that came up when I was studding it was that in that day and age racism was very common so it could be that he resents a black man being in a position of power over him. But I think that it is a combination of those reasons.

[Thufir]

One crucial interpretation of Iago has yet to be mentioned:


Why does he do what he does?

Because he can.

[Sneak]

Also, he's pissed at Othello for promoting Cassio instead of him.

[Snares]

I'd say the main reasons have all been said already. Although if you want to be flash, you could throw in a Coleridge quote saying that all of Iago's supposed motives are just 'the motive-hunting of motiveless malignity' - i.e. that he's just a big damn villain trying to justify what he's doing any way he can.

To me, at least, his claims that Othello is sleeping with Emilia do sound like him just trying to justify his actions, trying to convince himself he's doing this for any reason other than jealousy and just plain being moustache-twirlingly EEEVIL. There's no suggestion of anything between Othello and Emilia anywhere else in the play. I'd say jealousy is his motive above anything else - jealousy at Othello for being black and being above him, jealousy at Cassio being inexperienced and being above him (maybe a bit of anger at Othello promoting Cassio over him too). So, ironically, he brings Othello down using the exact same emotion. Thus, the moral of the story - jealousy is baaaad.

[Thufir]

Although if you want to be flash, you could throw in a Coleridge quote saying that all of Iago's supposed motives are just 'the motive-hunting of motiveless malignity' - i.e. that he's just a big damn villain trying to justify what he's doing any way he can.

I believe I just said that:


Because he can.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Also, he's pissed at Othello for promoting Cassio instead of him.

And then after succeeding in becoming Othello's lieutenant he proceeds to utterly destroy Othello. And why? There is no real justification for what he then spends Acts 3-5 doing to Othello. Oddly enough, I adore Iago for this reason.

He constantly leaps at new opportunities to further a villainous plot, whether with the handkerchief or in conversation with Othello (Act 3 is basically this), but whether he has some hidden (possibly racist) motive for what he does or whether he feels a compulsion to bring down every member of that power structure (for I always personally saw it in terms of power - Othello's subjection to Iago's will is absolutely fantastic and seriously powerful on the stage) is something that depends entirely upon interpretation.

Just seeing this thread reminded me how much I love Iago. I may have to read the end of Act 3, Scene 3 before I go to bed. :smallwink:

[Snares]

I believe I just said that:

I did say that the main reasons had all been said already. :smallwink: Just throwing a quote from a dead poet into the mix to sound all flashy.

[Dienekes]

Also, he's pissed at Othello for promoting Cassio instead of him.

This falls flat. He blames Othello for casting him aside despite numerous people telling him to promote Iago, and instead uses his political cunning to get around them. Othello is not shown to use such guiles and speaks plain.

Later Iago claims that Othello slept with his wife. Just before that Iago remarked that Othello was an honorable and true husband, and really would not have had the time to have the thousands of affairs Iago says he has.

Later Iago claims to love Desdemona, though earlier he states how all women are worthless. And shows no signs of such lusts.

The only true insight into what Iago is is in my opinion when he described himself as "I am not what I am" (or something similar I don't have the play in front of me).

Iago does what he does because he can. He loves to trick to torment to lead to self destruction. He appears to be incredibly happy about this whenever he gets a soliloquy, but do not trust Iago. This includes the audience listening to Iago's deepest thoughts, the plot of the play could be described as "Iago lies" and wouldn't be too far off the mark. In the end Iago hates Othello because Iago needs someone to hate, he needs to play with the system. He loves deception too much, which makes using anything he says about his motivations strenuous to believe. You can take his contradictory motivations as two things: He's trying to justify to himself. Or 2) he's deceiving the audience much as he deceives every other character in the play.

Personally I prefer 2, but it cannot be proven more or less than 1.

[BladeofOblivion]

I'm reading this in my English class right now and there is one more important thing he wants: Money. If you pay attention in the very first scene, you discover that Roderigo wants to marry Desdemona, and has been paying the eloquent Iago to try to convince Brabantio to let him marry her. Iago, of course, is actually using the money for personal gain rather than attempting to win over Brabantio. He keeps taking money from Roderigo, who isn't very smart. When Othello runs off and marries Desdemona, Iago takes this plan of action to ruin Othello's marriage so Desdemona will be forced to leave him and Roderigo will continue affections.

The other main reason is that Iago wants revenge on Cassio for being Othello's Lieutenant instead of him.

And the third reason is that he is simply a Sociopath.

[TSGames]

I'm going to get straight to the point. Why does Iago hate Othello?
I'll go straight to the answer: the entire point is that we don't know why Iago hates Othello. Iago's last act of spite, the very act that makes him such a memorable villain, is to refuse to tell Othello why he hates him so.

There is a lot of speculation, but the problem is that if we knew without doubt why he hated Othello he wouldn't be such an amazing villain. Such a beautifully complete tale of hatred could not be the same if the villain gave the hero the simple peace of mind of knowing what he had done to bring the tragedy into motion. Iago's refusal to provide a clear motive is handled flawlessly and becomes the crowning element in one of the greatest Shakespearian masterpieces.

[Mathis]

I'm reading this in my English class right now.

So am I, and I'm having a hard time trying to find a proper motive. But I have a creeping suspicion I might be searching for something that isn't truly there. This whole thing with villains being villains for the simple purpose of villainy at the time.


I'll go straight to the answer: the entire point is that we don't know why Iago hates Othello. Iago's last act of spite, the very act that makes him such a memorable villain, is to refuse to tell Othello why he hates him so.


Mm, yeah. But then again, there are these lines that stuck with me, and I can't shake this.

Iago: Demand me nothing; what you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word.

Othello: Well, thou dost best.

Could this point back to Iago's suspicion of Othello having made the beast with two backs with Emilia, Iago's wife? And could Othello's reply be the confirmation of this? I mean he basically says "Yeah, you do best staying quiet". Normally anyone else would want to know why you were tricked into strangling your own wife. Thoughts?

[VanBuren]

Ostensibly, he hates Othello for being passed over for promotion. But the truth is, it's really never clearly spelled out. Frankly, I'd say it springs from his obsessive delight in manipulation and destruction.

[TSGames]

Iago: Demand me nothing; what you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word.

Othello: Well, thou dost best.


I have a somewhat different interpretation of these lines. Perhaps it's where I'm from, but the words "Well, thou dost best" sound very much like a threat to me. At the point when Iago says "I'm not saying another word," Othello realizes that he will never have the information he wants, and so he retorts with a tried and true threat, "Yea, you better." Othello is making it clear that anything Iago says or does will only make his punishment worse.

I think you are correct in that there is no motive expressly provided in the entire play. What makes it such a great work is that there are any number of plausible events which could have created Iago's hatred, and yet it is also possible that there was nothing to cause the hatred, that it all existed in Iago's head. There is no definite answer to why Iago did it; ultimately only Iago knows.

[SuperPanda]

As a lit major and with this being one of my favorite Shakespeare plays I'll echo what a lot of other people have said.

1) Iago, honest Iago, is a manipulator by nature. You can see from the way he plays Roderigo that he has always been a manipulator. That said There is an indication that he has thoroughly earned Othello's trust over a long war career at the start of the play and the way Iago is treating Roderigo seems to be different to how he normally acts (like any good con man, he maintains a trustworthy reputation).

Then we come to the start of the play.

Iago has been Othello's trusted second over a long series of battles. Othello was a slave whose prowess has seen him promoted to the most trusted general in the city which is a remarkable deed especially considering that he is still considered an outsider. The implication is that Iago has been with him for a good long part of this time.

From the dialog we figure out why Cassieo was promoted instead of Iago. In short it was because Cassieo is Desdemona's friend and helped Othello woo the lady and exchange their love letters. Casseio is said to know little to nothing of real battle but has had schooling and has a rank of privilege. Iago is presented as having neither in the way he interacts with people and with his wife's station it is pretty clear that he is still a commoner while a foreign slave has been promoted above him, with his help, and then given the rank and title he feels he earned with years of toil and blood to an already privileged man because of a girl.

Iago says in his monologue that he doesn't really believe the rumors of Othello sleeping with his wife, but in his hate he'll take them for truth anyways.

Iago turns on Othello and the others, likely using the same wit that made him such a valuable advisor in war time. A successful general needs to be clever and have good strategies. War is often about deception. Othello is honest and brave, but he is guileless so there is little doubt that it was Iago's wit which led to Othello's success.

So we have an incredibly intelligent person, born into a rank and station where he shouldn't be associating with the wealthy - like Desdemona - being lorded over by Othello whose rank is suppose to be even lower than his. That Othello seems to have gotten his current status with Iago's help and then promoted Cassieo instead couldn't have helped.

The thing is, even after he's gotten that rank back, it isn't enough. He was insulted by someone lesser and that person needed to be made to pay. Desdemona needed to be made to pay because she represented what he couldn't ever have, the rank and privileged. Roderigo needed to pay (literally) because he represented what others thought Iago was, so he treats Roderigo like coin purse because that's how he himself was treated. Also Roderigo plays an important role in bringing him down because of that same cycle.

Its all open to interpretation, that is my reading of it. It doesn't answer everything because so much of the hatred is transfered onto Othello.

[thompur]

They had a discussion on this on BtVS: Season 3 "Earshot"

OTHELLO. BtVS Intertext/Allusion.

Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It concerns an African general, Othello, who falls in love with and marries a noble Venetian, Desdemona. Their marriage and lives are quickly destroyed by Iago, one of Othello’s soldiers, who uses Othello’s race (among other things) to convince Othello that Desdemona couldn’t possible love or be faithful to him.

In “Earshot” (3018) Buffy is infected with “the aspect of the demon” when she kills a mouthless demon and some of its blood touches her. She develops telepathy and, before the negative consequences of this aspect become clear, she uses the power to impress her English teacher, Ms. Murray, reading the teacher’s thoughts about Othello and voicing them as her own:

TEACHER: Jealousy clearly is the tool that Iago uses to undo Othello. But what's his motivation? What reason does Iago give for destroying his superior officer?

NANCY: (V.O.) Cassio has my place. Twix my sheets, he's done my office.

BUFFY: Well, he was passed over for promotion. Cassio was picked instead and people were saying that Othello slept with his wife.

WILLOW: (V.O.) Buffy did the reading? Buffy understood the reading?

XANDER: (V.O.) When did she study? Was I supposed to study? Ms. Murray's kinda hot.

NANCY: (V.O.) I was gonna say Cassio. Uh, I hate her.

TEACHER: Any other reason.

NANCY: (blurting out) Race!

TEACHER: Uh... good Nancy. Can't overlook that.

FREDDY: (V.O.) Look at them, scrambling for the teacher's praise like pigeons for thrown bread crust.

BUFFY: (whispering) Will, who's that guy.

WILLOW: That's Freddy Iverson. He writes those editorials for the school paper. He's sardonic.

FREDDY (V.O.) Bread crusts. That's deep. I should write that down.

TEACHER: There's something else at work here.

BUFFY: Well, he, um, he sort of admits himself that his motive are... spurious! He, um, he does things because he, he enjoys them. It's like he's not, he's not really a person. He's a, the dark half of Othello himself.

WILLOW: (V.O.) Huh...

XANDER: (V.O.) Woah!

TEACHER: Buffy. Really. Very astute. I said something quite like that in my dissertation.

BUFFY: I know. Uh, I mean... I agree. With that.

TEACHER: Yes, and doesn't that also explain Othello's readiness to believe Iago. Within seconds he turns on Desdomona. He believes that she's been unfaithful. And we're all like that. We all have our little internal Iagos, that tell us our husbands or our girlfriends or whatever, don't really love us. But you never really see what's in someone's heart.

The text of the play, as well as discussion and character analysis, can be found at http://www.allshakespeare.com/othello.php.

[Mathis]

Wow, I was jus going to say that Othello's biggest flaws were his insecurity and paranoia but that's a much better way of saying it. Though, a bit too over the top in the phrasing to my opinion. I still wish I had thought of that though. I'll make sure to give a copy of that conversation to the folks in my drama class hehe, they love them some Buffy.

[Psyren]

Well, after Jafar got locked in the lamp, he...

...Oh, Shakespeare. Carry on.

[Cahokia]

Racism, pretty explicitly, as well as a feeling of betrayal. Iago is an officer with much more experience under his belt than Cassio, and in his eyes, was the most qualified for promotion to captain. When Cassio is appointed to the position instead, Iago feels that Othello has robbed him of what is rightfully his. "Just like a moor," thinks Iago, "to put things where they ought not belong."

And voila! A bastard is born.

[Hawriel]

Racism? Really? I think that has alot more to do with analising the play through assumtions based on american race relations than it does of Shakespear's opinion on the matter.

[Dienekes]

Racism? Really? I think that has alot more to do with analising the play through assumtions based on american race relations than it does of Shakespear's opinion on the matter.

Actually, there are a lot of racist undertones in Othello. Iago use him being a Moor or dark as a slur, Desdemona's father thinks of him in animalistic and shamanistic tones. Desdemona herself only says she loves him because she saw his true self, which is implying she has to ignore his exterior for herself to love him.

Now was Iago motivated by racism? Of all of the supposed motivations for Iago, I really don't think that's it. Especially since Iago has worked with Othello and others of African descent in the mercenary band for years at this point.

However again, my interpretation of the text is probably just as wrong and just about any theory can be given evidence and contradictions based on the play. Iago is a complicated character.

[SaintRidley]

Actually, there are a lot of racist undertones in Othello. Iago use him being a Moor or dark as a slur, Desdemona's father thinks of him in animalistic and shamanistic tones. Desdemona herself only says she loves him because she saw his true self, which is implying she has to ignore his exterior for herself to love him.

Now was Iago motivated by racism? Of all of the supposed motivations for Iago, I really don't think that's it. Especially since Iago has worked with Othello and others of African descent in the mercenary band for years at this point.

However again, my interpretation of the text is probably just as wrong and just about any theory can be given evidence and contradictions based on the play. Iago is a complicated character.

The way I looked at Iago's use of racism was as an inflammatory agent. He takes care to use racism as a tool against Brabantio and Roderigo, playing on traits he knows they have.

I was unable to determine Iago's own feelings on Othello's race.

Now here's an interesting tangent - when reading Titus Andronicus, I got the feeling of so many aspects of that play being prototypes for his later plays. The strongest I got was Aaron as a prototype for Iago. Anybody else get that feeling?

[VanBuren]

The way I looked at Iago's use of racism was as an inflammatory agent. He takes care to use racism as a tool against Brabantio and Roderigo, playing on traits he knows they have.

I was unable to determine Iago's own feelings on Othello's race.

Now here's an interesting tangent - when reading Titus Andronicus, I got the feeling of so many aspects of that play being prototypes for his later plays. The strongest I got was Aaron as a prototype for Iago. Anybody else get that feeling?

I remember seeing a version of that play done at Greenstage (only it was played over-the-top and with some modern anachronisms thrown in) among other things, Aaron was dressed as a clown.

It was amazing.

[Dienekes]

The way I looked at Iago's use of racism was as an inflammatory agent. He takes care to use racism as a tool against Brabantio and Roderigo, playing on traits he knows they have.

I was unable to determine Iago's own feelings on Othello's race.

I like this interpretation. However, I would have to double check that when Iago uses the slurs matches to when he's manipulating Barbantio and Roderigo, mostly by checking his soliloquy. However, since I kind of think the soliloquy's are just a tool for Iago to lie to the audience as well as himself it makes using any evidence on his motivations very hard to pin down.


Now here's an interesting tangent - when reading Titus Andronicus, I got the feeling of so many aspects of that play being prototypes for his later plays. The strongest I got was Aaron as a prototype for Iago. Anybody else get that feeling?

I haven't gotten round to Titus yet. Want to though. Any opinions on it yet? I kind of have stuck to the more popular Shakespearean plays.

Also, VanBuren, that sounds awesome.

[The_JJ]

Whatever the actor playing him wants it to be. Personally I'm a fan of 'in it for the evulz, giving multiple motives to the audience just to jerk them around' theory.

[VanBuren]

Speaking of, I found the production photos of Titus Andronicus from GreenStage last fall. (http://www.greenstage.org/2009/tituspics)

[Closet_Skeleton]

Racism? Really? I think that has alot more to do with analising the play through assumtions based on american race relations than it does of Shakespear's opinion on the matter.

Yeah, while xenophobia is pretty much a constant in human history, you can't expect the Elizabethan English to have the same opinions of black people that developed in America, mainly from attempts to justify for the slave trade. While the triangle trade had been going on for maybe 100 years at this point, it never really touched England. The only black people Shakespeare might have actually met would be envoys from Morroco or traders. Major racism requires actual contact between races in order to develope, the Elizabethans would hate the Irish and French a lot more than they would hate moors, who they would see as a depersonalised curiosity at worst.

Black servants in England tended to be paid rather than slaves and be used as exotic status symbols rather than treated as inhuman labour.

[Dienekes]

Yeah, while xenophobia is pretty much a constant in human history, you can't expect the Elizabethan English to have the same opinions of black people that developed in America, mainly from attempts to justify for the slave trade. While the triangle trade had been going on for maybe 100 years at this point, it never really touched England. The only black people Shakespeare might have actually met would be envoys from Morroco or traders. Major racism requires actual contact between races in order to develope, the Elizabethans would hate the Irish and French a lot more than they would hate moors, who they would see as a depersonalised curiosity at worst.

Black servants in England tended to be paid rather than slaves and be used as exotic status symbols rather than treated as inhuman labour.

I don't think anyone says it is the same as American racism, easily shown because Othello had a high ranking job and was respected by the Duke. But the slurs are in the text showing that there was at least some racism in England at the time. Which really is to be expected, "trade" had developed with the Africans for 200 or so years by now, with sailors and adventurers bringing back stories of the savage and terrifying Africans. And while the conquest of Africa would still be another hundred years in the future the treatment of the Africans is pretty indicative of English sentiment on them.

[SaintRidley]

I haven't gotten round to Titus yet. Want to though. Any opinions on it yet? I kind of have stuck to the more popular Shakespearean plays.


I quite liked it. Very bloody play, very much the Saw if the Elizabethan era. Tamora and Lavinia, I think, are the two most interesting characters because of how their roles sort of intersect and reverse. There's enough there to make an interesting feminist critique of the play based on them that argues for the strength of the characters.

[Cahokia]

Racism against Africans is a lot older than America.

Now, remember, the English Empire was part of Christian Western Europe, and Othello is a moor. The moors were Islamic Africans who cut a swath through Europe and held Iberia for 800 years. Also, racism is bound to pop up just with the "they look different than me"-factor, even more so when you have the intense religious tension between Christians and Muslims at the time. Though Spain was reclaimed just before the dawn of the 16th century (and remember who took over...Isabella, the [Female-Dog] Queen), the English still believed they had more than enough reason to discriminate.

Iago's hatred and suspicion of the dark-skinned moor was likely not uncommon in his native Venice, or in Shakespeare's homeland.