Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Iago= The Devil
After reading Othello, and learning about the character, Iago, I have found a pretty interesting comparison. I feel that the character Iago can be compared to Satan. This sounds funny at first but the similarities are pretty intriguing. Iago is a main character of the play, but he isn't really part of the main plot. The main plot line of the play is Othello and Desdemona. Iago likes to sit on the side and almost tempt Othello into thinking or doing things. Iago tries to put out suspicions and tries to toy with Othello's mind. Although he does all this, Iago never directly does harm to Othello or anyone else. He simply allows or puts the characters into that position to see what would happen. It is almost a game to him. This seems to parallel the devil's goals, in which he doesn't directly do bad things, but he tempts people into doing wrong things. Iago gives another view of things, even if they are bad, and lets things play out. In the process, it is clear Iago is having fun and enjoying himself as he sees what will happen. Iago is clearly a terrible man, and he is evil. I think comparing him and these evil acts to the devil and the devils goals are similar.
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2 comments:
I think that Iago didn’t just tempt Othello; I think that Iago basically forced Othello into paranoia and then the murder. Iago acted upon and inflated Othello’s insecurities until he had molded Othello into a completely different person. Iago proudly states that “I will pour this pestilence into his(Othello’s) ear, I'll pour this pestilence into his ear, That she repeals him for her body's lust, And by how much she strives to do him good, She shall undo her credit with the Moor.So will I turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the netThat shall enmesh them all.[II.iii.356-362] Iago picks at Othello’s insecurities about race, his love for Desdemona and he takes advantage of his creative mind.
I think the idea of Iago as the devil has some merit, and you definitely make a good point, but I think Iago is weaker than the devil. The devil does not allow emotions to govern his actions, as Iago does. Iago is driven by hate and jealousy and ambition—unlike the devil, who has no filter for who he messes with and what havoc he causes. When the audience first meets Iago he is ranting to Rodrigo about all the reasons he hates Othello—his words are riddled with feelings of betrayal and hurt. He says “I know my price, I am worth no worse a place./But he (as loving his won pride and purposes)/Evades them with a bombast circumstance” (1.1.12-14). Iago says here that he was knows he is more worth of the job than Michael Cassio, and he insults Othello, accusing him of being proud and narrow-minded. He clearly speaks with a lot of emotion—something I imagine the devil to have little of.
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