Iago - Extract and character analyses

Extract from Act I, Scene 1

IAGO

   O, sir, content you;

I follow him to serve my turn upon him:

We cannot all be masters, nor all masters

Cannot be truly follow'd. You shall mark

Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,

That, doting on his own obsequious bondage,

Wears out his time, much like his master's ass,

For nought but provender, and when he's old, cashier'd:

Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are

Who, trimm'd in forms and visages of duty,

Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,

And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,

Do well thrive by them and when they have lined

their coats

Do themselves homage: these fellows have some soul;

And such a one do I profess myself. For, sir,

It is as sure as you are Roderigo,

Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:

In following him, I follow but myself;

Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,

But seeming so, for my peculiar end:

For when my outward action doth demonstrate

The native act and figure of my heart

In compliment extern, 'tis not long after

But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

Annotation: At the outset of "Othello" Iago complains to Roderigo that he feels offended not to have been made lieutenant by Othello.

Translation/ Source: Christoph Martin Wieland / Gutenberg Project

Jago: O mein Herr, das laßt euch keine Sorge machen; ich begleite ihn, um mir selbst auf seine Unkosten Dienste zu thun. Wir können nicht alle Befehlhaber seyn, und nicht alle Befehlhaber können getreue Diener haben. Ihr werdet in der Welt manchen Dienst-ergebenen, knie-biegenden Schurken sehen, der unter einer vieljährigen treu-eyfrigen Dienstbarkeit endlich so grau wird wie seines Herrn Esel, ohne etwas anders davon zu haben, als daß er gefüttert, und wenn er alt ist gar abgedankt wird. Peitscht mir solche gutherzige Schurken - - Dagegen giebt es andre, die zwar ihr Gesicht meisterlich in pflichtschuldige Falten zu legen wissen, aber ihr Herz hingegen vor aller fremden Zuneigung rein bewahren; die ihren Herren nichts als den äusserlichen Schein der Ergebenheit und eines erdichteten Eifers zeigen, aber eben dadurch ihre Sachen am besten machen, und wenn sie ihre Pfeiffen geschnitten haben, davon gehen, und ihre eigne Herren sind. Das sind noch Leute die einigen Verstand haben, und ich habe die Ehre einer von ihnen zu seyn. Es ist so gewiß als ihr Rodrigo seyd; wär' ich der Mohr, so möcht ich nicht Jago seyn: izt dien ich, das wissen die Götter! bloß um mir selbst zu dienen, und nicht aus Ergebenheit und Liebe - - ich stelle mich zwar so, aber das hat seine Absichten - - denn wahrhaftig, wenn mein Gesicht, und meine äusserlichen Handlungen die wahre innerliche Gestalt meines Herzens zeigten, so würde mein Herz in kurzem den Krähen zum Futter dienen - - Mein guter Freund, ich bin nicht, was ich scheine.

Iago's Character - text taken from a newsgroup

From: Edmund Taft <taft@Marshall.edu>

Date: Wednesday, 19 Dec 2001 13:34:22 -0500

Subject: Iago's Evil

Sophie Masson asks,

"The thing that interests me above all is--why would we need explanations for Iago's evil?" Well, why is book after book written about Hitler? There is a human need to understand -- or to try to understand -- the terrible destruction pure evil is capable of inflicting on other humans. Interestingly, studies of Hitler are all over the place, just like analyses of Iago. Some historians see Hitler's evil as internal and psychological; others see him as a product of the post-WW1 humiliation of Germany, and thus responding to the "will" of a defeated, angry, and frustrated Germany. Still others blame Wagner and Nietzsche, genetic dysfunction, the lack of a second testicle, the disease of anti-Semitism, and/or his experience as a failed artist. Most recently, a new study of Hitler claims that his evil was a product of his hidden homosexuality! Shakespeare scholars will note that some of the "causes" of Hitler's actions are also employed to explain Iago's evil. Iago is an artist, a real-life playwright who conceives of and then executes the script of Othello's and Desdemona's destruction, and he is very fond of the word "will." He can also be seen as harboring latent homosexual feelings for Othello, especially in the "marriage scene" at the end of 3.3 (477ff.). In my view, he anticipates Milton's Satan, who, like Iago, suffers from a general sense of "injured merit." I have also wondered who is Iago's real target. Is it Othello or Desdemona? The latter is a living, breathing refutation of everything he believes about women. (They are all whores in Iago's mind.) Could it be that she is the one he wants to defile? At least her image in the eyes of Othello? As we all know, Iago's last words are, "What you know, you know" -- which suggests that deep within each of us is the answer to the question of the origins of Iago's evil. Whatever it is, it is not just his; it's ours.

--Ed Taft [http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2001/2864.html]

Iago's character traits By Alastair Lagrange, Student [http://www.literatureclassics.com/essays/621]

Iago, the Machiavellian villain of Shakespeare's Othello exhibits character traits of amorality, duplicity, cynicism, pride, and of course, ego. Presented by the speech and actions of all characters, the modern audience can construct a character sketch of Othello that contains all the elements stated above. They are discussed with reference to the first two Acts.

Foremost, Iago is an amoral being. Using Desdemona, an innocent with whom he has no quarrel to 'enmesh'em all,' Iago weaves a web of deception that ensnares the essentially innocent Othello, Cassio, Roderigo and Emilia, each guilty only of hurting Iago's pride. He succeeds in destroying a marriage and two noble characters as well as his wife, (Emilia), and Roderigo. Iago's true delight in his own cunning however, can be witnessed in his Act 2 Scene 1 soliloquy. Here he revels in the power he wields, that which can to turn Desdemona's 'virtue into pitch.' Also amoral is Iago's mercenary use of Roderigo to 'line his coat.' He readily accepts money for a service that is impossible to achieve - Desdemona has no feelings for Roderigo, and Iago knows this.

At the heart of Iago's duplicity is his ability to play a number of roles convincingly; to adapt his tone and style to suit any occasion. With Cassio , he is bluff, coarse and genial. He offers plausible, practical solutions for his problems. With Montano and Lodovico he stresses he has the State and Othello's best interests at heart. His ego is absent when dealing with these people. They are above him socially and professionally. This is however, deliberate. With Roderigo and Emilia, he is self-serving, materialistic and cynical. This can be seen in Act 1 Scene 1 where he makes it clear to Roderigo that his pride was hurt when Cassio was promoted before him, and also in Act 2 Scene 1 where he openly degrades women. There is not much difference between the Iago who speaks alone on stage and the Iago who gulls Roderigo; both are mean spirited, boastful and dismissive.

The duplicity of Iago that is discussed above can be seen after the brawl between Cassio and Roderigo. Iago indirectly instigated the fight, but still feigned reluctance to accuse Cassio saying that

'I should rather have this tongue cut from my mouth than it should do offence to Michael Cassio. Yet I persuade myself, to speak the truth.'

This serves to make him look like a loyal, trusted friend but it also convinces Othello that Cassio behaved badly and should have his post replaced. This skill at manipulation can also be seen when, after waking Brabantio, Iago leaves to go to Othello. He tells Othello that Brabantio 'spoke such scurvy and provoking terms against your honour.' He emits that he to spoke the same scurvy. This pretended loyalty and indignation are designed to invoke trust and a favourable opinion - Iago is positioning himself so that he is ensured lieutenancy after Cassio loses his. It is somewhat appropriate that Iago curses using the words 'by Janus.' Janus is a two faced go in Roman mythology; Iago is effectively taking his own name in vein.

Iago is both a misogynist and a racist. The former of the two qualities can be witnessed in Act 2 Scene 1. Here he is openly cynical and misogynistic - he can only see women as false, mean spirited and inferior creatures, proven when he makes comment that women 'rise to play and go to bed to work.' This crude delineation of females is a sign of his narrow and twisted egotistical nature. The soliloquy at the end of the scene has a strong racist undertone that suggests Iago cannot accept that Desdemona, an aristocratic white woman has chosen the 'poor trash of Venice' - a black man. Clearly, Iago is a very egotistical man who seeks to disgrace those he deems to be worse beings than he is.

Iago is a cynical malcontent. In Act 1 Scene 1 Iago makes it clear that he despises men who 'wear their hearts on their sleeves' and other 'honest knaves' such as Cassio and Othello. He also claims to admire men who exploit their masters to 'line their coats' - himself. These beliefs undermine the very basis for our conventional standards of decency. Iago is loyal only when it serves his needs. This can be seen in Act 1 Scene 2. Here, Iago pretends to be Othello's faithful supporter but it is not out of the goodness of his heart but rather out of a desire to be luitnant. This cynicism extends from the professional domain into the private. In Act 2 Scene 1 Iago admits his 'love' for Desdemona and then quickly corrects himself, as if the word love should not belong in his vocabulary. He re-describes his feelings as 'lust.' Nor does Iago believe that Othello loves Desdemona, continually referring to him as 'lascivious' and 'lustful.' He clearly attributes love to a sexual itch.

Othello is an immensely proud man but unlike Othello, his pride is laced with sly vindictiveness. When he suspects that Othello has 'twixt my sheets…done my office', he becomes furious. This anger was not founded however, because he loved Emilia, but because he could not bear to know that another man had had the better of him. These feelings are made clear in lines 270 - 280 of Act 2 Scene 1. He states that his soul will not be sated 'till I am evened with him wife for wife,' that the suspicion 'doth like a poisonous mineral gnaw my inwards.' This pride is also seen when Iago makes his anger about Cassio's promotion clear. When speaking to Roderigo he describes Cassio as a 'bookish theoric' with no practical experience in battle. He cringes that the system of promotion is not just stating that 'Preferment goes by letter and affection, not by the old gradation where each second stood heir to the first.' He later makes it known that he intends revenge on both Cassio and Othello, presumably for hurting his pride.

In conclusion, Iago is an interesting and fascinating study in evil. A practiced liar and cruel political opportunist, Iago delights in his own manipulative skills and relishes turning other's 'virtue into pitch.' By the end of the second Act, the characterization of Iago by all characters in the play leaves the modern audience with much food for thought and the discussed characteristics firmly entrenched on their minds.