Iago's behaviour in Othello has been described as showing motiveless malignantly towards the other characters. How true do you find this?

Lucy Hampton

5th Form

Thomas Cookes

English Coursework

Othello

Iago’s behaviour in Othello has been described as showing motiveless malignantly towards the other characters. How true do you find this?

Firstly the definition of the word ‘malignity’ is acting out of deep rooted ill will or feelings of deep hatred. However it is also a persistent and on, going suggesting an intense desire to cause pain or suffering upon another person.

Iago has many reasons for acting the way he does, his reasons may not be right or logical but he believes in them so strongly that he is willing to kill and destroy people’s lives in the process of completing them. He has been described as showing ‘motiveless malignity’ and this could be due to his entire motives stemming from one source this being jealousy, all of Iago´s motives are due to this single feeling. His revenge comes from wanting to damage the people he is jealous of. There is genuine substance for his feelings, but they grow wildly out of his paranoia, for example, he seems to elaborate on these initial ideas until he thinks and convinces himself that everybody has slept with his wife, and for this he wants further revenge. In his quest for revenge he uses Roderigo for money and the strangest factor of all; he seems to enjoy what he is doing!

Iago becomes exceptionally jealous of Othello due to his position in the Venetian Army. Iago feels that Othello cannot be placed above him because of Othello’s skin colour and ethnic origin. Iago frequently refers to Othello as the 'Moor´ and the 'Black Ram´, with these statements Iago is implying that Othello is less a person or somehow inadequate in comparison to that of white people and because of his race he should not hold the position he does in the army. Out of this racism also extents the jealousy of Othello´ wife, Desdemona. The first time he mentions this, in Act 1, scene 3 he seems unconvinced of the rumours which have apparently been circulated about Othello sleeping with Emilia, saying that this is ‘thought abroad’ but that he knows ‘not if’t be time’. However, he he says that he will’do as if for surely’ none the less. This suggests that he is using the rumours as an excuse for something he wishes to do for unconnected reasons. He is sexually attracted to her but that is not a real reason for his hatred of Othello, his mind concocts stories of which he believes are true and thus making himself think that it is right to take revenge on Othello by having sex with his wife, Desdemona. However Iago may be jealous of Othello’s sexual power, as it was stereotypically thought then (and perhaps today) that black men were "better" in bed than white men. With this in mind Iago’s feelings says that he does suspect that Othello has slept with his wife Emila, as he "leapt into his seat", he wants revenge for these acts,"not out of absolute lust", but so he can get back at Othello. He wants to sleep with Desdemona for not only as a pleasurable act although ‘peradventure’ he stands ‘accountant for as great a sin’ but also as a method of gaining revenge over Othello. He thinks up a way of turning his sexual urges into a means of gaining vengeful satisfaction over Othello.

He seems to have reason to want revenge for Othello over looking him for promotion and giving it to Cassio instead. This seems to be the starting point at which he imagining all these other stories so he can gain "revenge” over Othello further. He is almost searching for reasons in order to be able to hurt Othello, be they genuine or not.

His jealously is also for Cassio too, and this stems form the fact that he feels he should have been promoted to Lieutenant, not Cassio due to Cassio apparently having ‘never set a squadron in the ...

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He seems to have reason to want revenge for Othello over looking him for promotion and giving it to Cassio instead. This seems to be the starting point at which he imagining all these other stories so he can gain "revenge” over Othello further. He is almost searching for reasons in order to be able to hurt Othello, be they genuine or not.

His jealously is also for Cassio too, and this stems form the fact that he feels he should have been promoted to Lieutenant, not Cassio due to Cassio apparently having ‘never set a squadron in the field’ ‘Mere prattle without practice is all his soldiership’ In contrast, Iago feels that he is experienced enough to warrant to post, and that makeover, Othello’s ‘eyes had seen the proof/ At Rhodes at Cyprus, and on other grounds’ He feels that giving Cassio this post is unfair, and only based on Othello’s greater ‘affection’ for Cassio. If this is true, it is certainly understandable that he feels annoyed, although the level of his revenge may be seen as unjustified. However, we must also consider that it may not be time. We never hear anywhere else of either Iago’s great abilities as a soldier, or pf Cassio’s weakness – and clearly Iago is not exactly an unbiased source. We could argue that Othello’s understanding of what is fair is proven by his treatment of Cassio after he has been involved in the fight with Roderigo and Montano where he says that the person responsible, even if ‘he had twinned with me, both at birth, shall lose me’. This contradicts Iago’s suggestion that Othello is someone who acts unfairly and gives ‘preferment’ out of ‘affection’. He also feels inadequate due to Cassio’s good looks, which bearing in mind the period were very different to that of most other men because of skin colour. Iago wants revenge for this and he does so by getting Cassio drunk and then luring him into a situation which eventually results in a fight. This incident resulted in Cassio being removed from his position and Iago replacing him. Iago is so jealous of Cassio´s looks he thought that he too had been sleeping with Emila, "I fear Cassio with me nightcap too". Iago gets close to Cassio and Othello be becoming their friends. He sticks up for them when they are around but when their backs are turned he uses and destroys them. He gets close so they "trust" him, as Othello often said, "Honest Iago". Right from the start of the play Iago makes his intentions clear; "I follow him to serve my turn upon him". He also says that he follows Othello for his own gain, "In following him. I follow myself". His eventual reason to kill Cassio is based on the need to protect himself-, as he feels that that ‘the Moor may unfold me to him’-Othello may confront Cassio with what he thinks he has done, and in doing so Iago’s manipulations will be revealed. We could also argue that it is, again, out of jealousy of Cassio- ‘he hath a daily beauty in hi slife/that makes me ugly’; this ‘beauty’ could be seen as physical, or perhaps as a reference to Cassio’s generally advantaged lifestyle, which it could be argued Cassio rubs his face in with his early assertion of his gentlemanliness, which Iago refers to as ‘playing the sir’

Another reason for Iago´s behavior is that he wants financial gain by using Roderigo. Roderigo gives Iago money and jewellery to give to Desdemona so that she likes him, but Iago does not give any of it to Desdemona but keeps it for himself. Iago also uses Roderigo to do his dirty work and clear up the messes he leaves, such as starting a fight with Cassio so Iago can be promoted. In this way, he comments that the only reason he is involved with Roderigo is for his ‘sport and profit’. His motivation is entirely mercenary. His reason to kill him is also based on money.

It could also be argued that Iago enjoys causing mayhem, pain and discontent in people’s lives; it gives him a "buzz" as such. Iago can be likened to a Chameleon; this is because he is ever changing when placed in different environments. When he is with Othello he acts exceptionally warm and honestly but when he is not with him he is scheming and becomes mad with jealously apparently and is intent on planning ways of confusing him and placing him into a sense of disillusionment.

This play shows how someone can become obsessed with something so much that he can kill people without a second thought to either the morality or the consequences surrounding death. He did this with his wife when he stabbed her to escape once he had been found out. Once he had achieved his original aims and had gained his vengeful ways with Othello and Cassio he still hated them so much that he exploited them further and in turn leading to Othello’s death. I have come to the conclusion that Iago had motives but he developed them and led to him becoming incessantly obsessed with destroying Othello’s life. He eventually becomes what could be defined as a Psychopath, and in a sense, we could say that his malignity is motiveless in part.