In his soliloquy, Iago seems to confess everything to the audience bt letting them in on his secret. Why does he do this- to gain sympathy? To show how how clever or superior he is? To suggest that his method is the best on for survival? or that such behaviour is a source of "fun"? To best everyone else because he is the only person using "reason" to succeed? Because he is truly, and justifiably, a bitter person? Because he is misunderstood? Profile this vile creature for us if you dare.
4 comments:
Many things can be said about Iago. I personally, think that he is truly bitter about Othello choosing Cassio as his leiutenant instead of him. It seems to be the only reason he hates Othello. His plan to get his revenge is incredibly clever, it is clear that he is intelligent enough to cover his tracks by seeming to be honest and trustworthy. This could also mean that he is showing off just how smart he is. The fact that his method is to play with Othello's mind does seem to state that he does take some pleasure in the whole affair.
From what I know of Iago so far, I believe Iago to be truly psycopathic, as he demonstrates a horse of symtoms to support this idea. He is first and foremost manipulative. He turns characters against each other, making them work for him and against eachother. Coupled with his obvious intelligence, which is another symtom many psycopaths have, this shows him to be a truly evil person. Most psycopaths smart enough to pass themselves off as likeable and social people, just for the achievement of their own ends. Another of his malicious traits is a form of greed. One of the plausible reasons for him to hate Othello is that Othello passed him up for a promotion that Iago thought he deserved.
This could just make him evil, but what makes me believe him to be a psycopath is the excuses and justifications he makes for his wrong-doings. At the end of his soliloquy, he proclaims "I have't! It is engender'd! Hell and night/Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light. (Act 1, Scene 3, 394). Iago is using jealousy and anger as excuses to perpetrate evil.
Iago is definitely the most interesting character in Othello. I definitely don't think that he wants sympathy or that he is bitter, but rather that he simply loves exploiting people. He seems uninterested in his own life, and even bored with his supposed "reasons" for hating Othello.
I almost see Iago and Barbantio as contrasting characters; they both claim to hate Othello, but Barbantio's rage is far more obvious than Iago's. In fact, Iago hardly shows ANY rage. His tone is casual no matter what the situation is, and he says "I hate the Moor / And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office" (Act 1, scene 3, 375-377) almost apathetically -- it sounds like he's just using things like this as justification for his actions even though he is completely disinterested.
So, in short, I think that Iago just has nothing better to do than profit from the suffering of others. It'll be interesting to see what he does later in the play.
Iago hates pretty much everyone, probably because they inadvertantly favored other people over him. I believe that he might manipulate the gullible as a form of revenge in his eyes, or just for fun to see them in the palm of his hand, in his power, following whatever he says like dogs. It might be a thrill that he gets from the power he has over others minds.
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