| A Review of William Shakespeare's |
| Othello |
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William Shakespeare's Othello is a tragic play about deception, manipulation, and revenge. The main character, Othello, is a powerful black military man who wins the love of a white woman named Desdemona. Their devotion to each other seems ideal, and it appears that Desdemona would do anything for Othello, even if it meant withstanding ridicule. The love between Othello and Desdemona, however, will be horrifyingly hindered, for the immoral Iago has plans to destroy their affection, but especially to destroy Othello himself. Iago is ingenious. Iago is clever. Iago is evil. In the eyes of others he is perceived as honest and trustworthy, but inside he is a sinister villain. Iago is able to manipulate the minds of people into performing actions that are advantageous to him. "Honest Iago" (I.iii.294) is like a disguised wolf in the flock of sheep that guilefully pounces on each victim. He is a selfish man who is intelligent enough to quickly see and seize opportunities that will benefit him. There are several such opportunities in the play where Iago took a particular situation and exploited it for his own purposes.
Iago does not merely seek retribution against Othello in one single step, but rather, he cautiously and cleverly manipulates several people to trap the Moor. Iago uses people as if they were pawns; and he positions each one carefully, making moves that will finally corner Othello. He uses people such as Roderigo, Cassio, and even his own wife Emilia. Iago's primary goal was to get revenge on Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. Iago had to lie and manipulate numerous people, and it is amazing how he had to improvise at times to succeed. One of the many people that Iago exploited was Roderigo. Iago realized that Roderigo had a weak and gullible mind that could be easily convinced to do anything. For example, Roderigo had thoughts of drowning himself because his life was in torment--he wanted to have Desdemona. But Iago changed Roderigo's mind by fooling him into believing that he could still win Desdemona's heart. In order to manipulate Roderigo, Iago had to repeat to Roderigo, " . . . put money in thy purse. It cannot be that Desdemona should long continue her love to the Moor . . . fill thy purse with money . . . Make all the money thou canst . . ." (I.iii.339-352). Just a minute ago, Roderigo had thoughts of committing suicide, but because of Iago, Roderigo feels that he can indeed have Desdemona. In addition, it is extraordinary how Iago also convinces him to "sell all [his] land" (I.iii.376). Iago basically uses the naive Roderigo for money, and he says to himself when Roderigo leaves, "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse" (I.iii.377). Iago has quick thinking skills and he formulates deceptive strategies along the way. He is able to make the best of any situation. For example, he notices that Cassio treats Desdemona in a very elegant manner and he hopes to exploit this fact. He notes how, "[Cassio] takes her by the palm," and how he "[smiles] upon her" (II.i.166-168). During the festival, Iago tries time and time again to get Cassio to drink. He wants to show Cassio's aggressive side. With Roderigo's help, Cassio gets into a fight and he unfortunately wounds Governor Montano. Another example of cleverness was when Iago finds out that his wife, Emilia, has Othello's first gift to Desdemona--a handkerchief. Iago uses the handkerchief to his benefit by lying to Othello, saying that Desdemona gave away her handkerchief to Cassio. To perform this feat, Iago "will in Cassio's lodgings lose this napkin/ And let him find it" (III.iii.321). Othello becomes outraged from this fictitious fact and he wants his revenge against his own Desdemona. At this point, everyone still believes that Iago is an honest man, and it is amazing how Iago has gotten this far. Iago is able to compensate for any undesired incident that is capable of ruining his plans. When Iago was supposed to kill Cassio, he sent Roderigo to do it. When murder was yelled, Iago came up and killed Roderigo before he could say anything that could implicate him. Roderigo yells to Iago after being wounded, "O, help me over here!" (V.i.61) But instead of aiding Roderigo, Iago screams at him, "O murd'rous slave! O villain!" (V.i.63). And then he kills Roderigo. Everything now is still going as intended with a few minor adjustments here and there. However, it is his wife Emilia that pulls the whole scenario together and tells Othello the truth. It is at the end of the play where Iago is discovered to be the villain. Iago's disguise and slyness is evident in the play for he has successfully executed his revenge although he has paid the price of being caught. To get his full revenge, it appears that Iago weaves his plans very slowly. He manipulates people as if they were chess pieces, and he prepares them carefully for the final checkmate. Iago is an evil genius who has the ability to see minute but important interactions between people. He is a deceiver and an excellent con man that does not murder out of instinct, but out of intellect. |
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