A Critical appreciation of Othello Act 1 Scene 1 line 41 - line 82, commenting upon Shakespeare's portrayal of his characters

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A Critical appreciation of Othello Act 1 Scene 1 line 41 – line 82, commenting upon Shakespeare’s portrayal of his characters

        The passage, act 1 scene 1, lines 41 to 82, open with a long speech from Iago. Already, from the onset we see that he feels it is wrong to follow his master ‘ the Moor’, demonstrated by the answer he gives to Roderigo’s statement of:

        “I would not follow him then” - line 40,

with,

        “O sir, content you.” – line 41

It is as if it were a discontenting thought to think that Iago actually really wanted to follow his master of his own accord. Iago expands on his opening statement, informing us that he is only following Othello for his own benefit, and informs us on his view of there being two types of knaves. The first, follows his master to help his master, works hard and is humble and actually enjoys his devoted service to his master;

        ‘Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,

        That doting on his own obsequious bondage’  line 45-46

        But for all their hard work Iago feels that they get nothing back in return and in addition will be looked down upon and be seen in the same category as the ‘master’s ass’, as they only receive food and lodging (‘for nought but provender’), in return for years of dedicated service only to be dismissed without a second thought. This is not for Iago, he will not be used by others, but in turn wants to use others for his own benefit ironically using the cover of a used ‘honest’ servant. It is this word ‘honest’ that appears many times in the play and is used to mean different things, mainly trustworthy and truthful or simple and easily deceived. But when used in reference to Iago there is often a sense of patronisation or an indication of it intended as an insult to suggest stupidity. When Iago uses the word ‘honest in line 49 saying:

        ‘Whip me such honest knaves.’

         He shows the audience exactly how he views the perception of the word ‘honest’ as he uses it to describe the foolish ‘duteous and knee-crooking knave’. Here Iago makes it clear how he understands the meaning of the word ‘honest’ even though the use of the word is frequent and varied and of course deliberately ambiguous in other references in ‘Othello’.

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        Iago now moves onto the second type of knave, which he associates himself with: these knaves outwardly give off the appearance of hard working and submissive servants, but inwardly they are working for their own agendas. Even though these knaves look as though they are sacrificing a lot for their masters with little apparent return, in fact they are using their masters to their advantage better than their masters are using them. Therefore in paying service to Othello he is in effect paying service to himself. This gives an impression of selfishness but we must remember that just because Iago ...

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