character motivations in othello
TRANSCRIPT
8/3/2019 Character Motivations in Othello
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/character-motivations-in-othello 1/4
CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS IN OTHELLO
Iago: General Motivations
Iago gives three main reasons for his hatred of Othelloo Being passed over for a promotion in favour of the younger, less
experienced Cassio.
o Suspicion of Othello having slept with his wife.
o Hating the inherent “goodness” within Othello.
However these reasons seem insufficient and we cannot fully trust his
justifications, and his hatred is unexplainable.
Ironic that Iago uses jealousy to destroy Othello’s life, when jealousy is
likely the cause of Iago’s original hatred.
Soliloquies give us insight into Iago’s motives and allow us to understand
the subtext beneath his superficially innocent words.
Othello: General Motivations
Iago can manipulate Othello’s gullible and jealous trait to make him
jealous and become more and more suspicious of Desdemona until he
will never have peace of mind again.
Other characters are gay and aren’t worth my time
Passage One
Iago’s motivation for putting Othello “into a jealousy so strong that judgement
cannot cure” is primarily revenge for Othello having wronged him in two ways.
The reason given in this passage is that he suspects Othello has slept with his
wife, Emilia. He is not completely sure this is true; however he plots to destroy
Othello’s happiness regardless. This flimsy reasoning suggests that this is not
the real reason for his anger towards Othello. Furthermore, earlier on in the
8/3/2019 Character Motivations in Othello
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/character-motivations-in-othello 2/4
play Iago gives a completely different reason for his anger, in being passed
over for promotion for a younger and inexperienced Cassio. The fact that Iago
lists two incompatible reasons for his hatred means that we as the audience
cannot fully trust his justifications. It is ironic that Iago uses jealousy against
Othello, yet jealousy is likely the source of Iago's hatred in the first place. This
is likely because he understands first-hand the destruction jealousy can cause,
using poison imagery, “like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards” . This
imagery is repeated throughout the play and we come to associate it with Iago
and his methods of manipulation. He demonstrates his knowledge of jealousy
many times throughout the play, and correctly predicts its results “ Trifles, light
as air are to the jealous confirmations” .
The fact that Iago unfolds his plan to us in a soliloquy means that we gain
insight to his motives in his words and actions towards the other characters in
the play. We know now that his words, which would superficially sound
innocent, are all part of his plot which adds significant dramatic irony to all his
actions. Iago addresses this directly in his last line of the soliloquy, “Knavery’ s
plain face is never seen till used” .
8/3/2019 Character Motivations in Othello
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/character-motivations-in-othello 3/4
Passage Two
In this soliloquy, Iago unfolds the specifics of his plan to manipulate
Desdemona, Cassio and Othello for Othello’s downfall. Before this soliloquy he
gives two main reasons for his hatred of Othello and desire for revenge. These
are his being passed over for a promotion for the younger and less experienced
Cassio, and his suspicion of Othello sleeping with his wife. Both these reasons
(especially the latter, which is merely a rumour yet he decides to act on it
anyway) are seemingly insufficient justification for the level of loathing he has
for Othello. In this passage he tells us that he detests the inherent goodness in
Cassio, Desdemona and Othello and because of this he shall “enmesh them
all” . Iago’s hating of goodness points towards his evil nature, which is
reinforced by the fact that he recognises the evil in his plan by using religious
contradictions “Divinity of hell!” and religious imagery “When devils will the
blackest sins put on they do suggest at first with heavenly shows” . He also
seems to be pushed forward by his enjoyment of the power and control he has
in manipulating the other characters and driving the action of the play. We can
see his glee in the line “So will I turn her virtue into pitch” . It is ironic that Iago
uses jealousy against Othello, yet jealousy is likely the source of Iago's hatred
in the first place. This is likely because he understands first-hand thedestruction jealousy can cause, using poison imagery, “I’ll pour this pestilence
into his ear” . This imagery is repeated throughout the play and we come to
associate it with Iago and his methods of manipulation. He demonstrates his
knowledge of jealousy many times throughout the play, and correctly predicts
its results “Trifles, light as air are to the jealous confirmations” .
The fact that Iago unfolds his plan to us in a soliloquy means that we gain
insight to his motives in his words and actions towards the other characters inthe play. We know now that his words, which would superficially sound
innocent, are all part of his plot which adds significant dramatic irony to all his
actions.
8/3/2019 Character Motivations in Othello
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/character-motivations-in-othello 4/4
Passage 3
In this passage Iago continues to plant the idea of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness
in Othello’s mind. His motives throughout the play are seemingly ambiguous,
as up to this point he has given three very different and very insufficient
justifications for his hatred and desire for revenge. These are his being passed
over for a promotion for the younger and less experienced Cassio, his suspicion
of Othello sleeping with his wife, and his general disdain for the inherent
goodness in Othello. However what we do know is that Iago carries a deep
hatred of Othello that drives him and his plot to destroy the Moor’s life. We
also know that he enjoys his influence over Othello and his mischievous and
manipulative nature also pushes him forward in his plans. We can see how
manipulative he is as he subtly attacks Othello’s racial insecurity “Not to affect
many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion and degree” .
At this point in the play Othello is becoming quite troubled by his own
jealousy. We can see that he is suspicious of Desdemona as he asks for her to
be watched. This is reinforced by his questioning his marriage, “ Why did I
marry” . This