Othello and its literary themes

Iago's Mastermind Of Privilege And Oppression In Shakespeare's Othello

In William Shakespeare's play, Othello, Iago is the character that believes his privilege is someone else's oppression. Iago believes that it is his privilege to seek revenge and oppress Othello for the promotion he (Iago) did not receive. This revenge is aimed at Othello and, from the very opening of the play, we see that Iago is scheming to get his privilege to oppress one way or another. His privilege will become Othello's oppression if it is the last thing Iago accomplishes. Indeed, it is the last thing he does accomplish but he does it great ease, thanks to Othello and his good nature. Iago is intelligent enough to pit Othello and his wife against one another and once this is accomplished, they jealous fiend set loose in Othello's head already has control of his logic and reason. Iago is the character that is knowingly culpable in the scheme; however, Othello, Cassio, Emelia, and Desdemona are complicit unknowingly. They are victims of the equation rather than active participants in it. Iago has only one benefactor and that is himself.

Simply put, Iago is a man plagued with "issues" and this is why he becomes the character that is most probable to determine that he deserves something in the play. If he were alive today, he would no doubt be a man that had few friends and, more than anything else, he would be always seeking how he could obtain more than what he already possessed. In addition to this, he would never be happy because enough would never be enough. This attitude toward life and people in general can be seen early in the play when Iago expresses agitation over the fact that he was not promoted to lieutenant. He is interesting because he moves directly to the idea of privilege without considering why he was not promoted. This is behavior that we can expect from egomaniac, however, and Iago lives up to the title. Iago only knows that he did not get promoted and someone else did; his next action is bent on the privilege, or revenge. He tells Roderigo:

Others there are Who, trimmed in form and visages of duty,

Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,

And, throwing but shows of services on their lords,

Do well thrive by them, and when they have lined their coats,

Do themselves homage. (Shakespeare I.i.46-52)

These lines reveal a man that is fully aware that he is different from others and simply does not care. He has probably just identified why he did not get promoted but he does not comprehend this because he is the type of person to look at what he does not have as opposed to what he does have. He only distinguishes these decent characteristics as weaknesses that will only result in an individual's downfall. When he states that Cassio and those like him have some soul and "such I do profess myself. (I.i.46-53), he is pointing out what makes him different from the others. He then says that by following Othello, he follows but himself and he does not do anything but for love or duty but to his own "peculiar end" (I.i.61). He even Roderigo of things to come when says his goal is to wear his heart "compliment extern" (I.i.64). Iago knows that he is evil and he seems to exhibit no trouble when articulating this fact. His attitude bleeds into his philosophy of live for he does not see a reward for being a decent person that has lived a good life. He states, "To be direct and honest is not safe. / I should be wise, for honesty is a fool / and looses that it works for" (III. iii.373-4, 376-9). Iago does not want to be good nor does he want to do good things. He has not faith in man and he is about to embark upon a journey that destroys any faith that Othello might have in man and in life itself.

Iago's involvement in his scheme is completely of his own making. He masterminds the plan from the very beginning of the play and his intended victim is Othello but anyone else that gets damaged along the way, namely Desdemona, would only be considered an additional benefit. He does not elicit anyone's help not does he need it. Iago's plan involves all of the major drama in the play and this only demonstrates the man's ability to manipulate people almost on a whim. His plan for privilege and revenge begins with a keen observation on Othello's character. Because he realizes the man is kind and considerably naive, he knows that his task will be easy. He knows Othello is:

Of a free and open nature,

That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,

And will as tenderly be led by th' nose

As asses are. (I.iii.393-6)

Here we see that Iago cannot help but insult Othello because he has a good nature. Iago sees this as repulsive and something that will work to his advantage as he works on oppressing Othello and receiving his privilege.