Shakespeare continues with this attempt of sympathy through his mastery of soliloquies. Iago’s villainy cannot be penetrated by anyone because of the impossibility of distinguishing between genuine and apparent honesty, however the audience is saved from this same disillusionment through Iago’s soliloquies. The audience is privy to an unmasked Iago and can see his devilish mind at work ‘how? How? Let’s see’. However the other characters in the play are oblivious to Iago’s true nature and are thus susceptible to Iago’s devilish plans. Shakespeare demonstrates Iago’s abusive power over Othello by his use of language. Words spoken by Iago at the beginning of the play ‘were they as prime as goats and as hot as monkeys!’ and ‘Cassio did top her’. Othello has almost been consumed by Iago and thus Iago is much more than an instigator, he is a master of all motions around him.
Iago exploits one of the most common human weaknesses to instigate this tragic tale – jealousy. However, whether Iago’s milking of this weakness in Othello is to blame for the resulting tragedy, or Othello for having it, is a matter of personal opinion. In one of Iago’s soliloquies Shakespeare displays Iago as a man consumed by jealousy. Shakespeare demonstrates the depth of emotion with Iago’s description of jealousy ‘like a poisonous mineral, gnawing my inwards’.
Othello’s lack of self-knowledge allows for Iago’s infection of Othello with this intense emotion. Othello thinks of himself as a level-headed, logical man, ‘a man not easily jealous’. He has always been a competent soldier whose indispensable skills are highlighted by the fact ‘another of his fathom they have none to lead their business’. Yet Shakespeare makes clear that whilst Othello is a competent soldier he is far from a competent lover as he was simply a man ‘that loved not wisely but too well’. Othello represents how jealousy can be one of the most corrupting and destructive emotions. It literally drives Othello to madness to a point where he is ‘perplexed in the extreme’. He is perplexed to such a degree that his jealousy becomes exposed to being wrought by spurious evidence. Othello appears steadfast in his belief ‘I’ll see before I doubt, when I doubt, prove’ yet this quickly gives way when based on no sound evidence except a story he states ‘all my fond love thus do I blow to heaven: ‘tis gone’. It is evident Othello does not possess a wealth of self-knowledge and perhaps this was a large contributing factor to his downfall.
Yet in Iago’s attempt to bring about this tragedy it is Othello’s virtues that are all exploited. Othello is described as ‘of a constant and loving nature’ yet also as ‘of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose, as asses are’. This second description of Iago’s is perhaps an important message from Shakespeare. A message that while it is good to possess positive virtues it can be detrimental if one possesses them unwisely, allowing them to be exploited.
Desdemona plays the innocent victim in the play whose virtues are manipulated by Iago. She is a character embodying innocence, purity and is wholly unselfish. These qualities are displayed beautifully in the final scene where she demonstrates her eternal and true love for Othello by stating, ‘Nobody – I myself – farewell. Commend me to my kind Lord’. This highlights how, even on her deathbed, Desdemona will not utter a word that may harm her husband such as calling him a murderer.
However, Desdemona’s virtues and the love she had for those around her made her susceptible to Iago’s manipulation. Iago skilfully manipulates the love between Desdemona and Othello that caused her to defy society’s norms and elope, by recalling situations in the past when Desdemona was deceiving. Desdemona’s quest to compliment Cassio to Othello ‘for the love I bear to Cassio’ is done with all good intentions however gradually misconstrued and Othello knows Desdemona has deceived in the past such as with her father and through Othello’s courtship ‘she seemed to shake, and fear your (Othello’s) looks when she loved them the most’. These examples typify how many of Desdemona’s fine qualities, when exploited, could be mistaken as deceiving. Thus one can see how, whilst Desdemona was a victim, her virtues allowed her to play an inadvertent role of this tragedy.
The core of the tragedy in Othello is similar to a complex quilt, each character a fine piece of thread and Iago the seamstress – sewing it all together with a needle of Othello’s destructive emotions and lack of self-knowledge. Therefore, who or what is it that ultimately lies at the root of the whole tragedy? This is a matter of personal opinion and one that will be debated by Shakespearean scholars for centuries to come.
