William Shakespeare\'s Othello That Support the View

¶ … William Shakespeare's Othello that support the view that Iago, the chief antagonist and primary arch-villain of the play, has been imbued with and personifies a supernatural malevolence to fuel his hatred of the protagonist, Othello. This interpretation of Iago's characterization, however, is tempered by his all too human reasons for being possessed of such a fury towards his enemy: the former believes Othello has slighted him for a military promotion and eventually comes to suspect that the latter may have had a sexual relationship with his wife. Despite such seemingly concrete, logical reasons for despising another, Shakespeare takes great pains to employ devices of description, actions, and dialogue, which support the interpretation that Iago is an infernal creature whose verbal and physical manifestations seem to be aligned with evil incarnate, or at least directly juxtaposed with those of providence. Closer examinations of passages involving Iago and his methods of attempting to destroy Othello and others who stand in the way of his achieving this goal reveal that the author is taking deliberate strides to represent his antagonist as supernaturally malignant.

Aside from the characterization of Iago, a substantial amount of Othello is steeped in the preternatural with several allusions to heaven, hell, sorcery and witchcraft. Iago, however, is most frequently at the center of such references, and appears to take a particular delight in an immoral ambiguity that yields him as a misanthrope. Particular attention must be given to his initial description of the motives that animate his hatred for Othello, which the following quotation elucidates.

"I follow but myself not I for love and duty,

But seeming so for my particular end.

For when my outward action doth demonstrate the native act and figure of my heart

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at. I am not what I am. (Act I, scene I, lines 60-67)."

It should be noted that Iago contrasts his motives with those of the celestial ("Heaven"), since he says his labors against Othello are not to be judged by the benign mores of love and duty, but strictly for his own selfish needs ("my peculiar end"). He also alludes to the fact that he is actually concealing his own internal dictates by stating that they will be revealed in the future, as denoted by the relative pronoun "when" being used to describe such a revelation. Lastly, he casts doubts on both his motives and his humanity by stating that he is "not" what he is, meaning what he appears to be. What he appears to be, however, is more than just a faithful comrade to Othello, to Roderigo (who this speech is directed towards), or even just one who hates Othello for the reasons outlined previously. The last part of this quotation can be used to substantiate that he is not a mere man, but something more, something beyond humanity, and something which judging by his actions, is decidedly malignant in nature.

Despite the abundance of choices in diction which connote Iago's depiction as a supernatural evil presence, his actions offer much more convincing evidence of that same concept. True evil is a perversion of good and operates on the basis of chicanery so that one cannot distinguish the beneficent from the malefic. Iago employs such deceptive methods which would seemingly rival those of the fallen angel of biblical lore. After convincing Roderigo of his dislike for Othello, and manipulating the former to lead Desdemona's father Brabantio to the lover's location, Iago arrives there first and has the following conversation with Othello regarding Roderigo.

"…he prated,

And spoke such scurvy and provoking terms

Against your honor

That, with the little godliness I have,

I did full hard forbear him (Act I, scene II, lines 6-10)."

The duplicitous nature of this quotation (which is an integral component of deception) is readily apparent. Roderigo was not the one speaking "scurvy" and speaking provoking terms against Othello: Iago was. By telling such a base lie, Othello's ancient is perverting the truth in hopes of convincing Othello to hate Roderigo. Of particular note in this quotation is the fact that Iago admits he has "little godliness" within him. Although he makes this assertion in defense of his decision of not killing Roderigo, this admission is in perfect alignment with the interpretation that he is truly an evil influence who lacks god. Coupled with his duplicitous deception, this quotation is fairly persuasive in this regard.

Further examination of Iago's methods for obtaining revenge in Othello is in accord with the interpretation that his character represents a supernatural evil. Those methods, which are stated in the following quotation, even allude to those of the serpent in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, in which evil was initially given to the world. Othello can be found ruminating aloud about his plans for deceiving Othello and Cassio, by pitting them against one another for the former's wife.

"Cassio's a proper man

To abuse Othello's ear

That he is too familiar with his wife.

The Moor is of a free and open nature,

And will as tenderly be led by the nose

As asses are

It is engendered. Hell and night

Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light. (Act I, Scene II, lines 393-405)."

The perversion of right and goodness which is so intrinsic to insidious acts can be evidenced from the fact that Iago plans to deceive Othello into believing that Cassio ( who highly regards Othello, particularly since the latter recently promoted him) is making forays towards his wife. Iago's methods of manipulating Othello via lies to lead him "by the nose" is akin to the way the serpent deceived Eve to get Adam to sup from the tree of knowledge. The parallel is complete with the latter portion of the passage, in which the "monstrous birth" of Iago's deception is likened to the birth of sin, which was "engendered" by the serpent's lies. In Othello it is Iago telling lies, while the diction employed by the reference to "Hell and night" bespeak of Iago's charnel characterization.