“Even now, very now, an old black ram, is tupping your white ewe.”
The repetition of the adjective “now” creates an excitement in Iago’s voice, as he is eager to tell Brabantio what is occurring. This shows that Iago is two-faced and jealous of Othello and Desdemona’s love. The repetition also emphasises an image in Brabantio’s mind that there is nothing he can do to stop the event from happening. Iago says “black ram” as he speaks of Othello; the black ram is symbolic of the Devil. Iago is also suggesting that Othello is evil as he called him a “black ram”, as the black ram is associated with the Devil, and the Devil is evil. “Your” emphasises the picture in Brabantio’s mind that Desdemona is his property and that Othello is violating his pride by “tupping” his daughter. The merchant classes watching would have been shocked by Desdemona’s betrayal of her father as it is something that is wrong. The verb “tupping” is used by Iago to entertain the groundlings as it is a crude sexual remark against Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. “Tupping” is a crude remark for sex. Iago saying “white” is symbolic of Desdemona’s innocence, trying to show that Othello has forced her away from her father; that Othello has corrupted her. This shows that Iago is racist as he thinks Othello is evil due to his skin colour, and that he thinks he is associated with the black ram.
The racism of Iago is a main factor in his vile behaviour. But Iago does have more motives that convince him to do the things he does. His hatred of others is a main cause for concern when you are around this character, but Iago’s hatred for women, is something not to be proud of.
“Do it not with passion; strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.”
The use of the word “strangle” expresses Iago’s hate for women as he is vicious towards them. His kinesics would be controlling, this would be shown through his enjoyment of hurting women, and that he can control Othello and make him do whatever he asks. But this could also show that Iago has no control whatsoever over women as he can only control them through destruction. The word “contaminated” shows that Iago thinks of Desdemona and other women as diseases and dirt, as they violate other things. This could have been written in the play to represent the plague threats the city of London was dealing with during the Elizabethan age. Iago’s hate for women suggests that he could have been a misogynist, resulting in the death of Desdemona and his own wife Emilia. There is also an idea that Iago could be homosexual as he likes to control men. Such as Roderigo and Othello, but hates and has no control over women. Shakespeare could have written Iago’s character to be queer, in relation to the Earl of Southampton, as he was homosexual at the time when the play was written. It could also have been written this way as Shakespeare had reportedly had secret meetings with men at the time too.
Iago’s hatred for women is concluded with his lack of control over them, but another reason why he ruins other’s lives is because he is convinced that he wife is unloyal to him, and that she has had affairs we both Cassio and Othello.
“I hate the Moor, and it is thought abroad that twixt my sheets he’s done my office.”
Iago thinks that Emilia has had an affair with Othello; though he only thinks it- “thought abroad” this shows that there is no evidence that she has committed adultery and that’s it is only his own imagination to this ever happening. The connective “and” adds to the fact that Iago hates Othello, as he is just presenting another reason why he does. Iago says “my office” this suggests that Iago only thinks of his relationship with Emilia as a job, this crude sexual joke would be entertaining to the groundlings; the possessive pronoun “my” suggests that Iago believes Emilia is his property.
To add to the fact that Iago has no control over his wife; Iago thinks that Emilia has also committed adultery with Cassio.
“For I fear Cassio with my nightcap too.”
The verb “fear” suggests that Iago is again only thinking that Emilia has been unfaithful due to the fact that he cannot control her. This thought shows everyone in the audience that there is no actual evidence of the event occurring. The harsh alliteration “for, fear” expresses Iago’s anger in his voice as he speaks and the metaphor “my nightcap” shows his lack of love towards his wife and that he only thinks of her as someone he can have sex with when he wants to. This would entertain the groundlings as they would be excited by Iago’s crude sexual remarks, whereas the Merchant classes would b appalled by Iago’s actions as you should love and respect your wife; this shows that Iago thinks of his wife as a prostitute. This shows that Iago has no control over women because prostitutes sleep around freely and know one has control over them.
Iago expresses his control over different characters when he speaks formally in prose, as he does when he speaks to Roderigo. This language would appeal more to the groundlings as it is the more common way of talking, as well as the crude comments made; this will be pure entertainment for the groundlings. This is possibly another reason to why Shakespeare created Iago in the play “Othello”, to please the groundlings and to entertain them.
“You, Roderigo? Come, sir, I am for you.”
The commanding pronoun “you”, said by Iago to Roderigo informally, shows the smartness of Iago as he pretends to not know Roderigo and that he is just a soldier, hiding a connection between them. Shakespeare uses this dramatic irony so that know one finds out about their evil schemes that they posses together. The imperative verb “come” shows the control that Iago has over others as they will do what he says, this emphasises that Iago is a puppeteer as he has control over them, this also expresses that Iago could have been written in as the director of the play, as he is controlling everyone and giving them orders on what to do. Shakespeare could have done this to show Iago as himself, to show the pain in his own life and to show what he was feeling.
Another way that Iago deceives others and persuades them to do things for him is through the majestic animal like imagery he uses whilst talking to them.
“Even now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.”
Iago calls Othello “an old black ram” to express that he feels Othello is evil, as the ram is symbolic of the Devil. This emphasises Iagos hated for Othello as he is comparing him to the Devil; as the Devil is the most evil creation in the world. “Tupping” is a crude remark used by Iago to place a thought in Brabantio’s mind of how Othello is violating his daughter, Desdemona, by bedding her. The term “tupping” is used by Iago to show his hatred because it’s a sickly way to describe their act of love. “White ewe” is symbolic of Desdemona’s innocence in the entire play. The colour white is symbolic of purity, as white dress’ show purity in weddings. Iago says this to Brabantio to show that Othello has corrupted her; Iago would speak fast and excitedly whilst saying this as he is eager for Brabantio to find out what is going on between Othello and Desdemona. The animal imagery is effective as Iago is representing Othello as the Devil, this would shock the groundlings who were watching, as they were at the biggest threat from the plague. Iago says this to try and win the groundlings over, so they hate Othello, as the Devil is associated with disease and death. And the rats were the cause of the plague, so Iago uses the animal imagery to describe Othello as an animal; dirty like a rat.
Throughout the play “Othello”, Iago portrays himself as one of the most evil characters in Shakespeare history. This is shown through the way he threats other characters; as it appears like he has corrupted his own mind through his own motives. The thought of this shows a lot in the play, as he enjoys controlling others and takes pleasure from killing them. Therefore the idea that Iago could have been a Machiavellian villain is evolved.
“I play the villain.”
Iago portrays his voice in a calm manner whilst saying this whole line, as it is short and sweet, without explanation; this emphasises that’s Iago is proud and enjoys being the evil character. Furthermore, this suggests that Iago does not need any motives for his killings and cleverly plans them out and in order so that he does not get caught.
Throughout the play Iago tells the audience his plans on what he is going to do next in soliloquies. This would have entertained and excited the groundlings because it is dramatic irony, and they would eagerly anticipate what was to happen next. But however it would not entertain the merchant and middle classes because they would have been horrified by his actions.
Throughout the play Iago is portrayed as many different things through his motives. But all of these motives forced inside one human brain interpret the fact that Iago is the Devil, as he is pure evil and enjoys bringing pain and suffering to others.
“Because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Many quotations and phrases are used in the Bible to describe the Devil in different ways. I chose this quotation as it portrays Iago’s character the best. “As a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” This relates to Iago as he goes around looking for weak people he can control and use to do his work for him. Also Iago contains a fierce anger and an evil mind, much like a lion. The idea of Iago being like a lion supports the idea of him too being the Devil as he uses violence and his evilness to get hat he wants.
Iago’s character is suggested to be the Devil by Othello at the end of the play when Othello says-
“If thou be’est the Devil, I cannot kill thee.”
When this is said< Othello stabs Iago, but Iago lives on. This would entertain and shock the groundlings as they would believe Iago is the Devil. Also this act would shock the Merchant classes as they too would believe Iago is he Devil.
This is an exciting contrast to Medieval Morality Plays, where good always wins over evil, but in Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, evil is victorious over good. Shakespeare writes Iago into “Othello” as the shocking character that cause evil to win, in contrast to “Mercy” who is the good in the play “Mankind” which beats evil. These turn of events by Shakespeare would have been a real shock at the time by many people in the audience as they were used to good winning; this would have been seen as radical by the viewers. Shakespeare created Iago to show the pain in his life and that evil in society does win over what should be right.
Shakespeare shows that evil continues to live on in society and that nothing can stop it from being there. In Hamlet and King Lear, both the good and bad characters die, this shows a sense of justice. But Shakespeare could have shown that evil lives on as his only son Hamnet died because of the plague. Therefore he wrote the character Iago to represent the pain of all the people suffering, and as someone they can hate and see as evil.
In conclusion, Shakespeare writes Iago into the play “Othello” t show the pain and suffering he has sustained in his life and that evil lives on in society. This shows that Iago is pure evil, and uses his only true motive to hurt and destroy other’s lives. That he is the Devil. Shakespeare wrote Iago as the Devil to shock the audience and to portray to the audience that with evil winning over good at the end, that evil is far more powerful than the good in the world.
“A being next the Devil.”
These words of Samuel Coleridge, a 19th Century poet, show that he thinks Iago was someone as evil and sinister as the Devil. There is a wide range of opinions by different people on what they think Iago was written into the play for. Marilyn French, a feminist critic, believe that Othello, Emilia, Cassio and Roderigo are only destroyed by Iago’s “ordinary wisdom of the male world”, this shows that Marilyn thought little of Iago’s character and that all the men in the world are like him. The comment made by Marilyn is not right because many men in the world do not kill for the fun of it.
Other people have different opinions about why Iago did what he did, none really know why Iago did it, as at the end of the play iago says-
“Demand me nothing; what you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word.”
Iago says this and shows that he has total control still as he is the only person who knows the truth of why he did it. Shakespeare wrote Iago to say this to hide the truth, and to let people make up their own minds. But the pure evil of Iago shows and the fact that he still has total control portrays his character as the Devil.
