“We Work By Wit And Not By Witchcraft”

Hello everyone!!! Today is the opening day of the We Love Shakespeare Week, hosted by Hamlette of Hamlette's Soliloquy! Many thanks for hosting, Hamlette! :D This is going to be wonderfully fun. Now, without any more rambling introduction (because goodness knows this post is much longer and rambly-er than it needs to be already), here we go. My topic today is the character Iago, from Shakespeare's play Othello. I have not seen any full movie productions of this play, just so you know, just read the text, so this is what I got from that. *There are spoilers in this post, just so you know.*

(Don't know whose artwork this is, but I like it a lot)

Iago, from the play Othello, is honestly my favorite Shakespeare villain. He is a deceitful, treacherous man, who uses each person he knows for his own personal gain, but he operates with such Class and Cleverness that's it's impossible not to feel just a LITTLE bit of respect for his character.

So, a little background, for a brief synopsis of the play:

Othello is a Moor, which is basically Shakespearian for a person of color, and, TO GIVE YOU FAIR WARNING, the play has a loooooot of racist content going on. He is also the leader of an army, which is kind of where his "identity" as a character is found, in warring and in leading his army. He elopes with Desdemona, the daughter of a wealthy, white noble, and then they go off together to the place where the next battle is, along with his army, second-in-command Cassio, and Iago, the standard-bearer and advisor.

Not long after that, their enemies are defeated. The war is over and there's nothing else in anybody's way. And the army starts partying and kind of just chilling while Iago's devious plots are put into action. In the end *SPOILER ALERT EVEN THOUGH THE BOOK'S LIKE 500 YEARS OLD* Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful, Othello kills her, then Emilia (Iago's wife and Desdemona's maid) deducts that Iago is the villain, then Iago kills her, then Othello kills himself, and Iago is carried off to prison. The End.

Now, with that background, let's talk about Iago's actual character. His main reason for the grudge against and hatred of Othello, his commander, is that some dude named Cassio got the promotion to second-in-command instead of him, and now he wants revenge. Naturally. And not revenge on Cassio! Revenge on Othello, for not picking him.

Weirdly enough, Iago isn't physically aggressive throughout most of the play, which is somewhat strange for such a terrible villain.  He isn't killing people left and right like other Shakespeare villains, and really, it's through  his use and command of language that he is essentially the play’s “director” and the main instigator of most action in the play, or at least I think so. 

In fact, Iago’s verbal, emotional, and mental manipulation of pretty much everyone he meets engineers the entire play’s plot! From the very beginning, he is there (in fact his are the opening lines), orchestrating events and exerting his will on those surrounding him. 

His skills are mainly these: 

1. Planting small seeds of ideas in his listener’s mind, not EXPLICITLY stating his purpose or point, but saying enough to make the hearer think, "wait a minute...something's strange here," and then claim the idea as their own, in a way. Interestingly enough, many of Iago’s “seeds” of ideas are not full, blatant lies. He's an expert at twisting the truth juuuuuuust enough to change peoples’ perceptions of reality, just enough to skew their sight and make them think the way he wants them to think.
2. He's  REALLY good at painting word pictures so that his listener can see in their brain exactly what he wants them to see, glazed in the light that he wants them to see it in. 
3. Basically, he's tricky with words and not somebody you'd want to have any sort of debate with.  Cause you (if you're anything like me) would probably end up losing. 

The reason that he is such a compelling and believable villain is (I think) because Iago is also an excellent actor. People (such as Othello) constantly call him "Honest Iago" or "Loyal Iago" or such terms, and many of the characters even look up to him as a mentor and adviser, constantly bringing their worries and fears to him for resolution. But of course, Iago never gives pure advice or honesty; in fact he is a two-faced, treacherous, equivocating man. 

"Iago doth give up the execution of his wit, hands, heart to wronged Othello’s service! Let him command, and to obey shall be in me remorse what bloody business ever,” he says as he kneels and pledges fealty to Othello.  Buuuuuuut then as soon as Othello leaves, Iago basically never stops hating on “the Moor." (He is also INCREDIBLY and disgustingly racist. The language of race is used constantly throughout the play and, through that, Iago makes Othello seem like an animalistic, "othered" being, almost inhuman and monstrous. It's pretty awful, but that's a topic for another time.) 

"I follow him to serve my turn upon him,” Iago states, as well as claiming, “In following him, I follow but myself." In the same monologue as these statements, he acknowledges his own two-faced, scheming, conniving, treacherous nature: “I am not what I am."  This is the voice of a terrible, evil liar. It is also the direct opposite of what God told Moses, definitely, in my opinion, giving Iago a devillish and almost demonic character. “When devils will the blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows as I do now,” he says, taking pride in his lying and his evil.  

So anyway, Iago is really the one orchestrating the entire play. He grows his control of and influence on his companions and their actions throughout the whole thing, until he is found out and admits his crimes. The weird thing is that after his evil plots and manipulations are discovered, he just says, “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word." 

And that's literally the last thing he ever says. He has no more lines after that, even when the others talk about sending him to be imprisoned and/or tortured. He doesn't even defend himself or try to fight, which *I* found super odd.  The play actually ends about seventy lines after Iago’s last line. Since he wasn't manipulating and directing people anymore, the action sort of winds down after that line, which is super weird.

I think my favorite part of the play might be when Iago is getting Othello to suspect Cassio (a high-ranking officer who, by the way, stole Iago's promotion, or so the villain says) of being a little too close with Othello's wife, Desdemona. The four are standing there talking, Desdemona says something to Cassio, and Iago says, "Ha, I like not that.” (This is in Act III, if you're interested.) Later, after Cassio and Desdemona go their separate ways, Othello starts prying at what Iago disliked. "Why dost thou ask?" Othello says, with Iago's reply of, "But for a satisfaction of my thought. No further harm." In other words, Othello says, "Hey, what's going on?" and Iago says, "Oh, it's nothing. No big deal."

I find this HILARIOUS because it's basically the exact same conversation that I have with my siblings when they won't tell me something or vice versa. "THOU DOST MEAN SOMETHING!!!" (The caps are my addition...) For like five pages, Othello and Iago go back and forth about whether it's important, and Othello becomes somewhat frustrated with his "honest Iago." After several pages of banter, Iago finally, "reluctantly," tells Othello his thoughts, being careful to say "wellllll, I can't be sure, but have you noticed how friendly those two are with each other??" This is also the passage with the famous "jealousy" lines, where Iago warns against the very thing that he is (which is another interesting note, whenever Iago describes a "bad" person, or describes what to "beware," he basically just describes himself). 

(Yes, that is an Iago line, NOT a Loki line. Yes, I agree with the common consensus that Loki's whole character is very similar to Iago's, at least in some ways. But that's not the point. It would be an interesting topic...but not now!) 

The point is, that personally I think Shakespeare was pointing out the significance and impact of words. “But words are words. I never yet did hear that the bruised heart was pierced through the ear.” This line (spoken by Desdemona's father after he discovers her elopement) is pretty much the Shakespearian equivalent of “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” BUT the rest of the play proves the saying completely wrong as Iago’s manipulation wreaks havoc and disarray. (Her dad even dies later because he was sad, further disproving his words.) Words are POWERFUL and can be harmful if used in the wrong way, as Iago's character proves. 

Oh, Iago knows very well that he is evil, a “devil,” but he does not seem to care as long as he does evil well.  He bends and twists the truth, the very embodiment of evil, but not regretful for his evil ever after he gets caught. He is truly one of the most effective, intelligent, and powerful villains in classic literature, I think. Probably the thing that makes him so compelling is his belief in his own lies, the way that he will stop at absolutely nothing because he absolutely believes that he is right. It's almost scary, actually.  

That line, "And what's he...that says I play the villain?" kind of sums up his entire character. It's kind of surprising how well fleshed-out and intricate it is! Not that Shakespeare's characters are all shallow, but in my reading of his works, I haven't yet encountered such an interesting character. Yes, he's awful and evil. But he is human. 

(That being said, it's not impossible that *some* of his anger against Othello was justified, because [according to Iago himself] there were rumors afoot that Othello and Emilia, Iago's wife, had had an affair and Iago was jealous for her...not an excuse for his awful behavior, but a reason nonetheless.) 

But, even with his evilness and awfulness (because I'm not saying I like him, that would be perverted and wrong), he is a fascinating character to study. The play's title is Othello. But Othello is not the main character. 

All right, I think I have rambled for long enough here! Before I go though...has anyone read the book I, Iago by Nicole Galland? And if you have, is it any good? It happened to come up when I was researching the play and I was wondering if it's worth reading at all. 

Well, thanks again for letting me participate, Hamlette! This was very enjoyable! :) 

Happy Shakespeare Week, everybody!